Yard Sales, Flea Markets and Antique Shops 2024

Pretty cool this morning so wasn't expecting a lot of dealers to be out but two new ones were there. I picked up a WWI US Army training rifle which I will put in my training rifle thread and a Civil Defense helmet that is made from a 1917 helmet. The picture makes it look like the normal ones but it's a flat doughboy helmet with modified liner and strap.

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Been taking care of the wife since Thursday but managed to take a break for my favorite Sunday Antique market. Two items today, both pretty cheap for once. A Pennsylvania State Police Troopers hat. Probably not very old, while these haven't changed in as long as I remember, pretty sure they are still using them today. The second item is my first WWII dated duffle bag. When I bought it at the flea market, I thought it said 1943, now having it home and taking photos, it might be 1942.

My wife went in for a series of small surgeries to remove some kidney stones starting Thursday, ended up staying in the hospital unexpectedly overnight and then during surgery 2 found out surgery 1 was all wrong and required surgery 3 to correct, surgery 2 was thus never completed and will be done next Friday. She now has a drainage tube in her kidney which she has to maintain for a week, neither of us is very happy about it.

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Thoughts and Prayers for you and your Wife.

Later 42rocker

Thank you, she's doing a lot better today. Made her own breakfast and is feeling a lot better. She'll have a fourth surgery which was surgery 2 on Friday. Until then, she has a drainage tube in her kidney and has a drip bag for it. No showers or baths until this is done so I hit Walmart today and got sponge bath, dry wash items for her. I also don't have to cook as it's Veterans Day and I get free meals all over the place. Applebee's already agreed to waive the dine in requirement for this evening also, just have to call our order in and pick it up which saves a big line and wait. Applebee's is five minutes from our house. The tube will come out after surgery, but she'll have a catheter in for a few days at least.

I almost didn't go to the flea market today. They kept my wife in the hospital two nights after this surgery. But it was only a minor detour off the regular track, so I figured 15 minutes wasn't going to hurt anything. Only thing that caught my attention was this RAF Air Traffic Controllers helmet. One of those things you have to wonder how it would up in central Pennsylvania but here it is. I can find nothing online concerning them other than the instructional paper.

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About my wife, surgery is considered a success this time, but it is not the last one. She will have a 5th next Friday. This is beyond our wildest expectations, and we are not happy about it. I do understand it a bit better today as I was thinking they were talking millimeters, but they were talking centimeters. The damn thing was the size of a golf ball. Now there is a fragment left that is the size of a marble. They couldn't get all of it because the bleeding made it impossible to see to continue. They have to break it up and then bring it out a tube that a pea could fit through.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

About my wife

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Good luck with all of that.

Golf ball!? Geeze. My best to you both.

Facebook group posted this about my helmet. Original is in Spanish but it translates pretty well.

casco brit?nico ATV

Probably my last post for a while as deer season is the next three weekends, plus it's getting cold and not as many dealers are showing up. Today was the smallest I've seen so far this year. Still made out pretty well with canteens covers, cups and mess kits.

In other news, I started the restoration of the WWI training rifle, it's a tough bird. 3 attempts with gorilla glue to close the crack on the bottom. From the exterior its good but the interior just keeps splitting again as soon as I release the clamps. As the barrel fits in tight as it is, I'm going to epoxy the crack so it won't get worse. Then walnut plugs where needed.

1948 Pith Helmet, decent condition:

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USA marked (first I've seen) 1954 AGM CO canteen

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US 1945 MASSILLON AL CO canteen

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US 1945 EA CO canteen

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1952 Collett MFG CO canteen cover USMC marked (faint but on front)

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US 1953 AS CO canteen cup

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US 1953 MIRRO canteen

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1942 JEFF QMD canteen cover

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1945 US SM INC canteen

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1963 COL MILPAR mess kit

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Can't read a date but has to be WWII due to the color web belt.

