Treasure Trove

Occasionally, one person’s trash really can become another person’s treasure, and at the Camberwell Market, you might just get more than what you bargained and haggled for. In the early 1990s, a painting was bought for $25 and resold for $12,000. Years later, a canoe ornament from the Solomon Islands was purchased for several hundred dollars, only to be sold in New York for several thousand. In 2002, one lucky buyer bought five dolls, only to find out later that they were rare fertility dolls from Papua New Guinea, and within a few days, they were sold to a French art dealer, and soon after to another European dealer.

Since 1976, the weekly market has been luring patrons with vintage trinkets, knickknacks, and hot jam donuts. Founded by Balwyn Rotary, the market started with 48 stalls, and it has since grown to almost 400, with stallholders waiting weeks to secure a spot at the market. Treasure hunters can comb through second-hand clothes and records, antique toys, jewellery, artwork, keepsakes and a variety odds and ends from dawn until midday in search of rare gems. We will be posting eight facts about the Camberwell Sunday Market over this weekend! Stay tuned, more fun facts to come!

Originally posted in The Culture Trip theculturetrip.com by Monique La Terra.