Three Neighborhood Sales in Decatur 4/17/09

Today I visited a trio of neighborhood sales all within the confines of the city of Decatur. For those outside Atlanta, Decatur has become the place of choice of families who want to live close in but don’t want to deal with Atlanta politics and services. Their school as good, their taxes high and now everyone seems to have children and lots of toys for them to play with. I should also note that Decatur has a yard sale ordinance that is actually enforced. I believe people are only allowed two yard sales a year and sign placement is limited and closely monitored. Technically you have to get a permit for a sale. With this in mind much of the sales in the city limits are covered in yearly neighborhood sales, the kind happening today in three different neighborhoods.





Wynonna Park – Neighborhood Sale
Wynonna Park is not named after the Naomi’s daughter but after the fine elementary school that brought people to this once forgotten, tree shaded neighborhood of brick bungalows. In this cozy community the sales worked as a social event as well as a clutter clearance for residents. Among the stuff put out in the lawns were artwork, paper mache creations, bicycles, wedding gowns, children’s books and barware. Among some of the better single items on display were a large gnome figure that appeared to emerging from a hole in the ground, clear plastic bags stuffed with knitting yarn, a children’s boot camp play set (in which the soldiers were shooting at each other in basic training), a remote controlled large plastic insect and some scaffolding.

Well placed sign in Wynonna Park

















Emerging troll.
















Ridley Scott “Neighborhood sale

OK the neighborhood is not really called Ridley Scott. But the intersection where most people enter the area is the intersection of Ridley Cir. and Scott Blvd.. I’d like to propose that neighbors here go for this name and then change street names to match. Then create such streets as Thelma Drive, Louise Road, Alien Ave and Blade Run. They could even get a condo development called “Black Hawk Downs.”
I think this would immediately up property values far better than the Ponderosa subdivision did when they had all the streets named after characters in Bonanza.
Anyway this was the second go around for a neighborhood sale here this year. A few months ago when the weather was not conductive to sales they attempted a neighborhood event with lax results. Today’s event was much more successful with nearly twice as many sales. The dominant sale here featured a massive amount of old clutter crowded into the driveway of a brick ranch home. Here a portly man in a brightly colored sombrero walked among the clutter extolling its virtues. At the top end of the driveway was a large dumpster perhaps where all the stuff would end up if he did not sell it today. Among the stuff in his driveway was a pair of matching ugly recliners, several dozen dusty baskets, a pair of crude looking Indian tom toms, a box of car litterbags advertising the election of Carl Sanders, some old home health care items, crutches, a lightning rod, mismatched end tables, massive candles, decrepit Xmas décor, old board games and an empty gumball machine.
Other sales in the neighborhood had the usual amount of large toys. One near the driveway of clutter I just described had toys with a military bent including two large plastic warplanes with wingspans exceeding three feet and a box labeled stuff filled with aggressive looking action figures. Overall this neighborhood appears to be the weak stepchild of Decatur areas and may well need the name change I suggested.


Pair of matching recliners.


















Manly toys for boys.

















Great Lakes – Neighborhood Sale

With a name like Great lakes you can’t go wrong as this is perhaps the premier neighborhood of the Decatur. First of all there are no Ontario or Erie streets in this area, but there is a Champlain and a Geneva. Perhaps those names have more prestige than the two eastern Great Lakes. Regardless this is the portion of Decatur that never faced gentrification because the values here never dropped not even at the peak of suburban growth in the 1960’s Here today was the mother lode of sales with over 50 homes included. I didn’t count them all but that’s what the signs said. Here the toys are bigger, the lawns better kept and a high level of walkers and cyclist with so many sales close to one another. But sadly with the high numbers the quality of individual sales was not good. I think here in Great Lakes residents feel obligated to participate in this event regardless of if they have stuff they need to divest themselves off.
My favorite stop on the sale route was a woman who had her crewelwork from 20 year as ago on sale. I told her that soft sculpture was coming back into vogue but she doubted her work would ever be in vogue. There was a wider range in clutter than I expected in the upscale neighborhood. One Sale seemed to have nothing but older dejected junk including comptometers and weighty electric adding machines. They also had some dour locking furniture a cheap old portable victrola and a sign behind it all that proclaimed “Will negotiate on everything”. Some sales were repeats from prior years. I was happy to encounter once again the delightful gentleman who makes clever signs on every single item in this sale. Not far away pointing in the wrong direction from this sale was one of the best children made signs I have encountered. This one simply said “YRDE Sale” . An adult watching over a nearby sale said, “You gotta love phonics”

Sign in Great Lakes.


















