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!