Garage Sale America-it’s the American Way!

When Parent Bloggers Network asked if anyone was interested in reviewing a book called Garage Sale America, I didn’t even have to hesitate. I didn’t have any idea what the book was about, but it had the words Garage Sale in the title, and that was good enough for me. I LOVE Garage Sales! Yard Sales! Rummage Sales! Whatever people call them, I love them. Here in Lansing, Michigan, a typical garage sale is clothes, toys, and household knickknacks. I had no idea what I was missing out on until I read author Bruce Littlefield’s Garage Sale America. There are unbelievable treasures to be found at garage sales, if you just know where to look.

I found out that I in fact own an American treasure, and I didn’t even know it! When my husband’s Grandma Gephart passed away, she left behind a kitchen packed with cookbooks, pots and pans, and kitchen gadgets. Most of it was pretty old and worn out, although now that I’ve read this book, I know that lots of people are looking for things that are old and worn out! While looking through a cupboard, I found a set of mixing bowls. I only owned a few plastic ones at the time, and these were heavy, and each one was a different color, and I fell in love with them. I had been told that I could take anything I wanted, so I carefully loaded up the mixing bowls.

The next week, I was taking the four nested bowls out of the cupboard so I could use one, and the bottom bowl slipped out of my grasp and smashed to the floor. I cried. A lot. I haven’t tried to replace it though, because I had no idea where it came from or even where to start to look.

So there I am, reading Garage Sale America all these years later, and on the eighth page in, a colorful set of mixing bowls in a photo catches my eye. I look closer, and I realize that those are MY mixing bowls! Not only that, but in the photo is a advertising brochure that identifies them as a set of “New! Pyrex Bowls in the colors of Spring Flowers…only $2.50 each”! Here’s the set, minus the big yellow bowl, that I can now look for on eBay since I know what it is!

Garage Sale America is a fascinating look at the phenomenon that is the American Garage Sale. It is written in such a casual and friendly style that you feel like you’ve spent the afternoon talking directly to Bruce Littlefield himself. He tells stories about how his grandmother got him addicted to the “thrill of the hunt”, he introduces us to serious sellers and buyers, gives tips such as “10 Steps to a Good Deal”, takes us to the World’s Largest Garage Sale in Warrensburg, NY (over 1,000 vendors in a town of 5,000 people), and to the World’s LONGEST Garage Sale, 450 miles of sales stretching across five states.

Best of all, he shows us how he decorated his country house with the most amazing vintage finds. His “house” is Edgewater Farm, a former bungalow community in the Catskills of New York. It was used as a summer getaway from the 1930s to the late 1950s by New Yorkers who wanted to escape the city and spend the weekend in their own little cottage, eating together in the farmhouse and putting on skits in the Rec Hall. Littlefield gives us the Grand Tour of the farmhouse, where every room is decorated with the coolest vintage pieces I’ve ever seen. This is a place I would love to hang out in for the weekend! With, you know, my husband and children too, of course

Whether you love garage sales, vintage collectibles, or just gorgeous photographs, Garage Sale America is a fun and fascinating book to have around. You might even find that what you thought was just junk is actually a valuable collectible to someone, and get inspired to have your own garage sale. Personally, I’d rather shop at them, and you can bet that from now on, I’m keeping my eye out for the big yellow Pyrex bowl!

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