It was the early summer of 1999 and while I detested the fact that I was up at 8:00 a.m., I was excited for the weekend adventure that awaited. So many of my memories growing up involve riding around in my grandmother’s mid-80s Crown Victoria with her (that was still in pristine condition because grandparents always have a car they hardly use) , my mother, and brother. On this particular adventure we were going garage (rummage according to grandma) sale hunting. The weekends we would spend driving around various parts of the region looking for garage sales was also fun to me because each one transported you to its own unique world. Each world told the story of it’s inhabitants with a variety of trinkets, relics of the past, clothes, toys, etc., which is why the Greater Indianapolis Garage Sale & Marketplace was so exciting to me – it’s an event where all of those tiny worlds come together.

About the Event

As with any fairground event, you’ll of course have to pay for parking ($8.00) and a small entry fee ($5.00) to the event, but overall it’s a fairly cheap weekend adventure. The event just celebrated it’s 40th year and vendors seem to come from all over to sell their goods (I spoke to quite a few people who said they were from Wisconsin). It was at the Blue Ribbon & Champions Pavilion and I’m not sure how many vendors were there, but I would guess there was at least 100.

The Atmosphere

I was surprised to see the amount of people there considering the snowfall that weekend. The atmosphere was interesting—a hodgepodge of farmers markets, antique store, big box discount store, and good ol’ fashioned garage sale vibes. Despite the weather, Everyone was cheerful and willing to tell me about the products they had—be it because my camera was out, the passion for what they were selling, or just the fact they have merch to move.

In any case, it was great to see people’s faces light up when I asked questions to dive a little bit more into their little worlds. In some conversations I got more information than I asked for, but it was cool to learn the history of things like rare Hot Wheels or why I needed to buy an empty coke bottle.

What You Can Buy

The real question is, what can’t you buy? Seriously we saw everything from power tools to discount bedding sets to rare comic books to Lego people.

There were so many vendors selling T-shirts, vintage signs (really vintage everything), furniture, bulk cereal, bulk snacks, and of course stuff people just wanted to get rid of—which really reminded me of those Saturday trips. It would be interesting to see my grandmother shop at these now. I think now that I am older, I’d get a kick out of what she bought. To be honest, I don’t really remember her buying anything other the second hand toys my brother and I picked out. We of course would bug her to buy them until she finally broke. She would always exclaim to my mother while reaching into her long, black wallet with gold trip and a single clasp at the center that all grandmas seem to have, “Goddammit Lou, here, get them the toys!” Ah, good times.

I saw a lot of things things I liked, but we’ve been in the process of whipping our house into shape with the Konmari Method (thanks Netflix) so I mostly resisted. We ended up buying dog treats from, smoked jalapeno and cheddar sausage from Master’s Hand BBQ, and candles from my favorite vendor of the day, Candle Daddy. We had a chance to talk to candle maker Adam about his candles, struggles getting into some shops, and his first year at this event. He had a variety of scents and all of them were pretty on point. We snagged Root Beer and a Piña colada because we were feeling adventurous. If you have a chance, I would definitely check them out!

See Full Garage Sale Album

Final Thoughts

Overall, I feel like this event is what you make of it. I’ve always had fun going to garage sales and exploring the uniqueness behind each vendor in one this size was definitely an entertaining leap back in time for me.

Until next time readers!