Saturday 10/06/07

This morning there are very few signs for sales near my home but I set off on bike to see what I can discover if I found nothing at least I would have a pleasant bike ride.

Whiteford Ave. - Edgewood "Yard Sale"
I was expecting this sale on Whiteford to be a little larger from the ad placed in Craigslist. Here I found a somewhat bored looking fellow looking over his goods in the yard of his small frame home. Among the stuff here were old comics and graphic novels, a drum with some obscene language spray painted on it, one of those ugly Xmas nutcrackers, some electric music peripherals, wicker baskets and a collection of small ceramic horses.
Among some books were “Jane Eyre”, “Ya Yas in Bloom”, ”Broca’s Brain”, “Chaos” “Georgiana” and “The Promise of Wisdom”.
An assortment of stuff could be seen in plastic bins one held a copy of the Bad Girl’s calendar and some plastic leis; another held plush toys and a box of hair dye.
I bought nothing.

Hair dye and plush animals for 25 cents.

















Drum with foul language and graphic novels.















Waverly Way – Inman Park “Yard Sale”

I came across this sale while cruising on my bike through the tree-lined streets of Inman Park. Here a young man and woman casually watched over an assortment of things upon the grass and on tables. Like the prior sale in Edgewood I found more musical apparatus. Here was a four-track recorder and a metronome two devices from different bygone eras near each other on a table. On another table were a lava lamp, a fan, an ashtray and an electric toothbrush. On a rack of women’s clothes I found a cheerleaders outfit from Decatur High School. On a third table were some small plastic horses, novelty buttons and a massive bolt nearly a foot long.
I bought nothing.



Old and not so old musical devices found together.













Giant bolt for sale in Imman Park

Yard Sale Bloodbath

A few months ago I was delighted to find that other sites akin to Yard Sale Addict have come into being. The most notable and best of these is Yard Sale Bloodbath (http://www.yardsalebloodbath.com/). The fun and entertaining Seattle base site is penned by Meghan and Jenny (no surnames given) it features lots of photos, regular updates and interesting commentary. As with this site they have an interest in the bizarre and the unusual and in the anthropological aspects of the seller’s divestments. But they so seem to buy more things than I do. Their site also includes an extensive list of other yard sale and thrift shopping sites. Leave them a note that you heard about them here.

9/29/07 - Yard Sale Day in Druid Hills

The Druid Hills neighborhood is an exclusive enclave that borders to the north of my own neighborhood Lake Claire. While Lake Claire is often chided for not having any sort of lake, Druid Hills does not get critiqued for lacking actual Druids. What the neighborhood does have is elegant mansions, a private country club and high priced real estate. Its initial development was set around the estates of two scions of the Coca Cola fortune and a series of Olmsted designed parks.
Today Druid Hills is having their annual community wide yard sale. The last time I visited a major planned yard sale event was last summers world’s longest sale in Alabama. Wandering down elegant streets with ‘dale’ suffixes I realized that this was a world away from that Alabama sojourn.
If I recognized anything from the clutter assembled here it is that there are far more children in Druid Hills than I imagined. Perhaps here among the posh homes children are neither seen nor heard. Large plastic playscapes and other extruded over sized toys were at many of the sales. One home that had a particular overabundance of large plastic toys was selling them along with strollers and other child moving contraptions since the owners were moving to Singapore. I warned them not to allow their children to chew gum there. There were a number of things that seems out of place and time here. In the driveway of one home I found a copy of a Vanilla Ice game, in the driveway of another was a small wooden dinghy. Like most sales the amount of women’s clothing far surpassed the little that was offered for men. In a number of yards Halloween items were placed among the clutter. One thing that I did see in the aforementioned Alabama sale was red hats. The type that older women wear as a defense against growing old and boring. I do not know if these represented a failed attempt to stop age and boredom or if someone was expelled from a red hat club for being old and boring. These and other items are depicted below.


Children's stuff left behind by soon to be Singapore expats.














Fine vases atop plastic chairs.













The magic of Vanilla Ice captured in a game.
















