OCEANSIDE -- As she browsed through the wares for sale at the Antiques on Mission fair, even the knickknacks whisked Janice Proffitt back in time.

"I see something and think, 'Oh yeah, I remember that,' or it will remind me of a person," the 84-year-old Proffitt said. Of a bud vase she said, "My aunt had something like this on her buffet."

She paused and smiled.

"Memories from World War II come flooding back," Proffitt said. "Happy memories, though."

This year's antiques fair, sponsored by MainStreet Oceanside, drew upwards of 25,000 folks strolling up and down Mission Avenue, on a stretch running from Horne Street west to Coast Highway.

It's a mellow affair, and even with 94 vendors -- the most ever for the event, organizer Cathy Nykiel said -- each booth boasted items different from the others, and included not just antiques but also arts and crafts.

Even live music fit in with that vintage theme.

With such a large turnout of customers, Margo Essman didn't have a lot of time for idle chat. Buyers in her busy booth clamored for her attention, all of them looking for something different, from the labels long ago pasted on orange crates to pinup girls circa 1940.

Folks stopped by to paw through the vintage lithographs Essman sold, pausing to read posters exhorting them to "Avenge December 7" or "Buy war bonds."

It may be paper, but this stuff isn't all that cheap. Some of these posters will set a buyer back a couple hundred bills.

"People collect paper for a lot of different reasons," Essman explained as she bounced between customers. "It's really addicting, once you start collecting."

Essman is a regular at the antiques fair, which Nykiel said is in its sixth year. And for the first time, Nykiel said, the popular fair, which is usually a once-a-year event, will come twice this year. The next Antiques on Mission fair, she said, will be held Sept. 9.

"The dealers all said they wanted to be part of a second show," Nykiel said.

Nykiel also said she thinks the turnout is among the busiest she's seen.

Folks at the fair were also able to take advantage of the skills of Paul McConnell and Carol McAndrew, certified personal property appraisers.

"To be an appraiser, you have to be a detective," McConnell said. "You look at the clues, the age, condition, style, what it's made of. It's like solving a mystery."

McConnell said that most people underestimate the value of the items they bring to him, although it happens on occasion that someone thinks they have a treasure -- and walk away disappointed.

And sometimes, the item is just, well, a little out of his appraisal field, such as the shrunken head a woman brought him. More typically, street fair customers bring in china, paintings, maybe small pieces of furniture.

Retired Army Col. Bill Thompson bought his sterling silver coffee and tea serving set in the 1950s. Can't really remember how much he paid for it. And wasn't really sure how much it was worth, so he took it McConnell and McAndrew.

Seems it's worth hundreds of dollars -- so, no, Thompson wasn't among the disappointed.

And yep, he's thinking about selling it on e-Bay.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.