LOUISVILLE EXTRAVAGANZA
by John Carini
We are always looking for new places to travel.
There was a Louisville Flea Market extravaganza
scheduled for Labor Day weekend. It looked like a
large, indoor flea market, so we thought we would
give it a try. Besides, we knew we would have to
travel through Indianapolis, which is a favorite stop
for us.
It was raining hard the Friday we headed out. We
had scheduled our start so we would arrive in
Indianapolis at 10:00 am when the antique shops
were opening. We decided to visit 2 of the large
shops on the south side of Indy. It was nice to get out
of the car and walk around, but both shops still
seemed to have the same merchandise we saw a year
ago. A few common vending machines, all priced at
book or higher.
We stopped at a number of other shops on our
way to Louisville. Again, we only found a few com-
mon vending machines. Not having any luck, we
decided to just head on to the Louisville extrava-
ganza at the fairgrounds . This was an indoor flea
market. From the flyer, I really thought it would be
much larger. There were two sides to this show. One
side with antiques and collectibles, the other with
new overstock. There were several hundred booths
on the antique side, which is where we headed.
We found quite a bit of beer
and soda advertising. At one
booth, we found this 1960s all
metal Blatz man which I pur-
chased for $50. The arm was bro-
ken, but it was
an easy fix ( see
photo). I also
purchased a 1940s Shermack
stamp vendor for $35 (see photo).
We also found lots of old toys,
trains and glassware. Overall,
prices were a little high for a flea
market. We headed to our hotel.
As usual, Sandy had the next day all scheduled
and the Louisville antique shops mapped out. The
first shop we went to was the South Louisville
Antiques & Toy Mall. We loved this shop. First, we
found a 1940s Jukebox and console slot machine
(see photo). We also found a 1930s old original
Cherry Wood pinball machine marked $800 firm
(see photo). We found more beer and alcohol adver-
tising, and comparing to Milwaukee, prices for
these advertising displays were pretty fair. This shop
was also loaded with great old toys - games, die cast
cars, and other neat stuff. We then visited many
local antique shops, indoor flea markets, and a cou-
ple of huge malls. At one large mall, we found (3) 5-
compartment variety shops, in pretty rough shape.
They were priced at $150 for the 3. Because they
were so rough, and we knew we could only salvage
one good one out of all of them, we bid $75. They
didn't take it.
We took a short drive past Churchill Downs. The
horses weren't running, so we didn't stop. While in
the downtown area, we decided to stop at the
Louisville Bat Factory. It was packed. We didn't
have time to take the tour, but got a peek into the
manufacturing area and purchased a few things at
the gift shop. We then visited a large antique shop
called Joe Ley. Sandy didn't want to go because
they were listed as an architectural salvage yard. But
we went anyway, and were we glad. Three floors of
some of the nicest antiques you will ever see,
including many old advertising, toys, coin-op, and
country store items. In the back area, on the first
floor, we came across a room which was gated off
with chicken wire. It was a scene from a 1920s
country store. Beautiful, rare advertising pieces and
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