Myra Standford left the after-Thanksgiving lines and crowds on Saturday to
die-hard mall shoppers.
The Pembroke Pines woman kicked off the holiday shopping season by hunting
for antiques under a canopy of oak trees in Hollywood.
''It's too crowded,'' she said, referring to heavy mall traffic. ``You need a
bulldozer to get through a store.''
Standford, 61, was among the casual shoppers and avid collectors who visited
Topeekeegee Yugnee Park in Hollywood Saturday for the Antique Festival Under the
Oaks. The two-day festival, which began on Saturday, continues today.
''It's laid-back shopping,'' said Pauline Axile, vice president of festival
producer A & W Productions, adding that about 600 people are expected to
attend the festival across both days. ``No long lines.''
Once through the gate, festival-goers can browse more than 200 tables of
antique and vintage items.
Wind-up trucks, tin lunch boxes and Raggedy Ann dolls conjure up childhood
memories.
Glass goblets, vases and paperweights thrill collectors of household items,
while broaches, bangles and beads in almost every color greet bargain hunters.
Some pieces, such as 1830s photographs and Victorian-era picture frames, have
well more than a century behind them. Other items, like campaign buttons for
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, are a little newer.
Many antique dealers boast their own discounts.
At Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise, shoppers might find a discount Kate Spade
purse or Coach tote bag for $100 or $200.
But at festival vendor Suzanne Alvarez's table, jewelry cases hold replica
Chanel, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton jewelry, most of it for less than $30.
''Most people can't tell the difference,'' she said.
And, like the mall, Alvarez accepts credit cards.
Antique dealer Susan Nightingale said she also thinks some of the antique
items tend to last much longer, especially wooden furniture.
''I always tell my kids to buy old furniture,'' said Nightingale, 58, who
spends half the year in Pompano Beach and the other half in New Hampshire. ``The
old stuff will last forever. It's solid.''
Other shoppers like Christian Schneider came to the festival not for shorter
lines or better bargains, but for the chance to find something unique. Schneider
bought a two-foot-tall wooden trebuchet, which is a medieval catapult.
He said he plans to show it to his middle school students at Pembroke Pines
Charter Middle School, where he includes lessons about the history of technology
in his reading and computer science classes.
