The World’s Largest Garage Sale [Vintage Finds #2]

Hi everyone! If I’ve not made it clear yet, I am a huge fan of garage sales. I’ve been garage saling since I was a kid, and though I took a hiatus while attending college and when I had a career, once I married and we began living on one income, I quickly started up again.

Now I can’t stop! So it should come as no surprise that this week I headed north to Warrensburg (NY) to attend the “World’s Largest Garage Sale.” And truth be told, it is quite large, certainly the largest sale I’ve ever been to.

I try to attend as often as possible to hunt for vintage finds, and this year was no exception.

Held on the last weekend of September or the first weekend of October, the sale is immensely popular.

My sweet friend Nancy and I decided we’d check it out a day early, since I’d been told that a number of sales start on Friday, even though the sale is advertised for Saturday and Sunday.

One of the benefits of going a day early is much lighter traffic; you can actually drive through town. On Saturday and Sunday, most people driving from the south will be forced to either park on the outskirts and take a shuttle in or be stuck in traffic, waiting for the elusive parking spot.

We got off exit 22, an exit before Warrensburg (Exit 23), in order to hit sales just outside of town. Then we continued north and drove straight through Warrensburg, to the northern edge, scoping things out as we passed the various sales.

Nancy and I are interested in the true garage sales, not antique or flea market dealers, both of which have increased in numbers over the years.

We were not disappointed! We found numerous individual and church sales with lots of bargains, some of which you’ll see below.

This wooden fish is hand carved, has a glass eye and a hanging thingy in the back. I love its folk arty-ness. She cost 50¢ [SOLD: $15 on eBay].

This vintage 3.5″ vase is hand-blown; the pontil mark on the bottom has been nicely ground and polished. The gold is 22k. It set me back 25¢.

I liked the leaves and the taupe and terracotta finish of this thoroughly modern frame, purchased for 25¢.

Another frame I couldn’t pass up for 25¢.

The little Masonite cupboard with cheese box drawers (in the back) is one of Nancy’s purchases. She plans to paint it, and isn’t worried about the missing drawers. I shouldn’t be too much trouble finding two more cheese boxes.

The bicycle sign is mine ($4, sold: $40 from my antique booth), as are the two pieces of granite ($2 each), which came originally from North Creek and have splotches of garnet scattered through them.

My family is originally from North Creek, so this was a very exciting find. In the shadows you can see two cupboard doors; we both bought one for $1 each. No specific plans yet on how they’ll be used…

Not a great picture, but for 25¢ each, I bought a moose tack and a watch face. I’ll use both for altered art projects.

Those are the highlights of our our fabulous vintage shopping day. We’re already talking about which day of the week to attend next year and are imagining what treasures we’ll discover.

The great old farmhouse (above), right in the middle of town, was my last photo of the day. I love everything old and antique, even remarkable falling down houses like this one.

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Bye for now,

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