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Yard sales are an American tradition — especially along U.S. Route 127. It’s there that you can find the famous 127 Yard Sale, an annual event on the first Thursday through Sunday in August featuring thousands of vendors on front lawns and in church parking lots in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. All in all, the “world’s longest yard sale” covers 690 miles, starting near Addison, Michigan, and ending in Gadsen, Alabama. The inaugural event took place in 1987, when a Tennessee county executive named Mike Walker conceived of the idea to encourage travelers to bypass the big interstate highways in favor of experiencing life in more rural communities.
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It's a factThe word “rummage” was originally used to describe arranging objects stowed in the hold of a ship. Upon arriving at port, sailors would take all of the leftover and damaged cargo and resell it on the pier — hence the origins of the modern phrase “rummage sale.”
Yard sales aren’t just a great way for vendors to declutter, though — they can also be a literal treasure trove. In 2013, a seemingly nondescript ceramic bowl that had been purchased at a garage sale for $3 in 2007 sold at Sotheby’s for $2.2 million; it turned out to be a 1,000-year-old piece of pottery from the Northern Song dynasty. Even the Declaration of Independence has found its way to the bargain bin — a first printing was purchased at a flea market in 1991 because the buyer wanted the picture frame. It later went on to sell at auction for $2,420,000.
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National Garage Sale Day occurs on the second Saturday in ______.
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National Garage Sale Day occurs on the second Saturday in August.
Oprah Winfrey hosted a “yard sale” that raised over $600,000 for charity.
In 2013, Oprah Winfrey decided to declutter her various homes and hold a massive auction-style yard sale that she called “the biggest yard sale ever” to support one of her charities, the Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. The sale included items from her Montecito mansion and three additional properties in Santa Barbara. The value of each item was, of course, boosted through its association with Oprah, including a nondescript teapot worth less than $100 that ultimately went for over $1,000. That’s not to say all the items were so mundane — a set of six 18th-century Louis XVI armchairs fetched $60,000. With that major sale, plus several velvet-clad sofas that sold for $8,750, a print of one of Oprah’s “TV Guide” covers that raked in $3,000, and many more household items, the event — held at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club — raised more than $600,000 in all.
Interesting Facts writers have been seen in Popular Mechanics, Mental Floss, A+E Networks, and more. They’re fascinated by history, science, food, culture, and the world around them.
