At 4 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, young vintage clothing buyers were gathering in a series of vast fields dotted with white tents flanking a quiet stretch of country road in rural Massachusetts. In the darkness, they yawned and chatted with friends, occasionally sipping Celsius energy drinks and hitting flavored vapes.
These early birds, nearly all young men, had a similar look: wide-legged work pants or military camouflage, faded sweatshirts, vintage caps and either a canvas newsboy bag or a blue plastic IKEA tote over their shoulder for their spoils. At this flea market, in Brimfield, Mass., seasoned veterans sometimes refer to this crowd as “those IKEA bag kids.”
“The energy shifts pretty heavily when the West Coast boys are out here — and it is mostly the boys,” said Xavier Andreu, a vintage seller who has been attending the flea for 25 years. “It makes it a little bit less fun,” he admitted.
It’s not hard to see why that might be. Any Brimfield old-timer will tell you that the storied flea market, which dates back to 1959 and was once called a “showroom on steroids” by this newspaper, has long been a frenzy. And there have always been those who wake up before dawn to walk the giant lots in search of hodgepodge treasures.
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