Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Saturday 5 /24/ 08

Cabbagetown Returns to Life

This spring a series of tornados ravaged Atlanta’s Cabbagetown neighborhood, tearing off roofs, downing tress, damaging homes and ending some of the best yard sales in town. While blue tarps still adorn many roofs the former mill village has risen from the rubble as yard sales have returned.

Powell St.- Cabbagetown “Yard Sale”

The first sale was in the driveway of a home that appeared to have been spared damage from the storm. There was a large dead tree in the yard but that may have been more a victim of the drought rather than the twisters. Here I found an ample array of women’s shoes, a vacuum cleaner, a toaster oven, a retro looking floor lamp, some glassware and a table full of jewelry neatly packaged in plastic baggies. On the ground were several original artworks including an expressionistic looking portrait of a woman, an eerie looking painting of a man and a woman and a painting of a reclining woman in a flowing gown with a bob haircut. On the porch was hung a rack of women’s clothes. Among some books on a bookshelf were “The Literary Insomniac”, “Desolation Angels”, “Junky”, “Technical Editing”, “Let’s Put the Future Behind Us”, “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”, “The Art of the Tattoo”, “The Homebuying Book and several art history textbooks.
I bought nothing.

Art that survived the storm.




















View of sale with dead tree.













Berean St. - Cabbagetown “Yard Sale”

This sale had a more masculine bent than the prior event. Crammed into the tiny fenced in front yard and porch of an old mill house was a considerable amount of clutter. Among the stuff I found two old Polaroid cameras, an Easy button (in unopened packaging) two boxes of computer circuit boards, two copies of Endless Summer II on DVD, a soldering gun, an old and very heavy bicycle and some men’s clothing. Among some books I found “Search for A Method”, “Healthy Life Kitchen”, “God Calling”, “Protein Power”, “We the Living”, “The Left handed Dictionary”, “Intimacy”, “The Chronicle of Crime” and several GRE test prep books.
I bought nothing.

Box of circuit boards.














Flat Shoals Ave. – Reynoldstown “Yard Sale”

Reynoldstown is a neighborhood adjacent to Cabbagetown it is nearly as funky in character but the houses are a little bit further apart. It was spared tornado damage. This sale was put on by the owners of a small neighborhood coffee house. It is the only coffee joint that I know of that has its own free range dog park.
In a small grassy area behind the café and in the shadow of a large sign that says “yes Lord, yes Lord” was a sofa, a small TV a few items of bedroom furniture, some barware, a small lamp in the shape of a turtle and a few items of women’s clothing. Under a tree on a table was a large selection of artwork from a local studio that was somehow associated with the café.
I bought a cup of coffee.

Art found in Reynoldstown.














Fairview Ave. – Druid Hills “Yard Sale”

While on a walk with Cindy later in the day we passed by this sale that extended down the driveway of a large Tudor home. I realized as soon as I proceeded down the driveway that I had been to and photographed a sale of this same stuff over a year ago. I also realized that I have run into the seller at various sales over the past years.
I was hard to tell if there was anything here I had not seen before but the stuff looked very picked over. Among the items I recalled from the past were an outboard motor, an old bike, some oversized beer steins and a massive amount of lps in old cardboard boxes. What I did not recall seeing was the large sign that said “Cletis” or the children’s wagon filled with billiard balls and covered with plate-glass.
I bought a toy mechanical hand to use for an upcoming art project.

wagon filled with balls.














A sign for Cletis.

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