- flea Market finds •
Tipping the
Step up your vintage collection
game with antique scales.BY LESLIE SAETA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICTORIA VAN VLEARScale
M
y dad collected vintage scales for
years. His collection consisted of
nearly 100 scales. I bought my first
scale on a flea-market trip with
my father at the Rose Bowl Flea
Market in Los Angeles. He spent the entire day showing
me the different scales, helping me understand their
value and identifying the importance of the weights that
come with a scale.
Vintage scales come in every shape and size and are
often made out of metal and ceramic. My dad had scales
that weighed eggs, coins, postage, gold, medicine, meat
and butter, to name a few.
It was on that same flea-market
shopping day with my dad that I saw
my first Dayton scale. The significance
was huge, because I was born in
Dayton, Ohio. A few years later, my
parents surprised me on my birthday
with a gorgeous Dayton scale. My
father said it took him a few years to
find just the right one.
When my parents downsized their
home a few years ago, my dad asked
each of his five children to pick out
some of his scales. I always loved the
brass scale with the candle that was
in their entry room. It now sits in our
entry room too.
Vintage scales can be found for
a few dollars or up to hundreds of
dollars. I always suggest you collect
what you love. Don’t get caught up
in the expensive brands, but find out
what the scale was used for and start
collecting what you like. Vintage scales
are so unique and different, and I
love that each and every one of them
reminds me of my dad.22 • AMERICAN FARMHOUSE STYLE