It's a crewel world.

















Old stuff in Great Lakes.


















Nagel and Rainbow Fish together at last.


























Ridgewood Ave - Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

I stopped at this small sale on the way home. Here I found the ultimate in determination on the part of a yard seller. A few nights earlier during a bad windstorm a massive oak tree had toppled over and demolished their garage and the car inside it. Their solution to this household tragedy? Have a yard sale. Here the mighty fallen oak was used as shelving and as a display area for clothing, towels and bedclothes. One of the best responses to major property damage I have ever seen.

Saturday 4/11/09

I did not expect to encounter any sales with today being Easter Saturday. There was nothing listed in Craigslist near my home and no notices were posted on the usual nearby utility poles. But when I ventured towards Ponce De Leon Ave. I found a sign that would then lead me to at least six other sales.

Briarcliff Terrace – Virginia Highlands “Yard Sales”

My first find was two sales directly across the street from one another. The first was a rather small sale where an older gentleman presided over an eclectic collection of clutter in his driveway. Here I found a selection f small framed art prints of old European scenes, plastic bags filled with gears and springs from old clocks, a fully set up two person tent and a suitcase filled with golf balls. On a table at the end of the drive was an array of nine wall clocks most of which were promotional items for pharmaceutical products. Among the drugs promoted on the timepieces were Paxil , Celexa and Lexapro.
I bought nothing.

Across the street was a larger sale arranged in a highly fastidious manner. The merchandise was so well arranged in this woman’s driveway and lawn that one dare not call it clutter. Everything was placed in a highly organized manner upon a series of well placed tabled and boxes. Even the stuff laying on tarps and carpets in the yard was neatly arrayed. Nearly all the smaller items were placed inside clear plastic bags that were properly labeled. On he first table I found a large selection of souvenirs and memorabilia related to the Master’s Golf Tournament (which was going on at this time). The Master’s is a Georgia event and golf is a popular sport but this collection of mugs, plates, balls and totes seems obsessive.
Another table held electronics and anther house wares. Boxes contained neatly arranged copies of Southern Living and medical journals. Even the boxes containing hundreds of Cds had them were placed neatly in rows. The sale was so fastidious that perhaps buyers were scared to root through the stuff and mess up the order. Near the back of the driveway were dozens of new boxes of bathroom fixtures. Above them taped to the wall was a prices list from their manufacturer. A buyer muttered to me as I appraised the quantity of the boxes “Why would anyone want that many towel racks?” In the yard I found framed prints and some original artwork and a washtub filled with water containing a large selection of floating plastic duckies.
I bought nothing but commended the seller on her fine arrangement of goods.

Materials from the Master's.





















Floating duckies

















Virginia Ave. – Virginia Highlands “Yard Sale”

This sale was a small event in front of an old apartment building here a young couple had put their unneeded collection of cute and bright retro items out in the street for someone to buy. I always look upon the sales of the young with delight as for many it is the first time they realize that no matter how interesting something seems at one time it will eventually become clutter in their life. Among their divestments were an orange 70’s telephone with an adjoining case for a telephone book, a bright red plastic hanging lamp, a large painting of a clipper ship, a large framed piece of embroidery, a Colecovision game unit, a jigsaw puzzle of an Amish scene, a Fox and the Hound lunch box and a large cat cage. The seller’s cat kept checking out the cage.
I bought nothing.



Retro goods on display.


















Glen Arden Dr. – Morningside “Yard Sale”

This sale was disappointing. Here a man had lined his driveway with an uninteresting assortment of stuff that I had seen at nearly every yard sale in the past year. An old printer, disassembled ceiling fans, an old TV and wire storage racks. A few boxes of books yielded boring religious and self-help titles. But there was a copy of “Is there a Cow in Moscow”. This was the least memorable sale of the day. I bought nothing.