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This last is from APEX not the flea market. They claim it's a WWI Finnish shovel. No date so who knows. It is SA marked so Finnish. It came a mess of thick black paint and cosmoline. Of all the things I've cleaned up over the years, this was the worst, the black paint turned into a goo that stuck to everything. 5 coats of citristrip.

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Interesting design. How wide is the inside portion of the grip? Looks like there is a reinforcing rivet through the grip? A washer on either end I'm guessing to inhibit splitting?

It's debatable which hand position is better for digging, but the one thing about grips like that is they pretty much rule out using the e-tool as a weapon or any one-handed slashing motion. Something like a wooden paddle grip might be the best compromise, but the shape is problematic from a splitting point of view.

I cleaned up a WWII P.37/39 entrenching tool recently that came from a garage sale. Someone had used it in the garden until the handle gave out, leaving the collar still stuck in the socket of the head. No name or date, but it has a good ring so well tempered and is clearly no heavier than it needs to be. Overall, I think it's a better concept than the typical miniature shovel e-tool for making a shell-scrape. In hard/frozen or rocky soil the ability to "chop" or "pick" and "drag" seems to be the most effective and the least energy-consuming movement

Inside grip is pretty narrow. It's uncomfortable for me and I don't have huge hands. I could use it but it's tight. There is a reinforcing rivet with washers.

Not motivated enough to go hunting this weekend so hit a couple of antique shops instead. Didn't find much, an IDF tool pouch of some sort that I can't figure out exactly what it's for. Possibly a rifle as they seem fairly common.

Same place had a WWII mess kit, galvanized steel which puts it in 1942 but I couldn't find a marking on it anywhere. After about an hour of looking at it and rubbing it at the house I did find a very faint mark I can't read nor can I match it to any known examples. The US is the only part that can be seen clearly and possibly an O or a C below the U. Might be one I haven't seen yet. I compared to Vollrath, TACU Co and Knapp Monarch but the letters don't line up even close. Markings do not show up at all in photos, even the US. Basically they are filled with the galvanized metal.

Last is a leather holster I had made for my little Austrian pistol. Met the guy at an arts and crafts festival a couple months ago and sent him some photos of original holsters. He finished it a couple of weeks ago but because of my wife's health issues, I couldn't pick it up until yesterday. He got it close. The brass pin isn't correct and I think the magazine pouch is to far forward but it looks nice and I don't plan on carrying it anyway. It's a little sloppier than I like, the magazine pouch area has some cuts and threads that are a bit awkward. For a one off, it's OK.

I've been waiting on a phone call about some bayonets at another shop, I guess I'll have to head up there this morning and see what's up. One's an Italian Vetterli I wouldn't mind having but this guy tends to be on the high side with most items but occasionally he's ridiculously low. Hoping for the later.

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The bayonet trip was interesting. They still didn't have prices on them and it was almost two weeks since the first time I asked. They called the "owner" and turned out he wasn't the owner so they had to track down the right guy. The one guy that is the most disorganized in the entire co-op who never answers his phone. They called, he didn't answer. Guy hangs up and phone rings immediately. It's the owner, not exactly sure what we are talking about but asks for photos which are texted. Hangs up again, shop person says it's the first time in six months he's actually talked to this guy. I wander around the shop for 15 minutes waiting on the price and he comes back almost ridiculously low so both come home. $150 for the pair so long as I took both. Each is worth more than that on today's market. More in Bayonets.

While I was gone, another Finnish shovel was delivered to the house from Apex. This one WWII. They almost completely missed with the SA stamp.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

$150 for the pair

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As you say, cheap at twice the price. Guy hung up to try and look them up but had no idea.

I had a Kropatschek bayonet for years as about the first of my collectables. Bought it when they were worth exactly nothing and no one could tell you what it was. There was no internet to research on either. Now you can't find them.

As for the full length Italian Vetterli, that's probably the first example I've seen uncut. Always cut down and quillon cut with short leather scabbard. Nice piece...nice catch.

