Back in the “old days”. . you know the 80’s and 90’s, when I was young. . .yard sales just weren’t so profitable--or even worth going to. In fact, they were overall pretty dumpy. And there weren’t very many of them. It could be that the area where we lived was so poor, so any clothing sold was pretty much already worn out and ratty. It could be that people just did not have so many yard sales. I’m not exactly sure.
Since DH and I both grew up in poorer families, it was common to do back-to-school shopping at the local Salvation Army. These days, you can find some great deals at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Back then, well, not so much. They were overall dirty and the clothing was at least 10 years outdated.
Then, sometimes there were hand-me-downs, which I was lucky to be the first one to sort through. These were still outdated, and my poor sister had to wear them AFTER me. Lucky her.
Speaking of hand-me-downs, once an older lady in our church handed down her underwear to my sister and I, wrapped up like a present.
Out of necessity, we still had to take (or wear) what we could find, whether from yard sales, hand-me-downs, or the Salvation Army, which resulted in DH having to wear plaid polyester pants and huge bow ties about ten or more years after they had gone out of fashion. I won’t talk about the hideous skirts and ruffled blouses that I had to wear to school. Wow, those were just awful.
There exist some hysterical pictures (sort of) from those days, where the ugliness of my wardrobe is striking. I am not courageous enough to share. Then again, DH has a picture where he is with his family, wearing a plaid bow-tie that is about a foot long (honestly). Fun times!
My favorite old-time yard sale finds were old chemistry sets from the 50’s and 60’s with deadly chemicals and real glass test tubes. My siblings and I spent time trying desperately to blow something up, but I am afraid the chemicals were not at original strength.
And so, I am thankful for the modern yard sales, where I can find stylish, brand-name, clean clothing for my kids and beautiful artwork for my home, and other fun things. Not to say that I haven’t found some really, really, really interesting/weird items at yard sales, but that’s for another post.
Did your shop at the Salvation Army or at yard sales when you were a child? Do your old family or school pictures make you cringe? Feel free to share! 🙂
Yard Sale Mom 