Noble Dr. – Morningside “Mega Sale”

This large sale was in the small backyard of a large Morningside home. A lot of the stuff here offered shape contrast. The initial object I encountered here was a large blowup print of a scene from Pulp Fiction. Next to it was a half dozen small psycadelic framed art works depicting day glo geometric shapes floating in strange alien landscapes. Next to these was a large Fauvist style painting of a cat looking at a bird in a cage. Scattered around the rear driveway were even more contrast, a large set of archery equipment including some deadly looking arrows, a box of old fireworks, a wet suit, a large tablecloth with a tie died peace symbol on it and one of those weird ugly ergonomic chairs from the early days of computer use that were impossible to sit in. Mixed in with all of this were perfectly mumdane stuff like a coffee maker, a lamp, tote bags and small candles. The media here was also contrasting. In a box of books I found an old Sidour, “The Zen of Zelda”, “Worse Than Watergate”, “Conspiranoia”, “Driven to Distraction and “Day Hikes in the Santa Fe Area” The collection of videos was stranger for here political conspiracy reigned. I found “From Ike to Mao”, “Invisible Ballots’ and “The truth and Lies of 9-11”
This whole scene was dominated by a massive sculpture of a menacing blue parrot that was not for sale.
I bought some candles to use with my Octomom art.


Used fireworks in Morningside.



















Mind bending art.


























Sherwood Ave. – Morningside “Yard Sale”

This final sale was small but interesting. There was not a lot in the yard or driveway of this small brick home. I first went to the back driveway where a single card table contained some brightly decorated Easter Eggs. When I approached a trio of Latino women were laughing hysterically at the eggs. The seller nor myself were not able to understand why the eggs had set off such a reaction. In the front yard I found an old Obama sign lying atop three newspapers with election headlines. Nearby were two very large action figures. One of which I recognized as Bruce Campbell’s character in “Evil Dead” (The chainsaw gave it away). Nearby was a college diploma from Oberlin College selling for $100,000. The seller admitted that this was a joke. But I had a feeling he was unhappy with what his BA from a private college had given him since graduation.
I bought nothing.




100 Grand Diploma.

Spring Break 2009

We took a short road trip to St. Petersburg last week. We spent Saturday driving so we missed the semitropical yard sale activity in the west Florida city. I did catch one sale on Sunday. While there we made a side trip to Tarpon Springs, the sponge capital of the USA. I was happy to see that upscale slick commercialism has not replaced the low-scale homespun commercialism in this tourist Mecca. Not one sign of Sponge Bob.

St. Pete “Yard sale”

We stopped here on Sunday on our way back from visiting the beach at Desoto State Park. In the midst of an official “Florida Certified Yard” we found an interesting collection of clutter mixed in with the foliage. Cindy was drawn to this sale since the signs said “free plant with purchase” Here I found numerous unopened boxes of plastic car wheel covers, unopened boxes containing inflatable children’s pools, a bird house, disorderly boxes of men and women’s clothing, coffee mugs and some old plumbing fixtures. All this was under a jungle like canopy of lush green plants, some of which were for sale. Cindy bought a plant to get a free plant. I bought nothing.

Clutter under a lush canopy.



















The long ride home. Empty land and empty billboards.

Saturday 3/20/09

This weekend I went out with my wife Cindy to neighborhood sales. Cindy needed a few things for a figure painting class she's starting, but she always dreads going to sales because she ends up buying things she does not need.

Oakdale Ave – Candler Park “Yard Sale”

I was more impressed with the signage at this sale than the contents. In front of this craftsman bungalow there is a long dilapidated Lincoln stretched limo, the unmoving vehicle has been sitting there for years gathering the accumulated debris of a city street. On top of the limo was a large sign proclaiming the sale created from a cardboard box. The sellers signage did not stop there as every box, and pile had a neatly lettered sign, “Artsy things”, “Christmas stuff”, “Everything in this bin $1.00”, “Free canisters”, “Coolest fruit bowl ever” all signs were well crafted and most were positioned on metal rods over the stuff for sale. Cindy came close buying several things here but sensibly refrained. She came very close to buying a large carpet but I fortunately convinced her it was too large for any room in our home. Among some stuff that neither of use even considered buying were a Chia Dinosaur, a wine rack, a decorative goose, teapots, tote bags and small pieces of oak furniture.
We bought nothing.


Hyperbole about bowl.
















