The Flea Market......really? fleas?

I've always liked the idea of having a housefull of vintage, old, but cool stuff. But I never could be okay with the idea of walking into a flea market though. I mean, really, fleas? Why this name I'd ask myself. I was convinced that any place with the phrase flea market attached to it had to be dirty. So, my actual first time in a flea market was a few months ago. And it was really cool. Now some parts were a bit dirty for my taste, but there were so many cool, vintagey things. Did I spell that right? Anyways, I loved the flea market; it was cool. It made me think, though. "Why on earth would they name such a neat, bargain-filled place a FLEA market of all things. So, I checked it out on Wikipedia and let me tell you what they had to say. (Note the all-caps.)

"The original flea market is likely to be the Marché aux puces of Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is a large, long-established outdoor bazaar, one of four in Paris. THEY EARNED THEIR NAME FROM THE FLEA-INFESTED CLOTHING AND RAGS SOLD THERE. From the late 17th century, the makeshift open-air market in the town of Saint-Ouen began as temporary stalls and benches among the fields and market gardens where ragpickers exchanged their findings for a small sum."

Eww! Seriously? That is disgusting to me! And all these years I thought I was being paranoid. Oh, no no, these places actually got their name from the one and only flea, bug version.

I put this picture up yesterday, but here it is again:



I did get this adorable, retro looking chair for Riley for only $5 at the flea market. So, I will be back and will just have to not think about fleas while I'm there, although it will be pretty hard not to. They did have some oh so cool furniture though that I would love to get.