Semaphore Fair – October 2017 – Wrap Up

Weather for the Semaphore Fair on the October long weekend was fantastic.  No rain or wind to hamper the unpacking and setup – always risky – and there is nothing worse than a good album cover with water damage.  Business was brisk through the day after a slow start in the morning.  But better than an early morning onslaught with fast diminishing crowds, the tempo through the day was consistent and sales at White Elephant were excellent.

There were a number of new sellers at the fair with good merchandise, although the quality may have been variable in some cases.  But this is always the case at a Record Fair and sometimes a sub-standard album is all you are going to be able to buy if it is what you want.  Older and original pristine albums are becoming more difficult to obtain and also more expensive.  If you had the time and dedication there were bargains and gems to be found at Semaphore.

And if your album is not available in vinyl check out the CD racks as the price of CDs has dropped significantly and often the CD may be your only option, short of going on-line and trawling the content of Discogs or MusicStack.  Notwithstanding Record Fairs are still great fun and a source of serendipitous discoveries.  They get you out of the house and away from the keyboard or device or TV.

And it is always worth enquiring.  One young fan from the record fair visited White Elephant Records in the following week to pick up a copy of a 1948 10 inch album of “Annie get Your gun” (quite a rarity), and also a copy of “Calamity Jane” both in excellent condition from our archives.  So if what you want is not in the crates it is always worth while asking to check the White Elephant vaults.

We were happy to pick up some gems on vinyl including the Box Tops, Humble Pie, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, B B King, the Eagles and many CDs in excellent condition.  By chance we picked up a copy of Frank Sinatra’s Come fly with me at the fair, which had been part of the invitation to fair patrons in our News item earlier.  Check these out:

Vinyl Albums

CDs at rock bottom prices in mint condition

Once again we salute Mr V for putting on the Fair and also thank Louise and her parish gang in the “tuck shop” for providing sustenance to the crowds.

See you at the next Semaphore Fair during Easter  2018 – date TBA.