For many, the end of August signals the beginning of Fall, but in Fremont, it's the beginning of a treasure hunt. The annual Niles Antique Faire, held on the last Sunday in August, draws thousands of people to browse and buy, and maybe pick up a few memories along the way.

The 61st Niles Antique Faire began with something new: a traffic jam. The crowd on Sunday was huge, as the city blocked off the main street for vendors. It was a bit of a shock for Maddy Lucero, visiting from Vacaville.

"It's way too crowded. Way too crowded for my liking. As we were driving up, I was like, yeah, maybe we shouldn't have come," she said. "But we did go around a corner and there was a parking lot, so we squeezed in a spot. So we got lucky to find a spot."

The vendor booths sold out quickly this year, with most selling odds and ends picked up who knows where? And usually, the older the better. At the California Historical Radio Society booth, they were offering refurbished wireless sets, including a lovingly restored Zenith model from 1939.  Society director Denny Monticelli said he thinks people are hungering for something with staying power.

"It's very different than the look of electronics today," he said. "That different kind of warmth that it has is an appeal in and of itself to people. And they feel a connection with it that you don't feel with your digital device, that you'll give up in a couple years when it's obsolete. The idea that this has been repurposed, I think, does connect with them.  And the fact that, when it was in its prime, it wasn't obsolete after two years, it probably stayed in the family for 20 years."

And speaking of staying in the family, Leslie Rice's booth was a labor of love. She was selling the many things her mother had collected during her life.

"I'm selling these antiques or finding new homes for them for my mother, who passed away in 2018," she said. "She was an avid antique collector. And so, I love meeting the people and talking to them and sharing my mom's story.  It's a way to keep her alive for me." 

Leslie said, for a lot of people buying antiques and collectibles, there is an unspoken emotional appeal. 

"I have people that don't necessarily buy, but they'll pick up an item and they'll say, my mom had this or my grandmother had it," she said. "And it's a really wonderful way to share the love we have with our current and past relatives."

And it doesn't even have to be a human loved one. George Chen found himself drawn to items that reminded him of a beloved pet.

"This one I didn't even have to think about," he said, pulling a carved wooden sculpture of a cat out of his shopping bag. "Because I had a calico cat that passed away.  And this is like a one-of-a-kind. It's got angel wings. I find this here and for me it's special, you know?  If it was not a calico or didn't have angel wings, I probably would pass on it.  But it happened to have all the ingredients and it's like, OK."

There isn't a lot of intention behind the shopping; most have no idea what they're looking for. But people are drawn to things that strike an emotional chord and they know it when they see it.