The Day I Met Mexican Freedom Fighter Emiliano Zapata In A New Wave Coat ~ Viva La Revolución!

I bumped into señor Emiliano Zapata Salazar on a bitterly cold, but warm day last week on the Wirral. 

I was not dressed appropriately for the Northwestern Exposure and scurried into the next charity shop looking for truffles. It took two seconds to spot, from the doorway, a delicious looking vintage long camel coat, and three strides to reach it.

It wasn’t priced, as it had just been “brought down” and the lady was almost as excited as me to see it on. I abandoned my inadequate modern coat, and slid one arm in. Sold. It was from C&A and built of cashmere, armored with power shoulders, double breasted-plated and to the floor. It was like being teleported back to the war of 1986, but being big and happy this time and ready to crush my enemies. 

The lady was wonderful and raved about how good it looked even just from the back, I swept around the shop and told her I had the biggest perm in school. She took £2 off the price for that and gave it to me for £8. I was on fire, well, toasty.

I paid and explained how happy and grateful I was to her for her warmth of both character and coat and walked out in it, inspired.

Full of confidence I carried on my dig. Since I’ve started trading in vintage merch, I have started looking at the nicknacks with a more open mind, and appreciating the value in things I would not have bought in the past, as they weren’t to my taste.

I’d already bought a mid century carved alabaster Aztec head candle stick holder from the shop next door that was very much to my taste and flirted with a plaster wall head carving of an attractive Mexican chap. I dragged him out of the gloom on a shelf full of German Shepherds and Toby jugs, I had him in my hand and didn’t want to let go, however I didn’t have a clue about that particular company or collectors market, so put him back. I’m ashamed to say I left him in the field.

I have been watching my eBay vloggers on YouTube, and they all say the only way to learn is by your mistakes, and I’ve been pioneering that particular pedagogy for years, so I ran like a warrior back up the road, with my long coat flying in the wind like a Southwestern soldier and went back for my Mexican comrade. I’ve already taken a DNA test and I am 100% that socialist.

The joy of this game for me is the journey it takes you on and the people you meet. Today took me from the Wirral in the 1980’s to 1900’s Mexico with Emiliano Zapata Salazar - a Revolutionary freedom fighter and back to Cheshire 1991 when Ray Bosson carved and cast his chalk-ware sculpture in his studio “BOSSONS” in Congleton.   

As much as I’d like to keep him, Señor Salazar is for sale on my eBay site and if you’d like to invite him home the link to buy is here. I’m keeping the coat. 

Muchas Gracias.