Yard Sale Dictionary Terms

As the Rosies were preparing for the first Rosebud gathering at the Watauga Public Library, Rosie P. began to do some research regarding media and the garage sale phenomenon. The easiest information was located through a Wikipedia search and this unveiled the path to the "Yard Sale Dictionary." Somewhere in the past, I have run into these terms before, but they were long forgotten. I want to give credit where credit is due and let you know that the following information was uncovered on August 1, 2010 at www.thundergroundfilms.com/zen/ysdictionary.com. A film was made , but remains unreleased, in 2004 entitled "Zen in the Art of Yard Sailing." These names and definitions were created through that project. If it ever does get released, the Secondhand Rosies will do their best to get a copy of it for the viewing enjoyment of all.

Yard Sale Dictionary Terms

Bake Sale When an angry spouse, ex-girlfriend, or ex-boyfriend sells off their partner's belongings at ridiculously low prices out of spite. A classic example of a Bake Sale is the yardsale scene in Waiting to Exhale. Beaded (aka Munsoned) When a naive vendor is outfoxed by a savvy shopper resulting in a Manhattan. Lawn gypsies thrive and gain pleasure from Beading.Buffing When a vendor makes a point to emphasize even the most minute of qualities an item holds to justify his asking price. The neutralizer of Roasting. Bundling See Grouping. Creepers Drivers that slow down and disrupt traffic in order to gauge a yardsale. D-Man The driver or the wheel man of a yardsailing team, never leaves the car, keeps time, does preliminary sweeps, must be well-versed in the ways of the streets and their currents, and carries the majority of the spending money.
Dan Quayle An unintentionally comedic yardsale sign that may contain misspelled words or inaccurate information. DOE Date Of Excluded; a sign lacking in vital information such as address, date, time, etc. English Channel Two or more simultaneous yardsales across the street from each other. Golden Weekends (aka GW) Weekends that fall on the last two days, or first two days of the month. people generally need money pretty bad during these times in order to pay their rent or their bills. Results in more yardsales and better bargains. Grouping (aka Bundling) A method of lowering individual asking prices by offering to buy several items all at once. Haggling A tug-of-war method of bargaining that usually results in acquiring goods typically at plus or minus 75% of the original asking price. Very time consuming and unprofessional. Jack The raising of an item's price. Knock An attempted outbid on an item in mid-bargain, may result in a jack. Lame Duck An expired yardsale sign. Proper etiquette dictates that these be removed once they are rendered invalid. Larboard The left side of the car.

Lawn Gypsy (aka Dealers aka Early Birds) Someone who pesters the vendor, typically by being too pushy or showing up way too early. A professional yardsailor without etiquette. Known to secretly have second-hand, antique, or novelty shops at which they resell yardsale-bought items at a ridiculous mark-up. Lawn Jockey A name given to a vendor that runs a weekend store. Lost Dog A term used for a sign that resembles a yardsale sign from the distance but isn't. Usually lost pet notices, advertisements, weight loss programs, summer jobs, etc. Mambo Combo A yardsale with two or more vendor parties that may or may not live in the same neighborhood. May be a strictly business partnership between strangers. The end result of piggy-backing. Similar to but differs from multi-family yardsales. Not to be confused with the grip stand. Manhattan A type of transaction in which an item of great worth is acquired for almost nothing in comparison to its actual value. Miracle Mile The white unicorn of yardsales, an extremely rare case in which a steady stream of yardsales stretches on for miles on end. The 127 sale in Alabama is a great example of this. Murphied The unscrupulous act of withholding valuable information from a shopper in hopes of making a sale. Nomad A deceitful lawn jockey that switches locations weekly. Known to squat. Pearl Harbor An invasion of lawn gypsies while still working a yardsale. Perpendicular A driving pattern which allows for questionable yardsales of the day, including DOEs, to be hit only if driving clockwise towards a nearby promising yardsale. Pickers A term that the yardsailing community commonly uses to refer to [unscrupulous] people who turn a profit from reselling yardsale-bought goods. Pros resent being classified as pickers seeing as how it puts them in the same category as lawn gypsies. Prosumer The highest level a bargain hunter can hope to achieve. Recon (aka Preliminary Sweep) Early morning reconnaissance mission for freshly posted yardsale signs or traffic obstructions due to construction or public events.

