Event Coverage My 2011 Iola, WI swap meet photos--

This is part 2 of my summer vacation to the big nationwide Iola, Wisconsin swap meet.
Things got started at noon on Wednseday as Lawrence (favorite brother in law) and I arrived on set up day for the vendors. Since we weren't allowed to enter the show grounds unitll 3 PM we had time to kill so we met up with my personal banker Frank (grouchySS) and his lovely wife and my good friend Swap Meet Cindy downtown in the village of Iola. They are from Lincoln, NE and were spending the week in the area on vacation.

 

Here is a photo of Lawrence with Cindy---

 

We walked across the street and headed for lunch at local favorite Crystal Cafe. This is a wonderful place with made from scratch home cooking and nice friendly staff and the place is really clean too. We ate salads for a light lunch and caught up on our travels to the great north.

 

Then it was time for set up. I didn't have much to do really. I brought an EZ up tent, a bunch of lawn chairs, 2 coolers, and a table with a few parts to sell on it. The grassy hills of the show grounds goes from empty to full very fast. An overnight tent city transforms a small village just like the carnival or circus would bring excitement to the life of rural areas in days gone by. I just love being a small part of this metamorphisis.

 

This is what my little space looked like. It was well marked so Hamb friends could find me----and they did---

 

Fast forward to Thursday morning. We entered the grounds at 6 am and got ready to buy and sell. The treasure hunt was on----
Right away I pounced on a 1937 Ford flathead 60 HP and tranny that is supposed to be a good runner. It is a beauty to look at. Also got some aluminum heads for it and some chrome acorn nuts for dressing it up. Not going to show photos of it yet. I want to paint it first---but I am super excited about this purchase!

 

Then I bought valve covers-----
Chrysler hemi, Desoto hemi, finned aluminum Corvette, and Rocket Olds---! very cool stuff.

 

Then it was time to rest. My crew had been on the hunt as well. L bought a ton of stuff---big spender---
Frank and Cindy bought some small things but were having fun. You know how conservative bankers can be---however, they did score 3 metalflake vintage helmets including a hard to find black one-
Anyway Cindy decided I needed to sell something so she moved front and center in my booth and commenced to using her charm on the folks passing by. As you might guess, she sold all of my stuff in no time flat. Even though I didn't take much to sell, it really helped pay some expenses to have some money come in.

 

Random shots I took walking by. I took these to show my pal Rich Venza in GA and hope the rest of you will like them as well.

 

more pics

 

and some more random photos

 

I liked this Kaiser Vagabond but really had a cheap paint job over that was coming off in places. But very cool and was $8500 or so.

 

more shots here:

 

One of my friends bought the super rare Hurst clock----

 

Then it was time to sit and rest a spell....
Wasn't long till I had company---and I love to meet with new and old friends alike!
Big fun for me---
Here is green56Ford (Larry) from Osceola, WI who told me alot of cool stories about a 32 Ford he is building for a customer and metal meet stuff he is invloved in. I like Larry alot. He was also a vendor and Lawrence bought some nice 52 Merc stuff from him.

 

And 2 of my favorite pals are Dick and Eric from Port Washington, WI. I met Dick a few years ago at a hardware store in his town while I was on vacation. He loaned me some tools and Eric helped me do the repair. Been good friends ever since. See them a few times a year now at car events. Dick has the NICEST 56 Chevy you could ever see anywhere. They hung out with us for 2 days----

 

I like your pictures because I get to see everything I missed.

 

And remember Dr. Dave from Conway, Arkansas who has perhaps the coolest dentist office on the planet Earth? With all the car stuff decor? He stopped by to chat for a minute. Was nice to meet you Dave....come back anytime..

 

Then this real "wingut" of a guy stopped by and helped me drink some cold liquids and he and his buddy Scott talked shop for awhile. Mark was giving me go fast "secrets" to hop up my Model A to help me beat BCR in our upcoming match race later this month in Salina. This racing stuff kinda overwhelmed me so I decided we should eat lunch. Nothing special, just burgers and chips and homemade milkshakes-----thick and heavy on the chocolate---yum. These local non for profit vendors at this show could teach DQ and McDonalds how to make and serve fast food. I was impressed. --
Oh, and Mark gave me some old wiring off his new purchase 40 Ford dash to sell in my booth. So "nice" of him....we sell anything at PF.

 

All the food is served up by volunteer Lion's Clubs or Fire dept's and so forth. This is a big fund raising event for them. They know what to do and do it well.

 

Speaking of my pictures......my pal Inlaw Model A stopped by with his two boys who love cars. These Cub Scouts are just like Dad....I watched them bargain for and buy some matchbox cars at the booth next to me while their Dad was not even watching. They are pros! Then they took off their shoes and got comfortable at Camp Poverty Flats and played with the cars as Paul talked to us. Come back anytime guys....

 

More random photos of stuff for sale

 

and more

 

This photo is for my personal bodyguard Gasserlouie who was back home in Lincoln, Nebraska. He loves "Mel Tillis" speed parts.

 

I like toy cars---and this booth had some good ones! Wow--

 

I bought this fleet of cheap plastic Ford coupes that were NOS and Made in America.
They are 7 inches long and look cool.

 

Then I spotted this sleek old Pinewood Derby race car and I bought it.
I now challenge my pal BCR (Mike) from Ellis, KS to a match race in his adult Derby race-----bring it on big boy---this car might be fast!!!!!

 

And speaking of BCR---I need some work done on our 57 Chevy at his restoration shop and am willing to pay the current shop rate as advertised on this sign I found.

 

more cool stuff

 

more good stuff