Summer 2010=Summer of Love?

Note: The Fort Greene outdoor market happens every Saturday; One Hanson is on Sundays indoors. Both 10am-5pm.

When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

From left (click to enlarge):
1. Saturday: Telex 610-1 headphones, '60s. Vintage

2. Sunday: Sack cloth and wool embroided hippie bag, '70s. Vintage

One Hanson has been kicking ass lately, so in turn we're kickin' it old-school (like, Winter 2010 yo) and adding more vendors in the vault and lower level starting this Sunday. No food like in the winter, but lots of antiques, furniture, clothing—ya know, Flea stuff, but with room for folks to spread out and display larger pieces, which can be tough on the ground floor and mezzanine. The vault's gotten a makeover since you last saw it, check it out. The arched and gilded foyer at the bottom of the stairs is worth the trip alone, and Olde Good Things will be taking it over with their amazing architectural salvage, mirrors, and hog oilers. More new folks coming next Sunday too.

What: Bobby Hill's brilliantly colored artwork is created in three layers: first it's hand-painted, then screen-printed, then spray-painted, to create a unique or limited-edition piece of art. Themes of New York locals and iconic figures like Dylan and Gillespie tend to be his hottest commodity at the Flea.
How much: Starting at just 10 dollars.
What else: As Hill prepares for a show called "Bhillboard" in September, he is strategically placing 1000 pieces of work around New York City streets and subways for delightful stumbling-upon. Found one? Bring it to the show on the 11th to get it signed by the artist. Find out when and where here.
Who else: Mario of Avalon Books is Bobby's book-selling booth-mate who sells popular titles in hardcover and paperback. Digital "books" might be outselling physical on Amazon, but we Fleasters still enjoy flipping the pages.
When+Where: Mario with the books is every Saturday and Sunday, and Bobby with the art is there most Saturdays and every Sunday. E29 in Fort Greene, #53 at One Hanson.

What: Bourbon-Coffee Caramel Corn with Candied Bacon. It's deliciously decadent (obv!), crunchy, sweet, and salty with a grown-up punch. Not necessarily recommended with milk in the morning, but perfect at your next cocktail party!
What else: Barley Tea and Honey Lollipops, and a selection of caramels like the cult-fave Beer and Pretzel, Fig-Ricotta, Sea Salt, and Chocolate Sea Salt. And much more from the kitchen candy scientists Liz and Jen.
How much: 5 bucks a bag, which is 100% biodegradable, as is all their packaging.
When+Where: Every (every!) weekend at both Fleas (unless the Fort Greene heat melts their sweets), and online at liddabitsweets.com/.

Stunned that no one found/wanted the stripey disco top. But a smart Singaporean found the label maker.

Check back at noon Friday for this week's items.

(Click to enlarge)
Alexis (left) was visiting from Singapore, wanted to hit the Fort Greene Flea, too tired after the long flight. Must've been fate, as she came to One Hanson in search of vintage clothes (easy) and a pink or cursive typewriter. She was in the Brady & Kowalski booth for the third time checking out their awesome vintage machines, and the Dymo mini LabelWriter caught her eye—the Hunt item from the website! She was totally psyched.

She's with Donna, who's half of Brady & Kowalski, the "writing machine" dynamic duo. They've got everything from powder-blue Italian '60s early electric typewriters to antique-style manual models to pretty writing paper and more. Their booth is always decked to the nines too. Donna adds her Re-Surface design line at One Hanson, which features funky stuff like microphone hanging lights and table lampshades made from Brooklyn graffiti photos. Super cool stuff.

Donna will be sharing a portion of her massive Dymo stash at a "Community Collections" exhibit in September at the venerable and worthy City Reliquary on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. Find her and Ms. Kowalski every Saturday in Fort Greene (W37) and every Sunday at One Hanson (#66).

The book drive for the New Orleans middle school rebuilt after Katrina was a smash last Saturday, so we thank everyone for their donations on behalf of ReadThis, who organized the project.

The 270 books donated or bought surpassed expectations, and the students of Andrew Jackson Middle School in St. Bernards Parish are grateful. Kudos also to Greenlight Bookstore for providing the books for sale and help with staff. Go team!

A bonanza of bonafide ink, virtual and actual, hits the stands this week.

A true coup, The New Yorker's opening photo this week is from the Fort Greene Flea. Yola Monakhov took it, and you can see the pic in the slideshow on their website. Longtime New Yorker devotees, we're excited about this one.

New York's Adam Platt sampled 8 new artisanal locally made sodas, and selected Flea newcomer and instant hit Brooklyn Soda Works as the vinner. Congrats to Caroline and Tony, whose red currant-cardamom flavor was loved up in its debut Saturday. Sounds like they'll be available at Bierkraft soon too!

The Daily News ran a cute 50 Things that Make New Yorkers Smile roundup today, and the Flea made it in at a respectable #49. (Seeing Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is #25, so we don't feel slighted.)

The August issue of Delta's Sky in-flight magazine lists the Flea in the same top-five breath as global bedrocks such as London's Portobello Market, Brimfield, and the Rose Bowl—serious brethren! Plus, Marky Mark's on the cover.

