Hot News

Extra date for 2012!

Sunday 29th April.

Bumper gate for last Sunday Show, well over 1,100, great feedback all round.

Quote "this is becoming a MUST DO event", we knew that already, we were just waiting for you to catch up!

Fully booked for the 27th November, 12 dealers on waiting list, raring to go!

We have been fully booked for a fortnight now, and have over a dozen dealers on our waiting list.
We’re fishing for compliments here (see below).
Because of the success of these Sunday Fairs we have managed to secure another date in 2012, April 29th.
As yet this date is not on our flyers but will be after the fair. You are the first to know as we only clinched the deal yesterday.

FISH & CHIPS on Sunday

Anyway this is the Fish...

... And here is the fish with chips (some highly collectable ceramics at Sandown Park come with chips, although we’d rather they didn’t)

Actually Martin Somervail can repair the chips for you, ask in the organisers office.

As well as all our regular dealers Sunday 27th November will feature an additional shoal of angling antiques dealers (minnow-mum 8) having a whale of a time skating around.

That bait should lure in extra customers, fish wives (if you can tackle the bad language), and some fishy customers (security will be alerted).

See our (Salmon) Fly(er) on the web for more details about this reely good fair.

Drop us a line so you don’t make a gaff buying any tackle before then, don’t make a rod for your own back, keep your finances afloat don’t be koi but don’t flounder. Don’t clam up we’re not spinning you a line here. (Raffi can you do better than that? Cod help us if you can)

Don’t forget we are allowing anyone who has paid admission for the Carp Society Show upstairs free admission to our Fair. That should make it a reely record gate. So float along and see if you can net some bargains. (Sorry I can’t help it)

We’ve got nothing else on so we’ll be going,
See you there,
Alan & Ludi.

November 27th Fully Booked!

We have had a fantastic response for our November Fair and are now fully booked. Please ring to go on a waiting list for cancellations.

The Antique Trade Gazette (ATG) are our dear friends and write really great stuff about us, however they (not me this time) have cocked up the listings for November. We are still and always have been on the 27th of November (and not the 19th).

18th October Stall Holder frightened by Trade Stampede!

Cash at the front cheques at the back!

At our last Tuesday Fair one of our stallholders was genuinely frightened by the surge of trade buyers at 11am! We are lending him shin pads and a helmet for next Tuesday and he’s feeling a little more confident.

Our October Fair always has a bevy of new dealers and is our most popular fair of the year.

Further mischief on Tuesday 18th October,
How fast can you drive?
Arthur Swallow’s Donnington Fair is this morning @ 6.30am – 1pm.
2nd day of Little Chelsea, 10 – 6pm (if you didn’t catch the first day, do this on the way home)

RED ALERT EPSOM, the ATG (and probably another few papers) lists Epsom as on today, and it was listed on the Epsom website until recently, in fact it was cancelled early on in the year so spread the word in case others get there at 9am.

Also don’t forget that our regular fair on Sunday 27th November will feature an additional shoal of angling antiques dealers (minnow-mum 8) having a whale of a time skating around.
That bait should lure in extra customers, fish wives (if you can tackle the bad language), and some fishy customers (security will be alerted).
See our (Salmon) Fly(er) on the web for more details about this reely good fair.
Drop us a line so you don’t make a gaff buying any tackle before then, don’t make a rod for your own back, keep your finances afloat don’t be koi but don’t flounder. Don’t clam up we’re not spinning you a line here. (Raffi can you do better than that? Cod help us if you can)

Don’t forget we are allowing anyone who has paid admission for the Carp Society Show upstairs free admission to our Fair. That should make it a reely record gate! (Sorry I can’t help it)

As always highest quality antiques

and a growing number of vintage fashion & textile exhibitors

Cash at the front, cheques at the back,
Don’t panic everyone will be served!
See you there

Alan & Ludi Kipping.

Next years dates!

2012
Tuesdays - January 17th, April 3rd, May 22nd, & October 16th.

Sundays - February 19th (International Whistle Day), March 11th, June 24th (Quilting and Sewing Special), September 9th & December 2nd.

See what the ATG says about us!

