Highways 10 and 14 are two major non-interstate routes across Wisconsin, dotted by small antique shops, flea markets, and kitschy shops that cater to local collectors and travelling customers from Milwaukee and Chicago looking for rustic and country antiques. During our various long summer trips through the dairy state, we managed to cross it several times on these highways, stopping at shops along the way. Here’s some of the highlights of our travels, with contributions by the wifey.

The Bosstown Store
21280 Coppernoll Hollow, Bosstown WI 608-538-3783
Located just off US 14 between Richland Center and Viroqua, the Bosstown Store is a revitalized classic “general store,” owned by Roberta Ledman and her family. Once the local source for sundries and dry goods, the Bosstown Store now has shelves filled with glassware, pottery and ceramics, some jewelry, and various other items. The prices are quite good for the quality, and there was very little rummage-saley stuff. When shopping, watch out for the owner’s children, and the “shop cats”, who like to sun themselves in the front window. The cats, that is; not the children. Ledman also sells her wares on eBay, promoting her store’s classy rural location. While Bosstown isn’t a large city in the least, it is conveniently located on a well-traveled highway, so there is little difficulty in stopping by when on US 14.

East Side Flea Market
225 N. East Ave., Viroqua, WI
This was probably our favorite stop along US 14; we spent well over an hour here, and none of us got to see everything. The Eastside Flea Market, a few blocks off US 14 in Viroqua, WI, is the classic flea market – a nice mix of genuine antiques, rummage sale, and kitschy miscellaneous. Located in a defunct tobacco warehouse, this huge market is made up of numerous vendors, broken up into booths. Most were overflowing, with barely any room to walk in them. Prices varied all over the board, but few were unreasonable; we were a little frustrated by un-priced items – and further frustrated when told that we couldn’t contact the vendor to find the price because there was no phone on-site. Celphones, what did we do before you were around? Still, this was a minor problem considering the vast variety of items available. Everybody, including the kids, found something they wanted, ranging from a new bandanna to vintage ceramic cat figurines.

A American Antiques, Coins and Jewelry
US Highway 14, Mazomanie, WI 608-767-2608
Our first stop along US 14, A American is a nice high-end antique and collectible shop. Like the Bosstown Store, this antique shop is located in a historic building, in this case a log cabin built by a Norwegian settler in the 1860s. The building has been expanded, but the original log cabin part of the building is worth stopping to see on its own. The newer part of the building holds most of the very high-end antiques and coins, nearly everything behind glass. As you move towards the log cabin, prices fall and fewer things are hidden in cabinets, but the quality remains generally high. The basement is were the lower quality items live — including an amusing shelf, with obviously damaged and cheap items, identified by a sign as the “If you must steal, steal from here” shelf. Much of A American’s wares were too rich for our frugal pocketbook, but we did have fun digging through a bowl of common foreign coins. Each kid was encouraged to pick out their favorites, some of which were more exotic than I’d expect for a cheapo selection, from pre-Nazi German coins to fractional-penny British-colonial-period African coins.

Yore Antiques
Highway 14, Gotham WI 608-583-2670
Apparently quite new, squeaky clean, and oriented towards home decoration, Yore Antiques had but had plenty to look at but not as much for the collector. The shop had quite a bit of rustic furniture and fixtures, along with some books and antique cooking utensils. The store was nicely laid out in ‘vignettes’ organized around a group of furniture.

Note for hard-core comic collectors: Gotham WI is also home to the “Bat Cave“, a biker bar of normal small-town Wisconsin standards. Book your hotel rooms now.

Auditorium Antiques
182 North Central Avenue, Richland Center WI
We stopped here shortly after this shop first opened their doors. While they still had several empty booths, the selection of items was very good and the prices reasonable. Located in a huge working theatre, Auditorium Antiques occupies the lowest floor of the building and a few upstairs rooms. The building has a classiness of its own, and makes for a fine home for an antique shop. The building is a little ways off US 14 in towntown Richland Center, with ample street parking all around the auditorium. The auditorium is the first municipal auditorium built in Wisconsin, and it is in the process of a $2M renovation to restore its original beauty and bring the theatre back to its glory. Worth a stop for both the antiques and the building’s history.

