The House of Goodwill : Only in Wisconsin?

Since I had the fun opportunity of checking out the antique & thrift scene in Wisconsin, I thought I'd offer a report on what I found.

When I got to Appleton, I found a really cool, really HUGE antique mall less than a mile from the hotel.

It was called "Fox River Antiques."

See these huge wings on the sides? This place was enormous, with 165 vendors. I spent three hours there the first day, and only saw one side. Therefore I *had* to return the next day, to see the other.

So, while wandering through some usual (and unusual) discoveries, I found a lot of things that reminded me - hey, you're in Wisconsin!

Here were a few:

A roof snow rake? I'm pretty sure I've never seen one of these, and I grew up in upstate New York.

Yes, yes, I'm definitely up north.

(Disclaimer: this was actually in the thrift store I visited, not the antique mall.)

I also found Green Bay Packers everything!

Vintage jerseys, helmets, trading cards, blankets and decor of all kinds were in so many booths.

That's one thing you'll never see in a Tennessee antique store: vintage Titans anything!

If you ask my son, a "meal to please" is definitely NOT made with "lots of cheese," but I disagree.

It might even be more important than the love...

Yes, they love the cheese in Wisconsin!

Have you ever seen deer antler art? I hadn't.

There sure were a lot of hunting-motifed items.

Wouldn't this have been fun?

A gun to pack with snow that shoots snowballs?

Kids in Tennessee might get to play with this two days a year.

So to recap: lots of snow stuff, lots of Packers stuff, lots of hunting stuff, and lots of German-themed and beer-themed finds. There was a lot of interesting memorabilia from Pabst Beer, which comes from Milwaukee.

I spent over $150 in my two days there; so what did I buy? Well, mainly books, plus a few other things.

Here's my favorite non-book purchase: