The Florida Antiquing Experience

Florida has more to offer collectors than kitschy 1950's alligator thermometers and flamingo ashtrays. The Sunshine State is by far the premiere southern destination for antiquing, with antique malls and individual shops brimming over with every kind of antique and collectible under the golden sun.

Florida is the collectors destination far removed from the state's theme parks and souvenir shops. There are clusters of antique districts all over, from the country back roads of North Florida to the multitude of antique districts in Central Florida, the coastal towns on the Gulf and Atlantic, to the hi-end antique district called "Dixie Row" in West Palm Beach, and finally cosmopolitan Miami.

The near perfect weather year round, minus a few hurricanes, makes Florida the ideal place to antique hunt. There are continual outdoor flea markets. Renningers in Mount Dora is the biggest and one of the best in Central Florida. The summer months are the slow season, for the snowbirds (northerners who live here only part of the year) return to a cooler climate, leaving the die-hard Floridians to sweat out the season. But not even 97 degree weather can stop the Florida antique hunter, for summer is a great time to find bargain items at antique malls and single owner shops. Individual dealers often have sales. Some hold fantastic antiquing events, inviting the public into workshops and having various artists make appearances, like the Highwaymen. Some shops even have an online store presence, where one can find websites with Highwaymen art for sale, same as the brick and mortar establishment. Trends in collecting have existed for decades, but in Florida, trends are often related to Florida's past. Certain antique malls specialize in Florida related merchandise that is profitable, such as vintage Highwaymen art. Highwaymen art collecting has remained steadfast, and is the most popular Florida collecting trend.

In this way a Florida trend relates to what is most popular, or something as simple as geographical location. For example, Miami is known for its Art Deco district, and many collectors flock to Miami for the annual Art Deco weekend, in hopes of finding furniture and jewelry pertaining to that era.

In "Old Florida" towns, places that have remained virtually untouched by industrialization, collectors look for antiques that represent the town history, such as old maps and photographs. In the vintage oyster harvesting town of Apalachicola, photographs are sought after if they depict the area as it has remained throughout the decades. These are the types of antiquing towns that flourish in Florida, great antique locations within vintage buildings on historic sites, many listed on the national register of historic places. One prime example of an old antiquing town is Micanopy, pronounced Mick-e-no-pah, one of Florida's best antique districts.