Truly Bazaar

The pace is always slower at a swap meet.

Under the hot sun in communities from Ventura to Simi Valley, thousands of shoppers mill about at a snail’s pace to scan stalls crammed with everything from stuffed armadillos to designer clothing.

These modern-day bazaars play out every weekend in parking lots, drive-ins and vacant parcels of land. They are considered by some to be little more than gargantuan yard sales where people come to pawn off the dusty detritus of attics and garages.

But swap meets are actually much more.

Several operate in Ventura County, bargain-hunters’ paradises that serve up brand-name merchandise at a discount, such as silk wedding gowns, mechanic’s tools, 19th-century wood farm tools and fresh-baked bread.

“Most people just think it’s a bunch of crummy stuff and would rather go to a department store and pay those outrageous prices,” said vendor Sue Davis, who sells porcelain figurines at the Simi Valley Swap Meet. “But there’s something here for everybody.”

The Simi Valley Swap Meet, held Sundays at the drive-in theater on Tierra Rejada Road, features more than 300 vendors on average and attracts more than 1,000 visitors. And while there are plenty of less-sought-after items for sale, like the single in-line skate with three missing wheels, there are also racks of new cotton, wool and blended men’s and women’s suits, state-of-the-art computer components and hard-to-find records like Tony Bennett’s 1962 recording of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

“It’s a kitschy thing that people really seem to enjoy,” said Davis, 56. “Sure, there’s some junk here, but there’s plenty of things here that aren’t.”

Ventura County plays host to a number of swap meets.

Some, like the Thousand Oaks auto swap meet, are small affairs that offer only a select number of goods, while others, like the one held on a three-acre plot at the County Fairgrounds at Seaside Park in Ventura, are festival-like events with a bevy of goods ranging from the common to the quirky to the downright strange.

“One thing’s for sure, this place is never boring,” said Cecelia Adams, a regular vendor who sells brilliantly colored antique bottles at the Seaside Park swap meet. “I’ve seen some things for sale here that would knock your socks off.”

And it’s that galaxy of goods--from sculpted oak furniture to the 50-cent quarts of motor oil--that attracts more than 7,000 people hoping to either cash in on deals or find something that’s out--way out--of the ordinary.

“I never thought I’d want one of these,” said David Wolfe, 26, of Thousand Oaks, proudly holding a scuffed bowling pin lamp. “It’s tacky and it’s ugly, but I think it’s cool.”

Organized by the Los Angeles-based promotions company R. G. Canning, the Seaside Park swap meet has been a magnet for shoppers for 25 years.

Held every two months, depending on the availability of fairground space, the Seaside Park swap meet features more than 1,000 vendors from across Southern California who pay up to $60 to set up shop in the 10-by-12-foot stalls.

While some specialize in certain items, such as Adams’ brilliantly colored antique bottles, others offer goods from the fringes of the shopping world.

In one small area, a buyer could find bunches of milk-white frangipani bouquets and leather boots, next to 10-foot trident spears, and what the merchant said was a 240-million-year-old trilobite fossil.

“It’s absolutely amazing the kinds of things people sell here,” said Dennis Dodson, operations manager for R. G. Canning. “I’ve been putting this thing together since the beginning and I’m still surprised by what I find.”

Dodson said that, in general, swap meets are havens for collectors and antique dealers looking for merchandise. However, judging from the crowd at many area meets, they’re an attraction for everybody.

Couples strolling arm-in-arm and looking for romantic curios are a common sight. And below the chatter of merchants making deals, there’s a constant rattle of baby strollers.

“It’s a fun way to spend time with the kids,” said Oxnard’s Russ Greene, 45, who came with his family to a recent meet at Ventura College. “We’ve all found fun things to do here.”

A fixture in the city since 1987, the Ventura College swap meet is held every weekend and has grown to about 400 vendors peddling such items as new and used household appliances, fresh produce, antiques and tools.

Greene, who was accompanied by his wife, Mimi, and children, Orion, 12, and Evette, 11, came to a recent meet and bought a few fresh avocados to whip into guacamole. Each family member found something to take home.

Orion picked up the latest Nintendo space adventure video game that he’d been looking for. Evette found some glass unicorns she said will complement her already extensive collection. Greene bought a bamboo back-scratcher and an apricot pie, but his wife’s purchase, they all agreed, was the biggest find of the day.

“I’ve been looking for one of these for the past 20 years,” the 45-year-old job-placement specialist said, pointing to a silver bracelet with a dangling inch-high replica of the Eiffel Tower. “I saw one a couple of years ago in Santa Barbara, but by the time I came back to buy it, it was gone.”

Mimi Greene said she spent part of her childhood in France and then visited Paris with her husband shortly after their wedding.

“I have so many great memories of the place and always wanted a souvenir,” she said. “But, I have to admit, this is the last place I ever expected to find it.”

In addition to browsing through the varied assortment of goods, Mimi Greene said she enjoys going head-to-head with the hard-bargaining vendors.

“You get to haggle, and how often do you ever get to do that?” she asked. “There’s an art to it and it’s fun, even if you don’t want to buy anything.”

Nowhere is that merchant culture more fevered than at the swap meet at the 101 Drive-In theater in Ventura.

There, vendors battle with one another to attract customers, even luring passersby with free food and giveaways.

Shorty Gutierrez, a vendor who sells 14 kinds of hot peppers, billed his botanical cherry bombs as a natural elixir for ailments ranging from high cholesterol to kidney problems.

“They’ll clean your blood,” he told a woman perusing the piles of red and green peppers. “Everyone should eat at least five a day, and then they wouldn’t have to go to the doctor so much.”

When the woman said she didn’t care for spicy food, Gutierrez--ever the salesman--pulled out a package of his homemade tortilla chips.

“These’ll take away the burn,” he promised.

Elsewhere, compact disc vendors dueled with loudspeakers blaring some of today’s most popular tejano and mariachi hits. Some offered free posters of popular bands, while others gave special deals for bulk purchases.

“It’s kind of like a party here,” said Gilbert Soteljo of San Diego, who said he was in town visiting friends. “Next Christmas, I think I know where I’m going to shop.”