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07/15/2005 Archived Entry: "The Yard Sale That's 792,000 Yards Long"

The Yard Sale That's 792,000 Yards Long
I've always wanted to experience this yard sale. A massive sale stretching throughout several states, it looks like the ultimate experience. Years ago, I saw a short PBS documentary on the sale and quickly imagined what kinds of great junk I could get: old tools, cast iron pans, cheap toys, comics nobody wants, furniture, board games named after long forgotten TV shows. This is the stuff one's life is made of: fill up your garage with "stuff" and you have made it.
I love garage/yard sales. I love the idea of circulating junk. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who likes these kinds of useless purchases; lots of folks do. Thus, the prices for crap can be quite high. In Micanopy (just down the road from Gainesville, where I used to live), Smiley's was notorious for jacking up the prices on what were once throwaway crap: McDonald's glasses, prizes from cereal boxes, little Happy Meals toys, sports giveaways. As I much as I desired this crap, I couldn't see myself paying 10 bucks for a glass that was once free.
The next best thing to the garage sale is the flea market. But as great as the flea market is, it doesn't have the social-ness of the garage sale - the sale that takes place in someone's home. Here you can imagine all this crap once sitting inside the house, being used, being looked at, or just being tossed aside as an idiotic purchase ("Why did I buy yet another basket?").
Flea markets were a Sunday ritual for me and my dad. He insisted we get up early (it gets hot quite early in Miami) and get there before everyone else. That usually meant we were there before the vendors. Of course, hot dogs and chili dogs can always be bought at 7:30 in the morning.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a nice little yard sale run. I got Kill Bill on DVD for two dollars, a buffet for twenty dollars (and the guy drove it to my house in his pick-up), and some tools for a few dollars more (now I got that level I needed a month ago). In Michigan, the yard sale season is limited; no one wants to go or stand out in the snow and sell/buy junk. So I keep my eyes peeled when I drive around on the week-ends ("should I follow that sign? how deep into that neighborhood is the sale?" "hmm...I don't see any 'big ticket' items....should I get out of the car?"). I guess I don't feel that I own enough junk yet. Or I feel I don't want to own enough junk. I can't resist a torn comic book that features some odd topic or that is named after a forgotten B-movie; I can’t resist another wrench; I’m still looking for something cheap to put a lot of my junk in (like a tool chest or cabinet).
And garage sales bring regret. Why didn’t I get that? Who cares if I really need it. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the five dollar wheelbarrow I saw two months ago.

Posted by Ruby @ 07/20/2005 12:51 PM EST

I've always wanted to go to the Hwy 127 sale. I've had to limit myself to the offerings in my area--Baltimore has some great flea markets, and I've been able to furnish most of my house with second hand stuff. I've always loved stuff that looks a bit worn-in--my design instinct must be more along the lines of the Velveteen Rabbit than any modern new "look." But I'm a writer, and I like the stories that my worn furniture tell.

Posted by joanna @ 07/16/2005 05:21 PM EST

My wife and I went to the big Hwy. 127 sale last year. Started in Covington, KY., and made it about 100 miles south. Fun for people watching and for checking out some neat rural towns, but we didn't find many "good" sales. A lot of tools and farm equipment, actually. (Admittedly, we've got some odd things we look for at these kinds of things--cartoon character glasses preferably from the 70s, pyrex kitchenware-also preferably from the 70s, records, weird crap that catches out eye, etc, etc.) But we're going to try to go again, if time allows.

Posted by Bill @ 07/15/2005 05:38 PM EST