Sterling Ave. – Candler Park “Street sale”

Most street-wide events like this feature smaller sales all within walking distance of one another. The lack of depth in merchandise may not give you insight into the individual lives of the sellers it but does provide a snap shot of what’s happening on this street. By the looks of today’s sales there’s been a baby boom on this somewhat dense urban avenue. Nearly every other home had a selection of toddler wear for sale. One neighbor was even discussing overcrowding at the local elementary school. Aside from the children’s apparel there was a wide range of plush toys, women’s clothing, some ugly Xmas ornaments, a selection of Manga books, a foosball table and some old furniture. Cindy bought a chair for a figure model to sit on for a class she starts teaching next week. The chair was $2.00.
I bought nothing.


Furnishings on display on Sterling St.



















Ridley Ave. – Decatur “Yard Sales”

I headed to Decatur to the noted intersection of Ridley at Scott (not far from the cross streets of Martin and Scorsese) to check out this street sale that had been canceled by rain last week. We were welcomed to the streets by a massive colorful sign. The sales in the neighborhood were mixed. The selection at the first home we stopped at was so meager the seller seemed almost apologetic and told us a much bigger sale was further down the street. The bigger sale was in the driveway of a ranch style home and the contents covered the pavement. Here we found an odd assortment of home décor including a large sculpture of a dark skinned man, a broken model of a clipper ship, a painting of an art history book, bingo markers, bags of popurie, an old one speed bike, a rusty bed frame and a multitude of small house wares. Other sales on the circular street included one estate sale of sorts. The seller was getting rid of the contents of a house they had purchased and was complaining that everything there was from the seventies. Among the decades old objects were baskets, ugly bedroom furniture, a large scale and a sculpture of a sniper made from a railroad spike. I could never get the lighting right in the glaring morning sun to get a good picture of the spike. The final home we visited here had a few old appliances in the driveway and a massively tall and heavy cat play condo. Cindy wanted to buy it but I told her I doubt I could lift it was it was constructed out of 4 x 4s.
We bought nothing.




Spike transformed into a sniper.

















View of clutter in Decatur.




















Massive and heavy cat playscape.



















Artwork found on Ridley.


































Oakdale Ave – Candler Park “Yard Sale”

This sale was in the large back yard of one of Cindy’s poker buddies. Here a number of over the top new age folks had set up shop selling among other things buckets of crystals and a multitude of books on witchcraft and magick. Among a large selection of books spread out on the ground I noted the following titles “A Garden of Pomegranates”, “Liber Null and Psychonaut – an introduction to chaos magic”, “The Sorcerer’s Handbook”, ”Spell Crafts”, “The Bible Fraud”, “Magikal Dance”,” A Witch Alone”, “Witchcraft Today”, “An Outline of Occult Science”, “The Magical Household”, “The Power of Positive Thinking” and “Women Who Love too Much”. Other stuff scattered around the seller’s very lovely garden included a rack of costume clothing suitable of festivals of all types, several pairs of fairy wings and a painting of a nude woman with horns.
We bought nothing.


Box of doves among new age clutter.



















book about another kind of magic























Paidiea School Garage Sale

We got here much too late and what we saw was grim and picked over. This is the third year I’ve written about this sale so there is not much more that I can say about this private upscale desirable inner city institution of learning. The pile of toys, the piles of books the lamps and coffee makers were little different than the ones I saw in years past. Cindy’s main remark was “You’d think rich people would have better junk than this”
We bought nothing.












Plastic serpents on sale to support a prep school.




















Springdale Rd. Druid Hills “Estate Sale”

Leaving Paidiea we decided to see if the Druid Hill home with the garden I have dubbed “Tuliptopia” was in bloom. It was not in full bloom yet but on the way there we spotted a sign for this sale. The sale had been going on for three days so when we arrived so there was not much stuff remaining. The stuff that was left was very picked though and left in an advanced state of disorder. Inside the home I descended some very steep stairs to a dark basement to find baskets, Xmas décor, old hardware supplies, broken furniture and old copies of National geographic heaped together in a teetering pile. Not to mention the boxes of ball jars that are de rigueur every octogenarian’s home.
In a kitchen I discovered an assortment of spices mixed with, spatulas, ladles, ceramic figures, baskets and dirty pots strewn across the counter.
Up stairs one bedroom was nearly empty except for a pile of bras and bra pads tossed onto a dirty shag carpet. Another bedroom was full of useless stuff but it looked as though the room had been turned upside down and violently shaken. Among the disorder was a Christmas tree, some blankets, a demolished lampshade, office supplies, women’s clothing, old greeting cards, religious tracks, tennis balls and lps or Broadway soundtracks.
The crown jewel of this sale was found in the living room next to were an exhausted looking seller sat at the cashier’s desk. Here was a hand made five-foot long Barbie Cruise boat. The estate owner had fashioned it while from a long illness. The gargantuan pink ship was crafted from plastic crochet material. Among its features were a grand piano, a swimming pool, a disco ball and a variety of furniture. The hull was emblazoned with jumping dolphins and waves. In the rear of the vessel was a bathroom (or more properly-head) with a sink shower and toilet with working lid. The seller was taking bids on the pink monstrosity but while we were there only one bid totaling $25 had been made.
We bought nothing but discussed if we should have bid on the Barbie boat for the remainder of the weekend.

