It's ages since I've been able to have a proper mooch around a car boot sale, and with a three-year old in tow I still didn't get to do so this Sunday. But, at least I did get to go to one!
It was the first time that I've been to the regular Sunday market at the Herts Showground since it was taken over by a new company. Like most car boots that I was familiar with it used to be held in the morning and getting there with small kids was pretty tough. Now though it's an afternoon sale making it much more likely that I can actually attend. Their own website keeps you on your toes though by telling you that it is indeed an afternoon sale, but then also quoting entry prices for 10.30am onwards?!? Confusing.
As I was trying to make sure Little Miss C didn't get too bored or sun-burnt whilst we were there I decided to concentrate on looking for vintage toys and children's books. No real luck on the toys, but a few gems on the book front.
I've mentioned before about collecting vintage Enid Blyton books and it was lovely to find another in the Dean published range that I didn't already have – The Adventurous Four Again. As it was in excellent condition I was delighted to pay only 50p for it.
When I happened across a local Scout group stall it was nearly the last one we got to and they were just starting to pack away. I wasn't expecting much from the huge pile of children's books, but it's always worth a rummage – especially seeing as everything was only 10p each, or 15 books for a £1. Talk about a bargain!
Here I managed to find another Enid Blyton to add to my collection – this rather large Tell me a Story Book, which was published in 1982. The illustrations in this really are from a different age and many of them feature a golliwog, which you certainly wouldn't see today.
Whilst looking through the books one rather plain looking one grabbed my attention, mainly as it wasn't in the bright primary colours of all the other books in the pile.
All Play and No Work by William Avery was first published in 1901 and although this book says that it is a sixth edition there is no indication of when it was published. However, inside the front cover is a book plate showing that it was awarded to Ben Hudson on 18th March 1929 as a Sunday School prize. I love it when you find something like this.
Did you find anything at a car boot this weekend?
We have got three vintage Enid Blyton books and I love them. They are sat up high on a shelf in my daughters room where little fingers can’t reach them 😉
I should say that most of my vintage childrens books are on shelves in my room rather than in my kids rooms!