By Chandra Harris
Scripps Howard News Service
Cars line up one after another in a well-to-do residential neighborhood.
Doors slam. Left behind on the seat of the car are red-inked classified newspaper ads next to MapQuest directions.
The approach to the top of a stranger's driveway begins, only to find the garage door shut. Head back to the car. Chatter about the overcast skies breaks the silence as those gathered wait for the appointed time.
The time is near 7 a.m. A mechanical noise is heard; the garage door is rising.
"Oh, my goodness! It is just frightening to see all those feet under the door before you can even lift the door all the way," said Berneze Wolfe, the host of a garage sale in a Knoxville, Tenn., subdivision.
Die-hard yard salers, or "yard hunters," as some call themselves, dive under the rising garage door as soon as there's enough crawl space, seeking to make someone else's junk their treasure.
On the list of American traditions, right along with hot dogs and baseball games, add yard sales, tag sales, garage sales, get-rid-of-it sales. No matter what the label, the goal is the same: Find a deal worth bragging about:
An underwater strobe light: $30.
An orange Fiesta ware bowl: $1.
A Ralph Lauren red suede jacket: $5.
A 26-inch color (working) TV: $10.
Steals like these keep people ransacking through boxes in garages and driveways before most people brew, let alone drink, their first cup of joe.
Like clockwork at 5 a.m. every Friday and Saturday morning, stay-at-home mom Angela Lemanski of Knoxville, is on the prowl for housewares, clothing and toys.
With five children ranging in age from 6 to 18, Lemanski became hip to yard sales about three years ago in an effort to make her dollars stretch. Or, in some instances, to make money: That Fiesta ware bowl Lemanski bought for $1 sold on eBay for $90.
While her kids may sometimes turn up their noses at her finds, Lemanski contends she'll keep her nose in other people's junk week after week.
Judy Darakshani knows the symptoms of garage sale addiction all too well.
With her sport utility vehicle filled to the brim with close to $300 worth of items, she keeps scanning through makeshift aisles of boxes and furniture looking for more.
"I am a compulsive buyer, and I know it," said Darakshani, who often buys things to outfit her retail outlet, What's in Store in Knoxville.
Leeanne Safewright finds herself following homemade signs to garage sales when she can find pockets of time -- on this occasion with her mother, Mary Baldwin, who just came into town to visit from Tazewell, Va.
"And we are already on a treasure hunt," said Baldwin, the human clothes rack, holding clothes as Safewright passes them to her as quickly as she can put her hands on them.
Nancy Stanton bypasses garage sales for the granddaddy of them all, the estate sale.
Leila Hungerford, owner of Estate Solutions in Knoxville, said the big difference between the two is having a whole house full of gems to get rid of on a time crunch, not just basement leftovers.
"Someone is handing off the key to a house," Hungerford said. "And you never know what you may find: vintage pieces, jewelry, sterling silver "
Stanton came out of a recent estate sale with two 1950s dresses and a blouse.
"It is quite unbelievable the things you can find in someone else's home," Stanton said. Losing a few hours of shut-eye to be among the first to arrive is a "mild sacrifice."
Ten things to leave out of your garage sale
- Stuff that came from the 99-cent store.
- Plastic "collector" cups from fast-food restaurants.
- Anything with the word "cozy" in the name.
- Arts and crafts gone awry.
- Old underwear, socks, bras, etc.
- Anything that has been sprayed by the cat.
- Half-used tubes of topical creams.
- DreamCatchers. Nobody needs a DreamCatcher full of your old dreams.
- Anything remotely dealing with potpourri.
- "Hello Dolly" records.
-- Source: Val Myers and Dave Bird, hosts of Turner South's "Junkin"
(Courtesy of Chandra Harris from The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee.)
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