3/10/2007 - Where are the Sales in Lake Claire?

The weather is pleasant, the morning is clear, yet there are no sales in Lake Claire or Candler Park. So I drive to nearby neighboring areas in search of the yards of clutter.

Selman St. - Cabbagetown “Yard Sale”

This was held in one of the tiny front yards of a typical Cabbagetown bungalow. Two women had piled a selection of clutter here for whoever might wander by. There was a lot of art stuff here including over a dozen small paintings that included among other things images of a black cat. (The same cat was wondering around the yard). Other art stuff included two of those self-contained plein air painting combination easel and art boxes. One of the sellers told me they were just two heavy to haul around plus Cabbagetown does not seem to be the epicenter of plein air painting. Among the other stuff gathered into the narrow space near the street included a headless black manikin, a massaging chair cushion, a Petri 35 mm camera, a microwave oven and a few books. Among the books were “Sight Unseen”, “You Cannot be Serious”, “The Oath”, “Art In New York State”, “The Well Mannered Dog” and The Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training”.
I bought nothing.


Artwork found in Cabbagetown.














Rupley St. - Virginia Highland “Street Sale”

This was a series of five sales on one block of a street in the center of Virginia Highlands. Rupley is an upscale street even for this neighborhood, with stately homes that seem to belong more to neighboring Druid Hills. As is the case of most street sales the stuff here did not have the appearance of homes trying to desperately become uncluttered. While it was nice to have such a selection of sales within a walkable vicinity to one another, the overall quality of what was on display was to be blunt - quite boring. What I found at nearly all stops was a tedious selection of recreational gear, exercise equipment, slightly dated tech gear, Xmas decorations and some home décor that must have not fit into these upscale Mediterranean and manor homes. The last home did have a wider selection of stuff including some old architectural pieces such as a large metal pyramid. Under a blue canopy this sale offered a large cutout of a praying angel, old copies of Architectural Digest, a distinctive looking pair of cowboy boots with matching yellow jacket and a fainting sofa stripped of it’s fabric leaving only some rusting springs on which one could recline.
I bought nothing.

Jeweled boots among the clutter.

















Boring athletic gear for sale.
















Bare springs to recline upon.















Dyson Rd. - Druid Hills “Garage Sale”


This sale was actually in a garage something that is somewhat rare in this city. Crowded into the detached garage behind a brick bungalow was a hodgepodge of clutter. The high points here was a pair of old witch’s hats, some African carvings, small ceramics from Equador, a tapestry from Thailand, a game for boosting SAT scores, some dolls, and a massaging collar. Among several boxes of books I found “The Great American Gentleman”, “Who Will Tell the People?” “I’m Mad as Hell”, “A New Dawn for America”, “Thinking Straight”, “The Gift of Fear”, “Quick Escapes Atlanta”, “Politically Incorrect”, “As We Go Marching”, “Guerilla Marketing”, “Awaken The American Dream”, “The Creative Impulse” and “The Business of Art”. In addition to all this there was an Aquasaurs kit. Going beyond sea monkeys the kit offered eggs and a tank for hatching “real live prehistoric creatures.”
I bought nothing, but considered the possibility of selling cockroaches as prehistoric pets.



Kit for hatching prehistoric creatures.