When I was little, 1968 or so, every Sunday, with out fail, my mother would pack up her station wagon with blankets and paper bags and head to the Heart Drive-In.
Not what you're thinking.
This was every Sunday Morning.
Armed with a thermos of black coffee and a doughnut or two, she'd leave just as it was barely getting light and drive down the street, not to be seen again until later that afternoon. Carefully secreting her finds into the basement, away from Dad's eyes, where she would would fiddle with them until such time as she thought they were ready for public, read dad's, consumption.
Some time in the wee hours of the morning the Heart Drive-in would undergo a magical metamorphosis. Erasing the tubs of popcorn and candy wrappers that were strewn across the lot. A lot that just moments earlier held car upon car of moviegoers, many who'd ridden in the trunk to get out of paying, and into the Sunday Morning Swap and Shop. Traders and Junkers from across the Kansas City area would descend upon the little Drive-in by the Little Blue river and set up their booths to sell their wares and trade with others.
My mom was an antiquer. She had an eye for that old, yet valuable piece that was lurking, unbeknownst to the the seller, at the edge of a table or blanket. Sometimes she came home empty handed, but in good spirits for having a great time in her search. Other times the back of that old station wagon would be bulging with goodies.
Her parents, my grandparents, were at most Swap n Shop Sundays. Grandma selling Amber Madrid glass that she'd found cheap somewhere around town at a low price and would resell it for a pretty impressive gain.
Grandpa taking that money would be buying as fast as Grandma could rake in the dough.
They were the original Jack Sprat and his wife, except with money, and in reverse.
https://natesswapshop.com/
The Boulevard Swap & Shop will cost you $1 to get in and $15 to sell. They are open from 5am to 2pm. Unlike Nate's, Boulevard drive in is still a working theater. Get there early and shop all day. Take yourself out for a quick dinner and come back, of course you'll have to pay to get back in, and watch a first run movie. http://boulevarddrivein.com/wordpress/
It's been many years since my mom visited the Heart Drive in Swap n' Shop. Since then, the Saturday morning Garage sale on the radio has come and gone. It took lots of luck to sell something over the radio, basically sight unseen. In its place have popped up online Swap n Shops, such as...the Facebook Swap n' Shop. Search your town's name on Facebook for a Swap n Shop page near you.
And there there is this.
Varage sale? I guess that's a cross between Virtual Reality and Garage sales? These are also local home grown sales sites that encourage you to meet in a public place once you have decided to purchase/sell something.
But for those of us who like the interaction between actual people the Swap n' Shops are still around. These days you don't have to bring your own coffee and doughnuts, there are plenty of food trucks to satisfy every form of hunger you might have. It's not just for the die hard shopper looking for that one of a kind deal either. Today's Swap n' Shops are a family affair. Now a days parents shop while their offspring listen to live bands or peruse to their hearts content through tie dye nirvana. Those who are looking for something to refinish, re-purpose and reuse are still in luck. and for those who are looking for something new or slightly used are happy too.
All in all, there's something for every on at the local Swap n' Shop.
Happy Sale-ing
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