Yard Sale Addict

Highland Terrace. – Virginia Highlands “Moving Sale”

This sale was located down the driveway and behind a brick Tudor. The home’s size is deceptive, from the front it appears to be a modest one story structure, but from the back it looms three floors above the driveway where the sale is located. Since this is still a time of few sales the site is packed with buyers when I arrive. Among the items displayed in the driveway and the garage are a framed photo of a train with the caption “Time freight from Spartanburg”, a large scanner, some baskets, some old drab looking luggage, several rugs, a large CRT monitor and a big pair of large Cervin Vega speakers. On a table is a plastic bag of old matchbooks, several from Fulton Federal Saving. Books include “The Book of Lists”, ”Voiceless lips” and “The country diary of an Edwardian lady”
I buy nothing.

Cumberland Dr.- Morningside “Yard Sale”

I followed the large bight and well placed signed to this sale. In the yard of a typical Morningside Tudor is a small selection of clutter. About a dozen cold looking folks stand around shifting thought the stuff. As I arrive a buyer is closing a deal on a mosquito magnet. One of those highly priced devices that supposedly trap mosquitoes with CO2. Fear of West Nile has pushed the development of such technology, but with the current weather it will not get much use for at least a month or two. The mosquito magnet buyer is also purchasing two boxes of poker chips and one of the two humidifiers sitting in the yard. Also in the yard is a boom box, a sectional sofa, a desktop fridge still in the box and a pair of wooden easels. One of the seller hauls out a box of Lp’s and declares its full of 70’s rock. Going through the box I see recordings by Dave Mason and The Almond Brothers. The sellers wife exclaims “Oh no not my Derek and the Dominoes!” as a buyer examines it. Several board games are scattered about. One is Monopoly-The Dog, which I presume has a Get out of the pound for free card. Nearby is an Atlanta monopoly. Where I presume the cheapest rents are found on Metropolitan (nee Stewart) Ave. Unlucky players might also pull a card saying “Rebuild city sewer infrastructure- pay $10,000,000”.
I bought the pair of easels for $4.00

Morningside Cir- Morningside “Estate Sale”