Now, the wifey’s contribution, along the eastern stretch of Highway 10:

The Shop
W1152 Hwy 10, Brillion, WI 920-756-9216
In Brillion there lies a hidden gem of a shop. Plenty of signs beckon the driver — and the passenger, who will insist you turn around to make not one, but two passes to find the shop which lies nestled at the end of the drive, leading you to believe that you might be disturbing resident Nancy Schaefer. Don’t worry — Nancy’s the one who put all those signs out there and she wants you to visit!

Nancy runs The Shop, and here she has a smattering of antiques, comic books and jewelry — but what you’ll notice the minute you walk in is the slew of records. And that’s likely what will keep you there. For hours.

Normally, we’re a pretty thrifty (cheap) bunch, but when you find records like these, lovingly cared for and clearly not the typical rummage sale finds, well, you dig right in to those record bins and your pocketbook. We got another Trini Lopez album and I was seduced into both Ann-Margret’s LP and 45. (Hey, the songs were different!)

Nancy’s husband was an avid collector and now that he’s passed she’s finally decided to sell the thousands of records in his collection. She said her husband would want others to enjoy them as he had — and her children have made it pretty clear that they don’t want to inherit all of this. (So look for Nancy to hit the Internet soon — we’ll keep you posted.) Meanwhile, if there’s something you must have, especially in early rock, give Nancy a call at 920.756.9216.

“Crusty Rusty’s”
Stevens Point, WI
Between Stevens Point and Junction City there was a small sign in front of what can best be called a Sanford & Son get-up. Gluttons for such things, and likely still high off of our record buying, we made the turn and pulled next to the property. “Everyone got their tetanus shot?” I asked as we piled out of the van. With reminders to all to watch where you were putting your feet, your arms, fingers and even behinds (no one wants to back into a rusty old pitchfork!) we entered the sale.

The gentleman who runs the sale is very nice. He was completely honest about the conditions of his mechanical banks, pointed out when things were reproductions, and was more than willing to point you to anything you might be looking for in the tool, hardware, mechanical, and ‘rusty metal’ categories. He is very hard of hearing and most things are not priced (or the tag has been washed away in rains of yore), but once you get a lump of things together, he’s very fair in his prices.

We scored a pair of Ford hubcaps from the 1930’s, some great old drawer pulls, and some metal bits, which as sure as I’m typing this, I picked up but as of yet have no clue what they are yet. (Hey, that’s half the fun of a place like this!)

One thing I have to note is that while were were there, investigating every dilapidated box, prying open every large canister, every jar of who-knows-what metal bits and bobs, a young couple from Illinois stopped by the sale. They were easily frustrated the lack of Wal-Mart isles — and I daresay the mounds of weathered merchandise in general. No imagination, no love of adventure, those folks! They quickly abandoned this attempt at roughing it and left for what we hope was a cleaner shop up or down the highway.

With all due respect, this guy should franchise the set-up. Call ‘em Crusty Rusty’s and we’ll stop where ever we see one.

The Cider Mill
4594 Hwy 10, Auburndale WI 715-305-0001
is a great off-the-beaten path shop. I saw things I’ve never seen before (like the old ceramic pink pig outhouse and the even more adorable old pink pig tray with bears, which are, miraculously, shown on the Cider Mill Antique Shop Website). The shop is very clean and the items are grouped in ways which invite you to take them all home. I couldn’t take it all home, but I was happy to ‘adopt’ a few vintage issues of The Workbasket and handfuls of antique postcards.

Proprietor Bill Dietsche (rhymes with ‘peachy’) is knowledgeable and fun. He has a plaque behind the wrap stand which reads: “Quality… is like buying oats. If you want nice, clean, fresh oats, you must pay a fair price. However, if you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse… that comes a little cheaper.” He had so many folks want to buy the plaque but, since it was a gift from a friend, Bill had to say, “No, thank you.” Yet so many wanted the plaque so Bill went out and had copies of the saying made — but once the mini-posters were available for free, seems they lost their value. So Bill now has a price marked on them and they sell just fine. That must be worth double the irony points. (Psst — tell Bill that the folks at Collectors’ Quest sent you, and he’ll likely give you one for free. *wink*)

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Article Tags: A American Antiques, antique shop, Auditorium, Bosstown Store, Cider Mill, Crusty Rusty's, East Side, flea market, Wisconsin, Yore

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