Novi Sad is the second largest (after Belgrade) city of Serbia. The name dates back to the times of the Empress Maria Theresa (mid-eighteenth century), who called this city in Latin ‘Neoplanta’ (new garden). Since then, it has been a crossroads of trading routes, a large financial and industrial centre, which is sometimes called the ‘Serbian Athens’. No wonder that here is the largest ‘Nylon’ flea market (Najlon Pijaca) in the Balkans. However, the residents of the ‘Serbian Athens’ themselves consider it the largest, but the similar Monastiraki market in real Athens makes, perhaps, a stronger impression.
Nevertheless, this is the most suitable place for those who want to feel the Balkan spirit and flavour. The air is full with culinary aromas, densely enveloping visitors. Here is the realm of the Balkan folk cuisine: simple, even plain, but surprisingly satisfying and cheap food. Having a hearty meal here so that ‘it is impossible to get up from the table’ can cost you from €5 to €10 depending on what a hearty eater you are. And they will serve you not hamburger steaks, but the culinary delights cooked by local farmers. There is no doubt about the products’ freshness and quality, they may be some doubt about sanitary standards (a market square is a market square), but this problem can be solved simply: 50 - 100 grammes of the popular strong drink - Lincura rakija - (52% vol) will not give E. coli and hepatitis the slightest chance. It’s just that vegans don’t like it here - the ‘Nylon’ kitchen is a symphony of meat and grill.
Flea markets have long been a nigh-on magnetic attraction for tourists. The Internet is full with good Easter stories about the things - staggering the imagination - found in the ruins of Sofia, Paris, Berlin, Brussels or Madrid. The happy faces of the owners of the previously unknown paintings by Cezanne and the jewelled eggs of Faberge found in a cardboard box of some clochard inspire new groups of people who want to buy a thing for a pittance, and the German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Russian speech is heard on the ‘Nylon’ flee market as often as the Serbian one.
So, we, two Russian connoisseurs of vintage and antiques (not experts, but lovers of the antique), having had a hearty Serbian meal, went along the ‘Nylon’ rows in search of any objects of great rarity. We were interested in three things: edged weapons, silverware and porcelain. Nothing worthy of our attention was found in the first two categories. Strictly speaking, there is no real antiques at the ‘Najlon Pijaca’. Items belonging to the early 20th century are too rare here, mainly one can see mass vintage from the 1950s and on. We looked sadly at the intricate coffee mills, busts of dictators, coins of all countries and peoples and ladies' pistols, and moved to the rows with porcelain and earthenware. And here was a surprise!
Among the goods offered by a handsome bearded old man, was a pile of Christmas plates made by the Danish Royal Porcelain Factory. It was a 10-year collection - on each plate, there was an original drawing and a year, from 1970 through 1979. There were trademarks, including the craftsman’s signature – everything was perfect! The peculiar feature of these Christmas plates is that a strictly limited number of plates were manufactured each year and the matrix was destroyed. This is a vintage - but a high-quality vintage - and at a promising price - especially taking into account that the Chinese have not imitated them yet.
The seller asked 2,000 dinars (about €17) for his collection, but after a short, good-natured bargaining he discounted and sold for 1,800 dinars. At the Russian online auctions, the minimum price of such a plate is € 7 euros, the maximum one is €25, an average price is €15, and approximately the same price is on EBay. Thus, the potential profit is 1,000 percent.
Of course, these plates will not go to any auction, but will be our Christmas gifts to friends and acquaintances, but the fact is that it is quite possible to buy good things at a cheap rate at the Novi Sad flea market. It’s unlikely to find any Faberge items here, but one can find an interesting vintage that can have a much higher price in future.