Gearing up for Sunday 27th November

Phil Waller is spearheading our Angling Antiques special on 27th November. We have 6 specialist angling dealers already booked, and expect a record gate as we are letting anyone who has paid £10 to see the Carp Society's huge show upstairs free admission to the Fair. So expect bored angling widows and girlfriends buying armfuls of jewellery and decorative objets de vertu . Also expect anglers keen to buy sell or trade ANYTHING to do with fish. You have been warned!

Free Entry to Sandown Antique Fair* this Tuesday 21st June

* For all Druids on their way back from the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge! (In full Druid regalia)

Any easy journey from Stonehenge, down the A303, watch dawn come up through the stones and STILL be in time to come to Sandown.

As usual, as a ritual sacrifice, a votive whistle will be hammered flat on the anvil of prosperity at 12 noon. This should please the gods and ensure a good days trading! (must remember to bring the anvil of prosperity and not the anvil of destiny!)

As well as all the usual suspects, we have new blood among others from Plymouth, Taunton, Hertfordshire, Sussex and Surrey.

Bringing jewellery, folk art, ceramics, writing slopes, prints and arts and crafts, all unseen at Sandown before. Vintage continues to be our strong suite without detracting from our loyal antiques clientele, vintage wedding dresses featuring this fair.

On a more sober note, our new admission policy has solved our thieving problems. We have had no reported thefts for 3 or 4 Fairs now.

And don't forget, as well as all our regulars, vintage angling antiques feature at our Sunday show on 27th of November.
We have a dozen tackle dealers promised for November.

See you next Tuesday,

Alan & Ludi.

Crutches, International Whistle collectors, and younger clientele.

Crippled organiser Limps in to meet international whistle collectors. Norway, Portugal and England complete for whistles at the fair, Portugal won.

Despite being on crutches having broken his foot playing tickle monster with the grandchildren, our heroic founder still did the full days work at the last 2 fairs.

Because all our flyers are now printed as postcards, whistle collector, Miguel Alves (weighing in at 2,400 whistles all different) flew in from Portugal as a result of getting one through post! Miguel also managed to buy a very rare general service pea whistle with rounded windows and milled end caps for £3 at the fair. Our February Fairs always coincide with International Whistle Day.

The last Sunday at Sandown hit the winning formula.

Antiques AND Vintage, regular Trade buyers AND plenty of young blood, rockabilly’s and young families, AND an overcast sky. Overcast sky and no rain – Alan’s favourite weather – too grey to go to the coast for the day – not bad enough to stay indoors – let’s go to that antique and vintage fair!

1,200 through the door at the last Sunday Fair at Sandown Park! Including 73 free admissions, not bad for a 150 plus stand Fair.

Large Trade Queue, brisk buying, several dealers report a record day.

One fabulous photograph we missed was the young couple leaving with their daughter about 3 years of age, the dad had a vintage wooden rocking horse under his arm and his daughter was beaming! That’s what we’re all about, providing moments like that!

Quite a few of our dealers are unique to us. They value the fact that we look after them, and that the fairs are always at sociable hours. You don’t have to get up in the early hours. The parking and unloading is easy. In all honesty we spoil them so much that some of them won’t do any other fairs.

We have always had a policy of tempting new people into the fair, people who wouldn’t normally come. We do this by generously distributing our “Do you know it’s free entry after one p.m. with this handbill?” - “No but if you start I’ll join in the chorus” leaflets.

(Free after 1 offer only valid with the original flyers, not printouts of this page – sorry)

In fact the Graphic Design team at Wonder Whistle is now issuing some of their classic flyers as postcards, for details and prices please contact the office.

Alan & Ludi.

1,400 through the door at the last Sunday Fair at Sandown Park!

Our public gate includes more and more young families and couples drawn in by the fact that we now call some of our antiques ‘vintage’. Same fabulous objects, but viewed from a different angle.

International Whistle Day saw over a dozen serious whistle collectors at the blow-in at 12 noon. Several collectors had taken stands for the day, many whistles changed hands on the day and out of print whistle books were available to buy. Of the half a dozen whistles shown on the flyer, one was worth over a thousand pounds, could you have picked it out?

There are dealers and there are dealers, but when a dealer chooses to exhibit on their Ruby Wedding Anniversary, you know they are calibre traders. Regular exhibitors Charles and Margaret Hanreck were presented with champagne and roses as a token of gratitude for their longstanding loyalty. They wouldn’t miss the fair for the world, they said.