The Vetterli's with scabbard are going for $400 now. This doesn't have a scabbard but without around $300 and I needed one for my second Vetterli but wasn't willing to pay that.

The Kropatschek bayonet I didn't need, already have one but I was missing the scabbard. Couldn't pass it up for that price.

He should have known what the Vetterli was. The shop guy said he had it on a rifle that was there, but they put it in the case because they were afraid someone would stick themselves with it. I figured he wouldn't sell it separately as the shop guy reminded him of this over the phone. The rifle was still there, I checked. He wants $800 for that but the tag did not say with bayonet.

Last weekend of Deer season, got nothing, saw just slightly more than nothing. I saw the most deer in my little family group for the season, a whopping 4 over 3 days.

I did manage to get to one antique mall this weekend along with a gun show.

Just a WWI mess kit, 1918 L.F. & C. at the antique mall.

But two pistols at the gun show. One I had orders off Atlantic, a Bulgarian Makarov. Shipped it to Mike. Turned out to be a pretty nice one. Some wear but most of the finish is very good condition. While sitting there doing the paperwork, I asked Mike if he had anything I might be interested in and he mentioned a weird little pistol I might like.

Turned out to be a Walther Model 4 which somehow, I never realized existed. It isn't military marked but has black handgrips which were standard military. It's also an early one, Type 2. Now the search for a holster and spare magazine begins. The search for the Makarov holster is right here in my house. I know I have one somewhere. Probably find the Model 4 holster first.

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Neat little pieces, yes I've seen the Walther before. Not too often though.

Actually found holsters for both in my safe last night. The Makarov holster is correct, the Walther holster will do for now. It’s an unmarked one that had a Browning FN 1910 in it. I have a unissued Luftwaffe holster for that so I moved it.

Fits perfectly but is a little long, maybe half an inch.

For the Browning Model 1922, I'd imagine. I like the Walther.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Actually found holsters for both in my safe last night.

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Pics...

Ebay purchase, Italian WWI pick. Really unusual design.

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---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

Additional pistol pics. It is an FN 1922 holster in all likelihood. It fits but I'll keep looking for a WWI holster. All the ones I see at the moment are ridiculously expensive and beat to crap.

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Very nice...

I'll have to root through the holster drawers to see if got one for the 1922. Just don't recall. That's a nice one, indeed.

That is an interesting design alright. A miniature mattock of a sort.

Presumably the chopping blade was more than just for roots since a blade at right angles to the handle could do that. Perhaps meant to be used as a hatchet also?

Mattock

A mattock is a hand tool used for digging, prying, and chopping. Similar to the pickaxe, it has a long handle and a stout head which combines either a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze (cutter mattock), or a pick and an adze (pick mattock). A cutter mattock is similar to a Pulaski used in fighting fires. It is also commonly known in North America as a "grub axe".

Description
A mattock has a shaft, typically made of wood, which is 3–4 ft (0.9–1.2 m) long.
The head consists of two ends, opposite each other and separated by a central eye. A mattock head typically weighs 3–7 lb (1.4–3.2 kg). The form of the head determines the kind and uses of the mattock.


A cutter mattock combines the functions of an axe and adze, with its axe blade oriented vertically and longer adze horizontally.
A pick mattock combines the function of a pick and adze, with a pointed end opposite an adze blade.
Both are used for grubbing in hard soils and rocky terrain, with the pick mattock having the advantage of a superior penetrating tool over the cutter mattock, which excels at cutting roots.

To clarify as there is no scale, this Italian tool is about the size of the US pick issued to 1 out of half a dozen troops in a unit.

Closing out the year with nothing. I've been sick since Friday. Had plans to hit the antique shops on a family trip on Sunday but didn't go. Stayed home and rested. Planned the local shops today but I'm worse today than the weekend.

May you and your Wife get better in 2025. My Son is also.

Later 42rocker

Both pistols look good in the holsters now. I have to keep my eyes open for those strange firearms you dont have.

Yes, please do. I enjoy the weird stuff you find.