Exit 76 Antique Mall, Edinburgh, Indiana

Only around 30 miles South of Indianapolis on Interstate 65 sits the Exit 76 Antique Mall. It is not far off of the freeway, in an area with an outlet mall and lots of restaurants. Right off the bat the first thing you need to know is that you need to eat first. The antique mall does have a small snack area with a few vending machines, but it took us over four hours to walk this mall. We were pretty hungry after two, and definitely should have stopped off around the corner first and gotten a burger or something.

Exit 76 Antique Mall entrance

There was plenty of parking out front, and the first thing you notice from the outside is that this building is really large. We have been to plenty of antique malls that claim large numbers of vendors or booths, and many times they are exaggerated. Exit 76 claims 600 booths and cases, and we tend to agree. Upon entry we were struck by the spaciousness and cleanliness. It looked more like a Best Buy or a Sears than it did an antique mall. The floors were polished, the paint was crisp, and the aisles were wide. They provide miniature shopping carts, and at the front door are maps for easy navigation.

Keebler Cookie Jars Everywhere!

If you are looking for Keebler Cookie Jars, this is the place to find them. We counted 7 of them throughout the mall, both the earlier and newer ones, priced between $50 and $95. Of course, you can buy these all day on Etsy.com for $25 each and they barely even qualify as vintage. With so many available here one has to wonder if they ever sell any. Maybe they sell so well they keep a bunch of elves shackled in a basement sweatshop manufacturing them to keep the shelves full. Only the vendors know for sure.

Typical Pottery Case

There were at least a dozen cases devoted to American art pottery, with plenty of Roseville Pottery as would be expected. Also as usual, the prices were stratospheric. We did find a few pieces here and there that were priced close to retail, but there were definitely no deals to be found. Many booths and cases displayed a prominent X% off sign, but even with the discounts the prices for the Roseville were steep. We found few rare or difficult pieces either, most were late lines or common things like Donatello or Mostique. The Weller Pottery pieces were mostly common as well, lots of cameo and wild rose, but at least these were usually within the ballpark of retail prices. Once again, there were no deals to be had. We found only a single piece of rookwood, a tall and uninteresting productionware vase.

McCoy Teepee Cookie Jar

We were surprised to find this McCoy Teepee cookie jar in one booth. There are many reproductions out there but we felt confident this one was original. The $200 price seemed to be a good deal, as they do sell often in the $300 - $500 range. Upon close inspection we found the restoration, making the $200 a fair retail price for an attractive slightly restored piece.

Great Depression glass display

There were a good number of vendors with booths filled with glass that were doing it right, like the one above. The prices were all over the place depending on the vendor, and the selection and layout of the booths were nice. Although this one focused on depression pattern glass, there were others with other specialties such as Fenton. On a side note, we saw a tremendous amount of L.E. Smith moon and stars glass all over the place, and most of it was dirt cheap. It looks like that pattern may be falling out of vogue with collectors. We did find a few booths with a good amount of Viking and Blenko crackle glass as well. A better than average selection to be sure, and the prices of the Viking and Blenko were low enough that we actually brought a few pieces home with us.

$400? Really?

Of course, you don't have to be an expert in antiques to run a booth, and this vendor is the proof. Maybe if he tacks a few more extra zeros onto the $400 price for this Fiestaware tripod candlestick he can shut down his case permanently and retire to Belize.

Our loot

So, for four hours of searching we found 10 pieces to bring home. A little green Pilgrim pitcher (with sticker) a Viking Epic Persimmon divided nut tray, a Viking Bluenique Tundra swung vase, a small blue McCoy vase, a pink Brush footed bowl, a very nice Brush McCoy blue Onyx ovoid vase, a deep brown glossy Frankoma bud vase, a brilliant Dugan amethyst pulled loop rose vase, and two (marked) small Muncie Pottery vases in rose over lavender. We highly recommend that if you have the time and are in the area, give Exit 76 Antique Mall a chance. You never know what you might find!