Some Milwaukee things come and go, while some become icons. Mandatory Milwaukee is all about the latter. This week: Rummage sales.
It’s that time of year again. After a long winter and a meteorologically uncertain early spring, the temperatures are now rising, the sun is shining, and the promise of another summer is now—at long last—squarely in view.
As Wisconsinsites once again grow accustomed to venturing out on walks, taking scenic weekend bike rides, and embarking on road trips with spontaneous roadside stops, we also encounter another sign of spring in the Midwest. You’ll see this sign quite literally affixed to telephone poles, staked into front lawns, or posted on high-visibility street corners. Depending on who you ask, this springtime signal goes by many different names.
Yard sale.
Garage sale.
Sale. Just a Sale.
But around these parts, “Rummage Sale” seems to be the most prevalent parlance for this timeless seasonal ritual that’s centered in community and commerce. For a few late morning and early afternoon hours most weekends beginning in May and spanning the summer (when it’s not too hot or humid to operate), driveways turn into makeshift marketplaces. Garages become open-concept retail outlets. Front yards double as grassy showrooms. Where the sidewalk ends is where the savings begin.
When the time for spring cleaning rolls around, thoughtful and/or industrious locals put price tags on possessions they deem to be expendable, arrange the items on folding tables or tastefully situate them on the ground, and welcome both neighbors and complete strangers onto their property to, well, look at some of their stuff they wouldn’t mind getting rid of.
Each and every rummage sale is different, but if you drop by enough of them (like we did during last weekend’s neighborhood-wide rummage sale in Bay View), you’re sure to encounter character-laden tchotchkes at a reasonable price. You might find vintage clothing, kids attire the sale-holder’s child has outgrown, and modern apparel that’s barely been worn.
Some sales have art, beer signage, furniture, and housewares that could really help tie your interior together.
It’s possible to find something ultra-specific that’s perfect for you. Like if your name is Amanda, you like coffee, and you’ve been to South Dakota, for example.
You honestly never know what you’ll find at a rummage sale until you get to a residence and poke around for a while. You’d have to walk all over a big box retail store to find a 3D Printer, a vintage “Santa Homer” doll, cat scratch pads, and a baseball glove. Conversely, you’ll sometimes find all four things mere inches apart at a rummage sale!
You can happen upon almost anything at rummage sales…for better or worse.
And in the spirit of both savings and sustainability, some items will be priced under a dollar in an effort to find them a new home and spare them from an eternity in a landfill.
In that same spirit, sometimes things are absolutely free.
In a world where the way people buy and sell things has changed considerably in the last 25-plus years, rummage sales continue to work because they benefit all parties involved. You get something (or get rid of something), a material possession gets a second life, and even if the amount of money changing hands is small, it’s a worthwhile transaction for everyone.
Though the Bay View neighborhood rummage sale has come and gone, The Great Riverwest Rummage Sale & Flea Market will take place outside Art Bar and four adjacent blocks in the neighborhood on Saturday, May 30. That same day, the incomparable Mamie’s in Silver City will host its annual rummage sale between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Beyond those, there’s an abundance of ambitious multi-home rummage sales both in the greater Milwaukee area and other nearby counties that will be taking place between now and the end of summer.
Whether part of a neighborhood- or city-wide rummage sale or just a single household looking to get rid of a few items and make a few bucks in the process, rummage sale season is officially and fully upon us here in Milwaukee (and the rest of Wisconsin)! Just keep an eye out and let both the sign and the possibility of savings draw you in.
