Yard Sales, Flea Markets and Antique Shops 2024

[Aragorn243]

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.

[Aragorn243]

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.

[42rocker]

Thoughts and Prayers for you and your Wife.

Later 42rocker

[Aragorn243]

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.

[Aragorn243]

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.

















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.

[browningautorifle]

About my wife

Good luck with all of that.

[Low & Slow]

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

[Aragorn243]

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

casco brit?nico ATV

[Aragorn243]

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:









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



US 1945 MASSILLON AL CO canteen



US 1945 EA CO canteen



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







US 1953 AS CO canteen cup



US 1953 MIRRO canteen



1942 JEFF QMD canteen cover





1945 US SM INC canteen



1963 COL MILPAR mess kit



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







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.

[Surpmil]

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