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For one day, the bargains came outside, and it seemed like everybody came downtown to see what they could find.
Remember when the stores in downtown Sandwich emptied themselves onto the sidewalks?
Clothing racks appeared outside. Tables were piled with bargains. Merchants marked down everything from work clothes and dresses to lamps, toys, groceries and television sets. There might be free coffee, balloons for the kids, a drawing or two, and apparently, if you happened to be downtown in 1958, even the “World’s Smallest Chef.”
They called it Maxwell Street Day.
For years, the event turned downtown Sandwich into something part sidewalk sale, part town gathering and part treasure hunt. Local merchants competed for attention with bigger bargains, clever newspaper ads and whatever else might persuade people to come downtown.
And people came.
Maxwell Street Day brought the merchandise, and the shoppers, out onto the sidewalks of downtown Sandwich.
So, Why “Maxwell Street”?
Sandwich didn’t invent the name.
The idea was patterned after Chicago’s famous Maxwell Street, long known for its bustling open air market where merchants and street vendors sold just about anything imaginable.
Sandwich borrowed the idea and made it its own.
Instead of a big city street market, local stores hauled merchandise outside and filled the sidewalks with marked down goods. Newspaper advertising turned the day into an event, and merchants dreamed up promotions to make sure their store was one shoppers wouldn’t pass by.
By the late 1950s, Maxwell Street Day was clearly an established part of the Sandwich shopping calendar.
The Sandwich Free Press promoted Maxwell Street Day as local merchants prepared to move their bargains onto the sidewalks in September 1958.
Everybody Had a Bargain
Open an old Sandwich Free Press from Maxwell Street week and you don’t have to hunt very hard.
The ads practically shout at you.
MAXWELL STREET SPECIALS!
ONE DAY ONLY!
HALF PRICE OR LESS!
OUTSIDE ON THE SIDEWALK!
Clothing stores cleared racks. Furniture stores marked down odds and ends. Drugstores offered household goods and toys. Grocery stores advertised specials. Appliance dealers put televisions on sale. Even automobile dealers joined the commotion.
This wasn’t one or two stores running a Saturday sale.
Downtown was in on it.
Sandwich merchants didn’t hold back. Maxwell Street Day advertisements filled the local newspaper with bargains from stores throughout town.
And Then There Were the Gimmicks
A bargain apparently wasn’t always enough.
Merchants found other ways to get people through the door, or at least onto the sidewalk.
There were giveaways, drawings, balloons, food and refreshments. Some businesses offered free coffee. Others advertised special attractions.
And then there was Art’s Royal Blue Store.
For Maxwell Street Day in 1958, the store announced a visit from the “World’s Smallest Chef.”
Because, really, what else could Maxwell Street Day possibly have needed?
Art’s Royal Blue Store added a little showmanship to Maxwell Street Day in 1958 with an appearance by the “World’s Smallest Chef.”
You Never Knew What You Might Find
That was part of the fun.
Maxwell Street Day wasn’t necessarily about arriving downtown with a carefully prepared shopping list. You went to see what was there.
Maybe somebody had dragged a table of discontinued merchandise onto the sidewalk. Maybe there was a ridiculous price on something you didn’t know you needed until you saw it. Maybe you bumped into somebody you knew and stood talking for twenty minutes.
And if Mom and Dad were shopping, there was always the possibility that one of those merchants handing out food, candy or balloons might make the trip worthwhile for the kids.
The newspaper ads preserved the prices and promotions.
What they can’t quite preserve is the sound of it.
People talking. Car doors closing. Kids running around. Merchants greeting customers. Shoppers moving from one store to the next.
For that, we have to use a little imagination.
From table lamps to popsicles, Maxwell Street Day offered a little bit of everything.
When Downtown Sandwich Was the Place to Be
That’s probably the part of Maxwell Street Day that’s easiest to overlook.
Yes, merchants wanted to sell things. Of course they did.
But an event like this depended upon something that was once very ordinary in Sandwich:
People went downtown.
They went to the drugstore, grocery store, clothing store or hardware store. They stopped at several places on the same trip. They saw neighbors. They talked with merchants they knew by name.
Maxwell Street Day simply turned up the volume.
One newspaper account from 1972 remembered Maxwell Street Days when the crowds were so large that “cars could hardly travel the streets.”
That’s quite an image.
For a day built around bargain tables, Sandwich had managed to create a pretty good traffic jam.
Maxwell Street Day continued to draw Sandwich merchants and shoppers through the 1960s and into the 1970’s
The Ads Tell Their Own Story
Today those old advertisements are almost as much fun as the event itself.
The giant lettering. The exclamation points. The hand-drawn illustrations. The prices that make us stare at the page for a second.
They also preserve a remarkable roll call of Sandwich businesses.
Boston Store. Holland Drug. Kinchner’s. Swishers. Art’s Royal Blue. Sandwich Floral Shop. Tastee Freeze, and many more.
Some lasted for generations. Others are remembered mostly by people who shopped there.
Put enough of these Maxwell Street ads together, though, and for a moment the old business district begins filling back up.
More Than a Sidewalk Sale
It would be easy to dismiss Maxwell Street Day as an old fashioned retail promotion.
Technically, that’s what it was.
But after looking through years of newspaper pages, it feels like something more.
It was one of those little traditions that helped mark the passing of the year in a small town. Merchants prepared for it. Newspapers promoted it. Families knew it was coming.
And when the day arrived, downtown changed.
The doors opened.
The tables came outside.
The bargain signs went up.
And Sandwich showed up.
For many longtime residents, Maxwell Street Day wasn’t just about finding something cheap.
It was about downtown being alive.
Facts at a Glance
What: An annual community wide shopping and sidewalk sale event
Where: Downtown Sandwich and participating businesses throughout town
Inspired by: Chicago’s famous Maxwell Street open air market tradition
Documented locally: By at least the late 1950s and continuing into the 1970s
What you’d find: Sidewalk sales, clearance merchandise, food, giveaways, drawings, special attractions and plenty of newspaper advertising
Why it matters: Maxwell Street Day offers a wonderful glimpse of the days when shopping downtown was also a social occasion.
More History Awaits
The story continues every day.
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Research & Sources
Sandwich Free Press, Maxwell Street Day coverage and advertisements, 1958–1970s.
Additional advertisements and promotional material from participating Sandwich businesses.