I pick and chose my favorite ones in an effort to make the list shorter. If you are interested in viewing this in its entirety , it is available at the aforementioned link. I hope that this brought a nice chuckle to your day and a wide smile to your face. As always, we would love to hear from you on the fan page. Which one of these best describes you? Are you a blend of a few characters or are you a pure? Do you think that the author describes the yard sale tactics realistically? Let us know. Happy Hunting Folks!

The History of the Yard Sale

One afternoon, I decided that I wanted to look into the birth of the garage sale. What made folks decide to put their "junk" out in their yards and sell it? Being in my late 30's, I have been going to them for almost as long as I can remember. Rosie W. picked up the addiction in the early 1970's. Well, to my surprise, the entire phenomena began in the late 50's -early 60's . According to an article entitled "Garage sales are a big part of retailing", the author wrote that, " In the 1950's and 1960s America, increased affluence led many consumers to accumulate household goods in excess: concurrently, home -ownership created the venue from which to sell these goods. Suburbia became the fertile breeding grounds of garage sales, where unwanted items found new homes at the hands of housewives. A postmodern adaptation of the mid-nineteenth- century charitable fair or bazaar, the garage sale tapped a national romanticism toward history and nostalgia for used goods. During the 1970's , garage sales exploded into the mainstream consciousness, earning a permanent place in American iconography and legitimizing the concept of profiting from discarded items. " I think that it makes sense that economic prosperity led to over consumerism which led to garage sales. In today's economic times, you see folks who shun mainstream consumerism and shop at garage sales as a way to maintain a more green economy. It is no longer economic prosperity, rather economic disparity that leads folks to shop and have garage sales. Not everyone , of course, but those who may need to provide for their needs in a different marketplace.
Dr. Lori, a television show host of the "Trash or Treasure" program out of Philadelphia writes" An American institution, the yard sale picks up where the French flea market left off. Yard sales brought free trade to the front lawn. Initially, 1950s American suburbanites sold their wares in the self-proclaimed open-aire stores measuring from the threshold to the curb." Nowadays, the yard sale can also be termed a tag sale, rummage sale, garage sale, etc........ it has definitely taken hold in today's culture and is here to stay. If you would like to share your first experience garage saling-- we would love to hear about it. Feel free to post on the fan page and get the discussion started. As always, happy hunting!

The "Signature" Secondhand Picnic Basket

July 4th and picnics go hand in hand, and to create a “signature” picnic basket one only needs to hunt yard sales and thrift stores for special finds. Mine is a collection of goods from several sales; inexpensive and “funky elegant”, but most of all it supports a “green” alternative to hauling off a bunch of trash.
My picnic basket stays packed and ready to roll year round, and because it is a lovely old basket I keep it sitting on an old cane bottom chair in an upstairs bedroom.
Here’s how I put mine together. And remember, it’s all secondhand:

*One large woven picnic basket
*One large colorful cotton vintage tablecloth
*Six vintage cloth napkins
*Small covered box that holds a collection of 6 utensil place settings, and one corkscrew
*Large cutting knife (wrapped in a dish towel)
*Small, lightweight cutting board
*Six cake pans

Ok, you say….six cake pans, huh? That’s the trick. Instead of paper or heavy plates you can stock up on second hand cake pans. The trick is to line each one with a piece of wax paper before serving. Cleanup is done quickly by only having to toss the wax paper.

*Roll of wax paper
*Sponge
*Small bottle of dish soap

Our crew has their own reusable water bottles, so I have not factored in drinks. However, on a few occasions I’ve added a couple of second hand wine glasses to the basket. This was the case during a recent visit to FL. We had a picnic on the boardwalk with a cloth tablecloth, wine glasses, and cloth napkins. Several people stopped, did a double take and commented about how lovely and “civilized” it looked.

Wine out of plastic cup? Nah!