The National Road Yard Sale

[David In Indy]

You can see a video by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

From Fox 59:


The US 40 National Road Yard Sale

In the small town of Philadelphia just east of Indianapolis bargain hunter Connie Morphew had her arms full with towels and a blanket she was buying for under ten dollars.

"I'm unemployed right now so I need to look for bargains," said Connie. She's just one of thousands of shoppers who will stop along U.S. 40 this year for the National Road Yard sale.

"I feel I'm helping the economy," said antique dealer Patricia McDaniel who started the huge multi-state yard sale six years ago. "People are looking for deals and to make money unloading clutter."

In Philadelphia eight local families set up their sale a day early. People were already stopping to buy bargain priced items. We watched as a bed with a nice wooden frame sold for $14. A washer on sale for $20 sat on the lawn of United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Sellers like Bill Locks are hopeful items they considered throwaway junk will bring them a few extra dollars.

"I'm laid off from Chrysler and just trying to make ends meet while I wait for a contract and get back to work," said Locks.

The National road yard sale starts at dawn Wednesday and runs through Sunday. It spans six states from Baltimore to St. Louis. The sale extends from Terre Haute to Richmond in Indiana.

For More Information: 2009 Historic National Road Yard Sale www.oldstorefrontantiques.com May 27-May 31 Dawn - Dusk every day Patricia McDaniel 765-478-4809.


http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-road-yard-sale-052709,0,4314893.story

[Monika]

Driving through Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago, there were yard sales everywhere - really, I don´t know how many signs and tables and porches filled with stuff that I saw. Is this a really big thing in US, or do you think this in general is a way for many people to cope with the economy?

[David In Indy]

Lots of people have their own little private yard sales. But one continuous yard sale stretching through six states is rather unusual. I might go check it out tomorrow!

And here in the US, people will have these sales either in their yards or in their garages. If it is in their garage, it is called a "garage sale".

[injest]

Lots of people have their own little private yard sales. But one continuous yard sale stretching through six states is rather unusual. I might go check it out tomorrow!

And here in the US, people will have these sales either in their yards or in their garages. If it is in their garage, it is called a "garage sale".

we have something similar here on Hwy 80..I always say I am gonna go but I always wind up missing it!

[David In Indy]

I might go check it out tomorrow. US 40 goes right through Indy. I'll bet there's a little bit of everything there.

Not everything is cheap though. They showed this woman on the news trying to buy some marbles for her son (I think it was her son, or grandson) and the man wanted to charge her 30 dollars for them! Maybe they were antiques.

[David In Indy]

I remember hearing a story about this yard sale in Evansville. Somebody bought a book, took it home and set it on a shelf. She didn't open it up for years. Then one day she took the book off the shelf, sat down to read it and found 4 $100 bills tucked inside it.

She thought about it and thought about it and started to feel guilty, so she drove over to the home where the yard sale was held and nobody lived there anymore. So at least her conscience was clear and she kept the money.

It just goes to show you never know what you'll find at those yard sales. I've heard of people purchasing paintings for several dollars only to find out they are worth many thousands later on.

[injest]

I remember hearing a story about this yard sale in Evansville. Somebody bought a book, took it home and set it on a shelf. She didn't open it up for years. Then one day she took the book off the shelf, sat down to read it and found 4 $100 bills tucked inside it.

She thought about it and thought about it and started to feel guilty, so she drove over to the home where the yard sale was held and nobody lived there anymore. So at least her conscience was clear and she kept the money.

It just goes to show you never know what you'll find at those yard sales. I've heard of people purchasing paintings for several dollars only to find out they are worth many thousands later on.

and that was so nice that she tried to give it back to the people!

[Kelda]

all this yard sale stuff is lost on me.. I wish they did them over here - Id love to nosy in my neighbours stuff

[Katie77]

Dont they have them over there Kelda?....I wonder why.

Over here we call them Garage Sales, whether they are in a garage or out on the lawn. We called ours a Moving Sale, cause we were moving.....duhhh.

When we lived in New South Wales, we were in real big farming country, and they used to have Clearance Sales....they were done usually, if the farmer died, or the farmer was movng into town, and was selling off the property.

It included everything, from animals, tractors to household crockery and linen...and they would line it up in "lots" out in a paddock, and it was all sold by auction. If one lot did not sell, they would just push it into the next lot. At the end of the day, there was nothing left. They were a full day event, and we loved going to them. Sometimes we would buy a trailer load, sometmes nothing, but it was a good day out.

[injest]

I always wanted to go to a clearance auction at the storage faclities in town...you know where you rent a place to put all your stuff? Sometimes people dont' pay the rent so the people that own the place set up an auction and open the door..you bid based on what you can see, you can't go in there..

one time the person found a $100,000 car in one!! another found a very expensive motorcycle behind all the junk...