Red headgear no longer desired.
















A ticking clock and a game of midlife crisis.














A drum and riding boots on an upscale street.
















Guitar and rain boots offered for sale.














A bed covered in clutter in the driveway of an Italinate manor.











A small boat waits for a buyer in the Druid Hills.

Saturday 9/21/2007

Paradiso Cir. – Druid Hills “Estate Sale”

Before I entered this newer home built on the grounds of a Druid Hills mansion I knew I was in for disappointment. First, I arrived here on the second day of the sale and secondly it was a new and overpriced home that could not have been lived in for more than 8 years. The immaculate quarters were nearly empty inside and everything was much too clean. The only remnants of the place having been lived in were a few shelves of new hardbound political intrigue novels, some Xmas décor and a table with several high end Madam Alexander type dolls on it. There was an elephant saddle (with a sign saying it was an elephant saddle) taking up a good bit of space in one of the bedrooms and an antique carrousel horse mounted over the stairway. But these things just appeared as artifacts left in the wake of an overpriced decorator once hired to make the place more stylish. In the garage I found an artificial Xmas tree but this item also appeared far too clean and new. I bought nothing.

Xmas tree in garage of boring home.















Lakeshore Dr. – Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

This event was in the large yard of a brick Tudor home on a very pleasant street in my neighborhood. Spread out upon the lawn on tables was a wide variety of things that appeared to have come from several households. Among the assorted clutter was a Baby’s Coming bingo game, a bota, a Creative Loafing clock, a glass dish commemorating an anniversary, a brooch with a figure holding a sign that said ’housework makes you ugly’, a rolling pin imprinted with the words ‘baked with love’ and a lot of assorted kitchen and dinning wares. On several tables next to a large dumpster in the driveway were neat piles of women’s clothing. In the middle of the yard was an oversized plush Scooby Doo. Among some books in boxes I found “Ugly Ways”, “The Adventure of Johnny Chuck”, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work”, “Protect and Defend”, “Personal Injuries”, “Who Moved My Cheese” and “The Ultimate Sunflower Book”.
I bought nothing.

Plush canine in midst of sale.














Howard Cir. – Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

This sale was interesting in that there were so many things related to beer making here. In the yards was a beer keg that was never returned to the brewer, boxes of empty reusable beer bottles, an various tubes, and containers for creating home brew. There were also a number of assorted kitchen-wares and coffee mugs.
I bought nothing.





Mathews Ave. – Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

The sale was set up in the driveway of a small brick home. By this time there yard sale activity had quieted down and I was the only visitor when I arrived. At the end of the driveway was a large painting of a flock of flamingoes. Along the driveway were tables with assorted goods. Here I found several lamps, a plastic lobster, a Zen gardening kit, a heating pad, some flavored body massage oils and about a dozen small plush animals.
I bought nothing.

Artwork found in Lake Claire


















Waverly Way – Inman Park “Yard Sale of Love”

This was a repeat of a sale held in the yard and driveway of a large frame Victorian mansion. The first time the sale was held it was some sort of fundraiser. This time there were no sales indicating way the sale was here. Some of the goods from the earlier event were still on sale but some new things were added to the jumble. In the street was a large sign proclaiming this as the Yard Sale of Love with hearts drawn on the sign. Some of the stuff was placed in well-organized piles while some things were arranged in a chaotic manner such as a collection of older audio gear or a bike placed on a pedestal. One of the larger sections here were the boxes of old Lps (are there anything but OLD Lps anymore?) set on a table near the mix of audio gear. Assorted things found at this sale included a large ceramic dog, bolts of fabric, a metallic cut out of a cat, a large ceramic fish, office supplies, a string of lights made from fishing lures, several lamps and a lot of old luggage. Among some books I found “The Fist of God”, “The Japanese American Family Album”, “The Sphinx and the Megaliths”, “The New Popular History of the World”, “Compassionate Laughter” and “The Vocabulary of Science”.
I bought nothing.

Assorted audio gear on display.

















Clutter gathered around a tree.
















Fish in the yard.