Disorder in Druid Hills.



















Pile of undergarments.


















The incredible Barbie boat.



















DeKalb Ave. – Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

Our final sale of the day was in the yard of a home on this busy city highway. Here stuff was put out in a tiny yard perched above the fast moving traffic. A lot of people were at this sale and I wondered if anyone had fallen from the yard into DeKalb Ave. earlier on. Here we found an overpriced collection of questionable art, clothing, toys, antique furniture, sporting goods and house wares. Most of the stuff was listed as vintage regardless of worth or value. Cindy wanted to buy a few yards of fabric for her class but found it prohibitively priced. We bought nothing but were entertained by the small dog wandering about in a pumpkin costume.









Costumed dog.

















At the end of the Cindy Cindy had refrained from buying anything she did not need but is still thinking about that Barbie boat.

Saturday 3/7/09

I hoped that this weekend with the pleasant weather would bring a bounty of yard sales. But sadly I found only four nearby, all within the confines of Virginia Highlands Morningside area. An area that has been disappointing lately. The only fun event here was really not a yard sale but the divestment of a business (albeit a fun business).











Hancock Ave. – Virginia Highlands “Yard Sale”

This was a small sale in the driveway of a well kept renovated home. There was not a lot here and the contents were dominated mostly by a selection of fancy architectural trim work. There were also some power tools, a rack of clothing and a palette of women’s accessories. I attempted to buy a shirt but the person in charge told me the man selling the shirts was out getting change and she didn’t know the price of the shirts.
Not wanting to wait around staring at wooden hardware I bought nothing and departed.






Rosedale Rd. Virginia Highland “Yard Sale”

I think this may have been some sort of small group fundraiser. But I have no idea what they were raising funds for. There was more here than the last sale but there was not much here of lasting interest. A pile of women’s clothing, some old computer gear, a few board games and jigsaw puzzles, some old Lps, a box of business books and some athletic gear.
I bought nothing.










Amsterdam Ave. – “Virginia Highlands “Yard Sale”

This sale was equally disappointing. Most of what was in the driveway in front of this small Tudor home consisted a selection of dreadful home décor and holiday items. I heard the seller remark “ I’d have more candles, but my father was a fire chief and he would not let use candles”. But he did allow garish frog figurines, baskets and a plethora of dried flowers. There was also a disassembled chandelier for sale. Perhaps it was not up to fire code.
I spent little time here and bought nothing.







Wildwood Pl. Morningside “Yard Sale”

This was the biggest and most visually interesting sale of the day. But the irony is that most of the unusual clutter strewn across this corner lot was not the contents of a house but the contents of an antique business a spouse of the seller once owned. The collection was remarkable and the display was alluring. Among the items laid out on the grass and pavement were two prosthetic legs, a pair of large mounted sharks (one being a hammerhead), a seemingly bottomless pile of found photographs collected over a lifetime, endless toys and disorderly boxes of LPs and 45s.
Mixed in with the found photos was a large selection of movie memorabilia and a variety of advertising posters and cards. Framed artwork litter the property with prints of babies, bulls, old celebrities, landmarks and military scenes.
I was tempted to spend more time rotting through the paper items but I kept telling my self this is previously discovered stuff and it does not have anything but a business relationship to the seller. Regardless the seller was quite open to my extensive photography of her estate. I bought nothing but appreciated the fine arrangements in this yard..

Pile of found photos.


















Toy trucks arrayed in the yard.


























Prosthetics in the grass.

















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