The Cedar Rapids Swap Meet is coming up on Saturday October 19, Lets hope the weather is good and the place is packed with vendors!
Didn't I read something about Hawkeye Downs being sold to a communications outfit? Sounds like they're going to do some improvements to the grounds, and put their "storefront" there as well. Anybody in CR know any details? Roger
Got a short sprinkle about mid-morning, otherwise temps were good, even if overcast. What disappointed me was the lack of vendors. Track area had about ten, most up close to the stands. The food vendor was also missing from the track. The grass area seemed a little thinner, but not bad. Overall, it appears that this event is slowly dying. Roger
No pics. I bought a pair of 32 coupe/roadster rear fenders, some 40 coupe trunk hinges, an old Ford oil filter canister with a chrome top, and a 40 rear view mirror. The weather was fine for a fall day, but there was a threat of rain from the weatherman. I'm hoping it was just the weather that kept the vendors away. I've been going to this swap my whole life and would hate to see it disappear.
I have heard of that swap for years and it is still on my list to attend. I keep reading about lower vendor counts at quite a few of these older well established swaps and will have to think hard about attending. Heard reports the Roadsters swap at the MN fairgrounds was noticeably light for vendors and attendees. Lousy weather was the excuse but I've been there in 3" of snow or 10 degree windchills. How was Chickasaw this years? Was it even held? Another on my list.
I live in Cedar Rapids and I am head of the Hawkeye Downs Wall of Fame so I have some knowledge of what is going on at HD. My dad was a staple at this swap meet for many years. A lot of people new him as $3 Ralph as that seemed to be the going price for most of his stuff. I see two problems with the CR swap meet. 1) just as a lot of other swap meets, the Internet is killing them. It is easier to sell on line than to pack up a trailer, travel to a swap meet, then pack it back up to go home and also dedicate a full day of being there selling stuff. 2) the Hawk A Model A Ford Club holds the spring swap meet and the Cedar Rapids Region of the Antique Automobile Club of Iowa holds the fall swap meet. Both swap meets are manned by volunteers from these clubs. As time goes on they are losing members to old age and young people are not joining these clubs to replace the old members. Eventually they will not have enough members to run the swap meets. As far as the pending sale of the property, this is probably the best thing that could happen to the racing program. It relieves the fairboard of their mounting debt (2.6 million at last count) and still allows for the fairboard to continue holding their weekly Friday night races on the track and also to continue holding some of their events in the expo hall. The fairboard will lease both the track and the expo hall from the new owner to run their own events. But as long as everyone does what they say they are going to do, this is the best case scenario for the race track as I don't think they could last much longer without a deal like this. As far as the swap meets, I don't know if these will fall under the fairboard's existing events or if the two car clubs with the swap meets will need to negotiate a lease from the new property owner.
I went and was disappointed at the lower number of venders, but understand that the internet is growing. I still like to look in person and handle the stuff I buy. Unfortunately, the the only car related things I bought were a whole lot of old HOT ROD magazines. I think the best stuff was indoors.
I live 4 blocks from the fairgrounds where the Roadsters swap was held. The weather was so bad I didn't bother going. It was pouring rain most of the day and cold and windy.
When this thread started I looked for info on the web. All I could find was the website with last years poster on it. Perhaps my googlefu was weak that day......
I’ve said this for many years, if you want to sell more stuff, stop being in the same spot year after year after year. That way - you reduce the thought of the same old stuff in the same old spot from the same old seller. Change it up. I know I’ve been to many Swap meets and see the same guys with the same stuff on the same table place for YEARS and walk on by. If a promoter was smart, you tell venders that your spot changes every year to keep the thought / desire fresh to lure more new and different looks for more treasure hunters. That way - more guys get excited to come to see if they can find that treasure they can’t live with out. IMHO
Online sellers sometimes do exactly the same. I see the overpriced stuff for years. It never sells. I bought an ignition analyzer for $40, not a bad price. Maybe a $5 or $10 yard sale item? I dunno. Anyway there's an identical unit up for sale for over $500, it will never sell.
Yesterday I got a post card from the clubs that put this swap meet on. They are moving both the spring and fall meets to the Linn County Fairgrounds in Central City, Iowa. The dates for 2020 are Saturday May 9 and Saturday October 3. It looks like Central City is a few miles north of Hwy 30 on Hwy 13. See you there.
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