On Sunday I stumbled upon a flea market while walking through the Plaza del Cabildo (pictured), a cool and shady plaza centered by a fountain. Typically the plaza is empty, except for an antique shop and a couple of other stores.
The Mercado Tradicional del Coleccionismo featured mostly stamps, coins, antique postcards and minerals. I bought six beautiful old postcards from Granada and Sevilla and admired a decorative tin box full of old war medals. But the seller told me the tin box, worth no more than ten euros was 40 euros - and that didn´t include the medals! Of course I didn´t bite.
As for the medals, it seems sad that these personal mementoes weren´t wanted by family members of those men who had earned the acknowledgement. Perhaps they were for the wrong war (is there ever a right war??!!).
I saw an old bottle that featured the glass head of a bull and photo of a matador and the word "champagne." It was such a curiosity, I asked the price. But the seller wanted 40 euros, which was too much. The most unexpected thing I saw at the flea market was a black-and-white photo of Orson Welles standing outdoors smoking a cigar, while being interviewed by Spanish television.
I noticed a gallery featuring posters and old tin signs behind the market sellers´ tables. It was closed, but a sign indicated another store was around the corner. So I wrote down information about the poster that interested me, went to the Felix Cartelismo store and waited as the owner helped two women from Montreal. As there was some trouble with their credit card, the women said they´d go to a cash machine and return to pick up their purchases. As soon as they´d left, I asked the manager about the poster. "Come with me," he said, grabbing his keys. And he shut down the gates fronting his shop and took me to the closed gallery.
I really liked the sleek 1930s poster (pictured below) for Hispano-Olivetti typewriters, "la rapidisima." But the seller wanted 1,600 euros, which was over-the-top! And it would take another 1,000 euros to frame it properly, due to its size and the need for optical glass. So I asked if I could photograph it. He said, "Of course and take your time looking around the gallery." Meanwhile, two of his buddies came in and they were laughing and talking, while the women from Quebec were no doubt standing in front of his shop wondering what happened! When I left, he and his buddies were chatting, in no hurry to resume business. It was Sunday, after all!
What an interesting poster...not only is the design fantastic, but who on earth would expect a typewriter and a train in the same ad?! So many adventures already :-)
Posted by: susan | 04 October 2006 at 22:47
I love purple and orange together... great vintage poster. Too bad it was so expensive...I take it they don't barter there?
Posted by: happytiler | 03 October 2006 at 09:45
Great poster, Tara! It sounds like your "adventures" are moving in a more positive direction! xo, d
Posted by: Deborah | 03 October 2006 at 04:09
How great to be able to follow you, step by step Tara. I would love to see the postcards.
Posted by: Britt-Arnhild | 02 October 2006 at 21:13
Ohhhh...what a fantastic poster. The 'chick adores old advertising posters & would LOVE to get her hands on a great big one!!!
Posted by: Roadchick | 02 October 2006 at 18:53
What a fun poster. I love old postcards - I probably would have spent way too much! Thanks for the peek into life in Seville on a Sunday.
Good luck on your first day at school - can't wait to hear all about it!
xox
Posted by: tinker | 02 October 2006 at 18:47