Southern Junkers Vintage Market

Southern Junker Vintage Market
Creator & Founder Ruth Barnes

Southern Junkers Vintage Market is a quarterly event complete with about 65 antique & vintage vendors, concessions and food trucks, art and decorating demos and of course, appearances by the Memphettes.

Originally created as a Facebook community page for people who love antiques, vintage and repurposed items Southern Junkers has evolved into a top notch, high quality shopping event for those of us who love antiquing. 

I first became familiar with Southern Junkers when they were hosting an outdoor flea market event in 2012. My love of vintage drives me to not only purchase old stuff but to encourage The Mister to refurbish and repurpose forgotten pieces for me. You know, to “save” them from the dumpster. I guess you could describe my home décor style as pintrest-kitsch meets an episode of Hoarders. Southern Junkers, to me, had become that place to find that special starter piece for one of my projects.

The Selection of items you will find at Southern Junkers

When the Memphettes became involved with Southern Junkers it was due to the event's expansion and move into the Memphis Agri-Center International. Part of the expansion included entertainment for the guests which came in the form of a Vintage Fashion Show. The first time up we may have aimed too high…one hour long with over 100 outfits with ukuleles and a pirate…ummm…yeah…we overshot a bit. So to Ruth I would like to say I am grateful you found us and invited us but also allowed us to come back and continue to participate in these events. 

Outfits from our first vintage fashion show!

and from our second show which was Rockabilly /
Western themed and full of campy goodness

Southern Junkers Vintage Market has definitely grown into a wonderful shopping and antiquing experience. But, I must comment here with the growth of the market I have noticed more completed, fully restored items versus the starter pieces I have come to look for with this market. There are still plenty of vintage items for a retro gal like me but the selection of these items was smaller this time. So sadly, this time around I must admit my group of ladies and gents purchased less and I found myself breezing past booths which were stocked with those fully restored pieces. Southern Junkers has become an interior decorators dream market, but not so much the vintage lifestyle market I normally shop at. While Southern Junkers is an enjoyable event I do kind of miss the original format where I was able to find pieces I could repurpose with my own flair vs something already upcycled in someone else's style. 

OK so now about our fashion show. This last market represented out third endeavor in the fashion show circuit. This time around we decided to break away from traditional and create something unique for the audience. We went with a multi-media fashion show which integrated on stage models with a series of short silent movies. This time the focus of the fashion show was to highlight trends of the silent movie era and we did so by making our own silent films. It was a lot of fun now enjoy some photos of the market…

A decorators paradise!!

Wait WHAT?…your article is over with just a quick mention of the short films? Well that is a topic all by itself and I plan to share an entire post about the creation and showing of these films. This is what the industry calls a cliffhanger. 

So until next time kids, stay in school, eat your veggies, and listen to your mom when she's talking. See you in the next episode.

Mint Cream Vintage Expo

Over the weekend, the crew of The Memphettes and I were enlisted as entertainment during the Mint Cream Vintage Expo.  Mint Cream is a relatively new market still in its infancy stage and 2017 marked the 2^nd annual event.  The expo is organized and hosted by local vintage queen and blogger Amy Dobbins.  Check out Amy's Blog here. 

First, I must admit the most enticing part of this event for me is the unique location.  The expo is located in a downtown Memphis warehouse which is home to Tad Peirson’s American Dream Safari.  ADS is an indoor vintage trailer park complete with an assortment of vintage trailers and brightly painted hand made tire art and furniture.  Sound weird?  Well it is…weird and wonderful!!  American Dream Safari will also be happy to host you and your friends on a downtown tour of Memphis in vintage cars for a reasonable fee. Honestly, does is it really get any better than touring Memphis in a pink Cadillac?? 

Admission to Mint Cream was a mere $5 with encouragement to bring two cans of food for the Memphis Food Bank.  The market is contained within a relatively small space with about 8-10 vendors selling everything from vintage clothing and accessories to home décor.  There was a food truck and a small classic car show that kicked off at 5pm.  In addition to shopping and eating “Uni-Corn on the Cob” there were several demos that were both educational and entertaining.  Local hair gurus Kasey Dees and “Razor” Rob Brennan were on hand to show how to create the perfect vintage “do”.  Hey guys want the perfect pompadour? Here is a clue…set up an appointment and visit Memphis hair icon “Razor” Rob!  Trust me on this one!

"Razor" Rob Brennan with his model James Hambrick
(MidSouthWeaponX & Brick House Training)

Amy Dobbins, Kasey Dees (Hair Slayer) and her lovely model

 The Memphettes followed up the hair demos with a quick vintage fashion show featuring attire from 1940s-1980’s which accompanied a performance with the retro rocking sounds of Los Psychosis. 

The Memphettes Vintage Fashion Show spanned from 1940 to 1980.
From left to right Row 1: Comanche Rose, Heaven Leigh, Shelly Gowan, Lauren Knight
Row 2: Shelly Gowan, D'elle Memphis, Corinne Hutchison, Comanche Rose
Row 3:Corinne Hutchison, Comanche Rose, Julie Banderob, D'elle Memphis
  

Oh yeah and Little Elvis…how can you forget Little Elvis?  There was a meet and greet/photo op with Little Elvis.  This kid is ADORABLE and the living embodiment of The King in a small child.  I must admit he even looks like Elvis! 

Little Elvis - Isn't he just a doll!!!!  Pictured with mom, Katrina
Photos by RetroPhotography 

Here is what you must know about this market.  If you are looking for antique or boutique style booths with the latest in shiny Pinterest-y goodies this isn't really the place for you.  If you are looking for vintage clothing, accessories, home décor and other bizarre happy treasures this is your kind of place!  The vendors priced items to sell, not to fund their retirement or kid's college fund.  The selections were not vast, but what was there was cool and eye catching.  

Comanche Rose really enjoyed the day at Mint Cream! 

The environment at Tad's is a little on the, shall we say rustic side and while it may not be the most aesthetically appealing place for some people, there is a vibe there that seemed to add to the event.  The crowd had a genuine connection to both the vintage scene and the overall feel of the market.  Vintage enthusiasts left feeling like they had been to a gathering of like-minded folks and it had a familiarity to it that made it more than just a vintage sale.  It seemed kind of like a family get-together.  

Comanche Rose & I had a blast and of course we loved seeing you all!  

Hoping Mint Cream Vintage Expo will be back next year with even more to love.

Until Next Time...