This sale is in a newer condo complex located on the north end of Morningside. This is the second day of the sale so I expect a lot things have been picked through. I arrive about ten minutes before the sellers open the doors. A line of about dozen and a half shoppers are waiting at the front steps. They include men in Nascar jackets and young women with Hello Kitty purses. A few in the front of the line are discussing estate sale deceptions where shabby furnishings are placed in upscale homes to attract more buyers. Others wonder if the possibility of an approaching ice storm will cause prices to suddenly drop. At ten they let the line of cold shoppers into the home. Inside are three floors of stuff. I head upstairs since no one else in the line has headed there. At the top of the stairs is a lone bedroom and bath. On the floor of the bedroom are a number of children’s toys including a full set of play kitchen appliances. Upon a dresser is a pile of naked dolls. In a closet is some women’s clothing and on a table is a clown mask. Downstairs has a wider selection of items including the ephemera advertised in the paper. On a bookshelf I find a large selection of travel guides and brochures to Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and China. Most of it is from the 80’s or 90’s. One older transport item is a passenger list from the C.G. Transatlantique, the date of passage was not given but from the style it was from the 50’s or earlier. Next to the passenger list are six copies of the Classic Comic version of Jane Eyre. Books include Peg Bracken’s “The I hate to cook book” a Santorini guide and Kipling’s “Barrack room ballads”. A large number of paper items cover the dinning room table. Among them are news clipping from the Augusta Chronicle dated 1960 on the PTA, some sheet music including a piano solo entitled “Waltz in Outer space” as well as “If you please” from the film Dixie. A wide selection of original artwork is on the table as well, including a wood block print of the Annunciation as well as several drawings and paintings as well as a print entitled “Van Gogh dreaming in Gauguin’s bed” A small box on the floor is filled with old family photographs that include several farm scenes from at least 50 years ago. Mixed with the photos is a hand typed document entitled Guide to Spanish for Travelers. On a sideboard are some old Playbills, including one for a 1974 production of Camelot at the Charleston Municipal Theatre, and others for My Fair Lady and Prisoner of 2nd Avenue. On a small table in the same room is a deck of Norman Rockwell playing cards and a paperweight made of marble with “I finally got it together But I forgot where I put it” inscribed upon it. In the living room is a coo coo clock sitting in a cardboard box and a selection of Japanese lacquered boxes. Watched over by one of the sellers is a glass-topped case with jewelry and other small items. Among them is a Kennedy election button for $20, as well as a Mondale Ferraro button. Next to the case was a pair of framed Russian icons appraised at $1500.
The kitchen looked as though it had been recently used and was still stocked full of food much of which was for sale. A sign on a cabinet said “Food -25 cents to $3.00”. The food includes packages of oyster crackers, cans of water chestnuts, cake meal, two boxes of corn flakes and a few other items. I had a hard time determining which item could be selling for the top price of $3.00. The kitchen drawers are still filled with an assortment of cutlery and other implements for cooking. On the stove is a selection of old dishtowels, one with a 1978 calendar and another with a 1979 calendar. In the kitchen one shopper hold a two-thirds empty bottle of Galliano, the price is not marked.
The basement to my delight is a bit more confused. At the bottom of the stairs is a table with artwork and posters. One is a student poster explaining how plants breathe. Artwork includes several portraits and architectural studies. The original block for the prints of the Annunciation seen in the dinning room is also on the table. Behind one painting is an unused piece of linoleum used for printing. I grab this since I had just paid $50 for a piece to give to Cindy for Christmas. Below the table is a box of unused envelopes with the name of International Enterprises on them. Next to it is a composition notebook with the words “Alaska 2001” written on the cover. The pages are blank and the first page has been torn out. A corner of that page remains on which one cryptic word can be read – “weather”. Also below the table is the booklet “Rev up your immune system with the amazing super food of the orient”. In a back room of the basement is another glass case with jewelry and small items, including a flask bearing the insignia of a Russian paratrooper corp. Sewing supplies, Easter and Christmas decoration are mixed together in the basement hallway In the garage the light is dim and there is even less order. Stacks of graded Spanish tests sit next to power tools. A curled up lithograph of Herman Hesse rests on a shelf flanked by garden tools. Some framed artwork rests against the wall of the garage including a sketch of a southern mansion still bears a first place ribbon. Other artwork includes a portrait of a distinguished lady wearing a sprightly chapeau. Also framed is a reproduction of a notice from 1806 calling for investigations into the cause of Yellow fever. In boxes on the floor of the garage I find little cards with pictures of Fredrica Lorca on them, a packet from the Department of State regarding a career as Foreign Service Officer, and some large chest X rays.
I buy the piece of linoleum for 50 cents.

Barnett Ave. – Virginia Highlands “Moving Sale”

It is late in the morning and still cold, there is a for sale sign but no yard sale sign at this address. The only thing is the yard is a paper shredder. But the door is open and inside a couple is discussing how early birds descended on the sale before they were ready. Not too many items are left. Books include “Getting it right the 2nd time”, “Couplehood”, “Help my apartment has a kitchen” and an entire box of Mary Higgins Clark paperbacks. On a mantle are an espresso maker, a drip coffee maker, and a Charles Schawb thermal coffee mug. There is also an unopened VHS copy of “ The Long, Long Trailer” as well as a 32-inch TV.
I buy nothing.

Murray Hill – Kirkwood "Moving Sale"

When I pull over to park a woman is packing up some clothing that was in her yard, a few items remain on her porch. She’s moving to Ft. Lauderdale and doesn’t have much left to sell, mostly women’s clothing. She does have three bottles of unopened wine for a dollar each. One is a Whole Foods brand French Merlot, another a Nouveau Beajoulais from 2002 and a third a bottle of Fritz Haag Riesling she said she brought back from Germany.
I buy the Merlot and the Riesling. The beajoulais should have been served two years ago.