National shelter mag Traditional Home has a big Brooklyn travel feature this month that includes some nice Flea shout-outs. Worth a read for their well-researched designer coverage and cool hand-drawn map (above).

Map image courtesy Traditional Home.

Hot hot hot!

Note: The Fort Greene outdoor market happens every Saturday; One Hanson is on Sundays indoors. Both 10am-5pm.

When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

From left (click to enlarge):
1. Saturday: Striped '80s disco top in stretchy jersey lycra. Vintage

2. Sunday: Blue Dymo LabelWriter. Vintage

What: Circa 1940 Drafting Table. Jaybird is sweetheart Joe Heidecker's longtime antiques biz—he defected from the Garage for Day One, been back every week ever since. Nicest guy you'll ever meet, treks in from Suffolk County with his funky take on mid-century vintage: furniture, housewares, lots of glass, bright colors, great prices.
What else: Vintage, industrial, mid-century table-top objects, decoratives, and furnishings. Find the cutest cocktail glasses for your Mad Men premiere party or a selection of science-lab beakers for your cooking spices. Joe also uses his eye for Fleain' in his work as an artist too!
How much: 200 bucks.
When+Where: Every Sunday at One Hanson (booth #7, on the righthand aisle).

This Saturday the Flea is proudly hosting a book drive to stock the library of a New Orleans public school, Andrew Jackson Middle School, that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina (above) and has been rebuilt and is set to reopen August 11. The ReadThis non-profit is operating the drive, and they'll have a couple of tables at the Lafayette Ave. entrance on Saturday.

Andrew Jackson MS is in St. Bernards Parish, which was among the areas hit hardest by Katrina, and now the BP oil spill is adding to the community's woes. We want to help.

ReadThis is an awesome all-volunteer non-profit that promotes access to books (public schools without libraries, troops overseas, hospital pediatric wards, homeless shelters); we heard about them and the NOLA drive through our pal author Jeffrey Rotter (The Unknown Knowns).

Here's how you can help:
1. Bring middle-school-level books to the Flea on Saturday and drop them off at the ReadThis table. (They'll ship them to the school.)
2. Buy a new book for the school from Fort Greene's Greenlight Bookstore, which will also have a table on Saturday.
3. Send books yourself—email ReadThis for more info. (Use that email if you want to help staff the Flea table too.)

Thanks!

What: Mel and Steve's Fresh Squeezed Limeade Soda: a delightfully sharp and tangy thirst-quencher, modeled on the Vietnamese lime/lemon "squash" sold alongside street food.
What else: Asia Dog provides seven Asian-inspired toppings for \ beef, chicken, or veg dogs. Try the "Mash," a spicy ketchup, jalapeno, mustard, and crushed potato chip explosion. Delish!
How much: 3 bucks for a pint.
When+Where: Every (every!) weekend at both Fleas, at every SummerStage concert in Central Park, and online at asiadognyc.com.

Finally, winners both days! It was hot, but the Hunters kept their cool. They also got in early to beat the heat—and all you late-sleeping Scavengers.

Check back at noon Friday for this week's items.

From left (click to enlarge):
Saturday: Tessa (with the winning dolphin/anchor/lighthouse tie) lives in Clinton Hill, and is a recent transplant from California. Rob asked how the Flea stands up to the left coast, and she said we do OK, especially the yummy food. We'll assume she meant it as a compliment.

Tessa is next to Travis Sylvester (second from left—she also dragged a couple of her friends into the photo at the last minute), who is a staple of the Flea's mens-vintage suite. Check tall Travis for blazers, trousers, vests, shoes, and of course his nice rack of meticulously arranged ties, which has been photographed a million times. Travis is less trendy, more affordable and utilitarian, giving the people what they need, which is why he's popular week in-week out. He's also not afraid to rock lime-green pants with a pink oxford, yellow tie, and red cap. Where's Travis? He's in W39 every single Saturday.

Sunday: Ariel (right) says she Fleas all the time, which is easy for her since she lives a block from the Fort Greene market. She ventured further afoot Sunday to One Hanson, and found the leather wrap bracelet before 11am. Here's what we know about Ariel: her birthday was last Friday (woot!) and she plays the Japanese drums. She's probably a pretty cool person based on that.

She's alongside the lovely (seriously) Holland, who works jewelry designer Elma Blint's booth at the Flea. Elma's been at the markets since Day One, and her elegant but affordable necklaces, rings, and bracelets are always at the cutting edge of Brooklyn style. She's got quite the following, and even opened her own little sliver of a shop, Baubles + Thorn, down the block from the Fort Greene market, at 111 Lafayette Ave., near S. Oxford St. Find Elma (and Holland) in Fort Greene (B2) and One Hanson (#50) every darn weekend.

A midsummer Hunt's scheme: Style on Saturday, sass on Sunday.

Note: The Fort Greene outdoor market happens every Saturday; One Hanson is on Sundays indoors. Both 10am-5pm.

When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

From left (click to enlarge):
1. Saturday: Vintage necktie with stripe/maritime pattern. Vintage

2. Sunday: Multi-wrap leather bracelet with hammered gold balls. Handmade