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Rant: the old guy at the flea market told me to pass on the $15 lamp with the cloth cord, and he was dead wrong
Two Saturdays ago at the flea market off Route 9 in Poughkeepsie I picked up a little brass desk lamp for $15 and the seller's buddy, some old timer in a Vietnam vet hat, leaned over and said "don't bother, that cloth cord is shot, it'll burn your house down." I almost listened to him. I put it back down, walked two rows over, then turned around and bought it anyway because the shade alone was worth the money to me. Took it home, unscrewed the base, and the cord was silk covered wire with a date stamp on the socket of 1928, not some rotted 1970s lamp cord. The cloth was dusty but the insulation under it was still intact, and a $6 replacement socket from the hardware store had it running that same evening. Turns out the guy was just guessing off the look of it, which is what half these self appointed experts do. If I had listened I would have walked away from a signed Handel shade. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a random bystander at a sale and almost missed out because of it?
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blakehenderson10d ago
don't bother, that cloth cord is shot" is exactly the kinda line that costs people money. Half those guys at flea markets just repeat stuff they heard once and never touched a screwdriver in their life. You did the right thing pulling the base and checking the socket stamp, that date is the whole story right there. I have walked away from stuff before because some guy swore it was junk and then kicked myself later when I looked it up. Lesson is simple, trust your hands and your eyes, not some stranger in a vet hat.
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