The Vintage Bazaar: Lincoln Square, Chicago
On Friday, Liz had heard about an event this weekend called The Vintage Bazaar – held at the Dank Haus German Cultural center in Lincoln Square.
The event was somewhat short, and scheduled for 12 – 5PM. Given the afternoon start time, I expected there to be an incredible line greeting us when we arrived. We showed up maybe 20 minutes early, and were actually among the first non-vendors there.
Main signage at the entrance.
Even the email list signup had a nice vintage feel to it…
Right near the entrance, there was a side room with several tables and chairs. It was actually a pretty fantastic little bar area, where they were serving tamales, cupcakes, coffee and beer.
Main floor, looking in from the entrance.
Looking out towards the space. Though it was only one room, there were tons of vendors packed in to this area. This was taken shortly after the event started, and it’s still relatively small in terms of the crowd.
Liz, finding a dish she likes. The stuff we ended up buying came from this place (Pretty. Quirky.), which was in its own little room right by the entrance. Given the traffic that flooded here after the crowds arrived, I’m betting that location was both a gift and a curse.
The space, with all the details along the doors, walls and ceiling, was pretty spectacular.
As I was standing around watching the flow of people coming in, I noticed a small group walk through pointing at the ceiling and talking about the “reception area.” It seemed they were planning to hold a wedding reception here, which I could totally see.
Seeing an old Nintendo for sale, with a laptop not too far away. Felt a little old.
Not sure what this is for, but it looked gorgeous.
Chandelier and some details from the ceiling.
This was taken at the other end of the room. There was a small stage area, and I hopped up for a better view.
Happened by a booth with some old, old, photo/sticker packs from Yo! MTV Raps, In Living Color and Garbage Pail Kids.
Closeup view.
I remember having several of these, as a kid…
At a nearby booth (Schmoo1515), I spotted some old mini alcohol bottles from the 1960’s.
Also nearby, a small button maker and supplies.
Looking at these, I was reminded of Christen and the awesomeness that is Busy Beaver Button Company.
Back near the entrance. At this time, the event really started to pick up, and it looked like folks were just filing in. As I was waiting around for Liz, I decided to shoot about 6 minutes of just crowd shots, of people walking in and walking by.
A final view of the booths. I like how striking the woman in blue is, compared to everyone else around her. Total accident.
As we were getting some items wrapped up and boxed for us, Liz and I settled in the bar area for a bit of a rest. Tipsy Cake had a lot of great looking stuff on display.
Cupcakes aplenty.
The cupcakes were very tiny, but also very delicious.
As we were sitting, I spotted a few of the event organizers walking around to and fro. One or two of them were celebrating quietly, sipping on a beer. But I also spotted some exchanges between the organizers – a bit of an eyebrow raise here and there. I think they were all expecting a big crowd, but perhaps not quite expecting things to get as crazy as they did.
I’m really glad we showed up early, and I’ll be curious to hear about how the remainder of the afternoon went. By the time it was 1PM, it seemed like the room was pretty jam packed, and I can only imagine it got busier as the day went on.
As a first time event, The Vintage Bazaar seemed to go off really well. Given the crowds and the interest, I’m expecting there will be a second one sometime really soon.
Related:
Paper Source: Warehouse Sale, 2006
Paper Source: Warehouse Sale, 2007<
br />Renegade Holiday Craft Fair 2007, Pulaski Park Fieldhouse
The Postcard Machine
Renegade Craft Fair, 2007
Renegade Craft Fair, 2006
Renegade Craft Fair, 2005
Renegade Craft Fair, 2004
Hey there — thanks for stopping by the Bazaar. I was one of the organizers in the corner sipping a beer. Probably 10 minutes after that moments we went down to the lobby to start crowd control — letting 10 people in as each 10 people left. We had about 3x the turnout we expected — which was awesome, but we do wish people had a little more room to browse all the awesome stuff the vendors brought. In any case, we’ll announce another market soon.I love your photo essay and comments — and the video! Thanks so much for posting.
Katherine (March 1, 2010 at 8:19 am)Wow, Katherine – you found this site FAST! This post was barely 4 hours old. That’s some fancy Internet sleuthing!Congrats on a great event, and color me impressed with the crowd management. Liz and I walked out with a good deal of stuff, so I may have missed the enormous line winding around the building.Guess I was right about there being another event soon? Betting you guys will need a bigger space next time around, as I suspect you’ll draw in more vendors and more folks.
avoision (March 1, 2010 at 9:20 am)Wonderful post and thanks so much for coming to the Bazaar. Your photos are so great. And…I have to laugh at your description of Katherine and me trying to figure out how to manage the crowd.
libby (March 1, 2010 at 9:36 am)This looks like it was FULL of awesomeness! Just signed up for the email list… hoping to catch another one sometime soon.
Allison (March 1, 2010 at 12:17 pm)Nice pics! We were stuck in our booth throughout the whole event (not complaining–it was so damn busy!) so it’s nice to see some pics from the whole space. xoxoxo, Team H
Team H (March 1, 2010 at 1:06 pm)Thanks so much for posting this! We didn’t get a chance to take any pictures at all, or even walk around (to echo Team H’s remarks). Looking forward to the next one. ~Robyn & Joe, SecondHandSquared
Robyn (March 2, 2010 at 1:14 am)Thanks for including me in your post! Hopefully buttons and custom buttons will be available online soon!Amy
schmoo1515 (March 4, 2010 at 9:19 am)Haha! The striking woman in blue is my friend Shannon and Etsy shop partner…thanks for this great wrap-up. We had a wonderful time at the bazaar.
Alison (March 4, 2010 at 11:58 am)Thank you for such a great review on the Bazaar! I love your photo of me in the crowd (woman in blue). It puts a really different spin on what was running through my head at the moment (mainly fantasizing about sitting down for a few minutes).
Shannon (March 4, 2010 at 7:59 pm)Wow, I’m impressed that so many of you who were vendors at the event found this post. And so many of you have websites, blogs and Twitter accounts. Tech savvy entrepreneurs, the lot of you!
avoision (March 4, 2010 at 10:40 pm)