Continuing the new blog section titled, “Diamonds in the Rough,” covering many of the places in the world (maybe not quite all but many) where one finds, buys & sells antiques. Just look at your local and major newspapers in the Classified Sections to find the places that are hosting these events:
èAuctions èAuction Sales èIndividual Classified Sales èDownsizing Sales èFlea Markets èEstate Sales èGarage Sales èMoving Sales èYard Sales
Today, I will post about finding
antiques at Yard & Garage Sales
Pick up any newspaper and there is a section for many weekend yard and garage sales. Some are listed individually, others are listed as Multi-Family Yard Sales, Moving Sales, Flea Markets, and some get fancy and call them Residential Estate Sales. Some will be specific, such as one ad that stated the sale was a Craft & Sportsman Show. How did a “show” get listed among the sales?
I guess it doesn’t matter, so whatever the event is called, you will find a plethora of things, some you need, others you want, and for that main reason you search out these sales, the bargain awaits. Better yet, it’s to find that diamond in the rough. So off you go!
In my local newspaper the yard
sale page has a Locator Map. How convenient. Depending on how much time you have,
how far you are willing to travel, and of course, how much money you can spend,
you map out your routes and locations. To make it easier on yourself, because
these excursions can be quite taxing, read what each sale has to offer. For
instance, say you are looking for toys. As for a toy to be classified as an
antique, the ad may read, vintage
toys. 
The first ad in today’s paper
offering toys is the moving sale. Not detailed at all and just the address is
given. I look for it on the locator map, but the street name is not there. How
can I find this place? No phone number either, so I guess I won’t be going
there. Check that one off my list. Letting my fingers do the walking, I find an
ad that lists antiques, furniture, porcelain dolls, etc. Now this looks
promising. But once again, I can’t locate the street on the map and no phone
number. This is getting frustrating and I haven’t even left the house. I
better get a better map if I am going to find any toys at all. 
Reading the next ad, I can tell the person who was conducting the multi-family yard sale knew what he/she was doing. It read, “Balloon on mailbox.” Now how clever is that. The ad even gave which entrance to use when entering the sub-division. Smart, indeed. Found more toys in the next ad and this one, too, gave good directions.
Along with the fancy Residential
Estate Sale ad, there was another unusual yard sale. This one said, in bold
type, REMODELING SALE. The ad went
on to say, NO EARLY BIRDS! Limited Quantity, Cash Only! Immediate Removal
Required. Wow! Lots of rules. And no wonder why. It was some sort of resort
that was obviously doing some updating. I’m sure there were many bargains
there, but I wasn’t interested in beds and furniture, so I continued to read
on.
Then the Estate Sale ad caught my eye because it listed “doll collection.” Now here may be a good place to start my scavenger trip. You got to start somewhere and the sooner you get to where you want to go, there is more opportunity to find the good stuff. I had to laugh when a following ad read, in bold, of course, “The Best is First, Sat. 7am – 2 pm. I like the adage, First come, first serve. Or this one, The Early Bird gets the worm. So when you plan your yard sale search, do so days in advance. That way, as soon as you finish your coffee, the hunt is on.
After reading 29 ads, I found only three that interest me, and wouldn’t you know it, all places were at opposite sides of town. Oh well, as long as I can find at least one toy for my collection, I will be happy. I might even find things I don’t need, shouldn’t want, but will buy any way. So wish me luck and the same to you.
P.S. As I was looking for yard & garage sale signs on Google Images, I came across another moniker for this type of merchandise sale. It is called a Rummage Sale. Now I haven’t heard that word it years and laughed when I saw it. The word rummage means, (slang, U.S.) search, hunt, ransack, scour, look everywhere, look high & low, leave no stone unturned. Also, for all you yard sale buffs, here are two websites for you to investigate:
http://www.127yardsale.com/
August 7-10, 2014.
The 127 Yard Sale covers 690 miles from Addison, MI to Gadsden, AL and boasts thousands of vendors.
http://www.shenandoahcountychamber.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=136
http://youtube/UubWDb9eqqc
Yard Sale Ahead: The Route 11 Yard Crawl - The Movie
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