The Lighter Club of Great Britain have taken a block booking of stands for Wonder Whistles next Sunday Fair on the 10th of April. Once again all dealers will be encouraged to bring all their lighter related antiques for sale or valuation. The flyer for the fair shows nine lighting implements and invites readers to guess the value. Most people are staggered by how much these highly collectable beautifully made contraptions are worth. People will be motivated to dust off the smoking paraphernalia they all put aside for health reasons not so long ago. The fair is bound to generate a huge amount of interest in this fascinating collecting arena.

The prize for guessing the values of all the lighters correctly is a vegetarian breakfast for one at an Angus Steak House (before 7am). The second prize is an aluminum and plexi-glass storm porch. Answers on a postcard please (see below).

The Graphic Design team at Wonder Whistle is now issuing some of their classic flyers as postcards, for details and prices please contact the office.

For High Res images for publication,
Sample postcard, and as many whistles as you can eat,
Please email the team, or call us on 020 7249 4050,

God bless,
Alan & Ludi.

No it’s not all whistles, it’s our usual Antique Fair with a few extras.

Antiques and Vintage and a few Whistles to coincide with: - International Whistle Day 20th February 2011

I’m in trouble AGAIN, we’ve had 2 phone calls asking us whether it’s just whistles on the 20th of February (I wish). So I’m in the dog house for not making it clear enough on the leaflets!

So to be clear, it’s our usual fair with all your regular dealers.
Our dealers will be bringing any whistles they have to the fair.
We have a number of experts to value and identify any whistles brought into the fair.
We have a resident Whistle specialist in attendance.
We also have the top whistle valuer, possibly in the world, on video link from Norway.
We are in negotiation with several Whistle collectors who will bring along their duplicates to sell or swop.

Traditionally, on International Whistle Day everyone stands outside at 12 noon on the dot local time and blows their favourite whistle, along with whistle aficionados across the world.

Vintage news

Josie Crisp will be bringing a stunning 60’s coach built Osnath Pram in cream with green trim for around £200.

Our last Sunday event was buzzing, we had a record gate and business was brisk.

Don’t miss this unique winning blend of Antiques and Vintage, especially if you’ve got nothing on that day (see flyer below).

See you there

And keep calm (see flyer below)

Alan & Ludi and the Wonder Whistlers.

BETTER DEAL FOR THE TRADE AT OUR TUESDAY FAIRS!

There were fifty more stallholders at the last Tuesday fair because of our new policy of supporting our exhibitors to unload before the trade entered. Obviously the more stands we have the better for everybody including the trade.

We also had only one reported theft, and that was later on in the day. Most of our previous thefts occurred during the first half an hour when thieves would take advantage of the chaotic situation.

The hall was well policed and we evicted over twenty dealers who on that first day had obtained tickets from stallholders. Some of the trade said they preferred it that stallholders were ready to sell at 11am. Some trade however were worried that despite all our efforts, goods were still being traded.

The confidence of the trade is important to us, so we are now instigating the following compromise, which we think is fair to all.

TO SUMMARISE :-
EFFECTIVE FROM OUR TUESDAY 18TH JANUARY FAIR 2011.

NO STOCK TO BE UNPACKED BEFORE 11am.
STALL CLOTHS, SHELVES AND LIGHTING CAN BE SET UP.
ALL STOCK MUST BE KEPT IN BOXES UNDER OR BEHIND THE STALL
AND ANY LARGER ITEMS COVERED WITH A CLOTH.
THE UNLOADING TIME WILL BE REDUCED TO 20 MINUTES.
AFTER UNLOADING DEALERS MUST REMAIN BEHIND THEIR STANDS AT ALL TIMES.

YOU ARE REMINDED THAT YOUR STALLHOLDERS PASSES ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE.
Previously some stallholders have given (or sold) their spare tickets to friends and trade. For this new system to work it is imperative that you do not do this from now on. There must be no trade in the hall during unloading. This maintains the level playing field we have always offered. Everybody with an exhibitors pass MUST be a genuine stallholder and MUST stay until the fair closes at 4pm.
TUESDAY FAIRS ONLY Sunday Fairs remain unaffected.

Alan & Ludi.