A piece of playground equipment from the 1940s. Bottles shaped like fiddles. Military binoculars. Vintage signs.

And a sunny, hot summer day that brought the masses to the Wareham Historical Society's annual July 4 Antiques Show.

"I like the old, vintage stuff," Dave Lamson of Hyannis says before breaking away to barter on the price of one of his wares with a patron.

Lamson holds in his hands an old card viewer from the early 1900s that he found at a yard sale. Called a "stereoscope," a user looks at two similar, but not identical, images through what appears to be a set of glasses atop a wood frame.

When the eyes focus through the viewer, the result is seen as one, three-dimensional image. It's sort of a much larger, heavier predecessor to those fun, blue-and-red paper glasses we've all viewed a comic strip or movie through at one time or another.

The viewer goes for about $75, Lamson says, but since he doesn't have any cards to go with it, he's selling it for $36.

"I bet if you look around," he says, looking toward the other vendors whose booths wrapped around Center Park -- commonly called the "Town Green" -- at Main Street and Gibbs Avenue, "you could find some."

He points out a pair of nickle-plated binoculars labeled "US Signal Service," apparently made in Paris.

They're certainly old, but in great shape.

"Whether General MacArthur used something like that," Lamson says, "I don't know."

A landscaper by trade, Lamson has been attending the show for more than eight years.

"It's a well-attended show," he said. "People come from New Bedford, the Cape. You get the tourists."

Antique enthusiasts browsed furniture, jewelry, books, glassware, and just about everything else at the show.

"I don't know what people are looking for," said Lamson, noting that his own collection includes a little bit of everything. He quickly adds: "They'll know it when they see it!"

Whether they wanted it or were simply curious, many people stopped to check out Jerry and Sue Hartman's vintage park toy, likely from the 1940s.

Jerry and Sue, who operate Hartman House Antiques of East Bridgewater, spotted the toy while out of state "and loved it," Sue explained, as people entering the show stopped immediately to oogle the colorful, large animal. "It's a good draw!"

The pair has participated in the Historical Society's show for 20 years.

"It's enjoyable," Sue said. "It's short. Everyone is out to enjoy the weather."

That they were. They enjoyed all 90 degrees of it.

Check out the galleries to see some of the fun stuff we discovered at this year's Antiques Show and to take a look at the other goings on!