A Bargain Hunter’s Delight
By Bonita Wilborn
The 127 Yard Sale, commonly referred to as the world’s longest yard sale, certainly, a bargain hunter’s delight is coming to town again. The event gained the nickname “World’s Longest Yard Sale” for a reason; it is the longest yard sale in the world.
To be exact, it is 690 miles long, and the route travels through 6 states: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The majority of the route follows Highway 127 from Addison, Michigan in the north to Chattanooga, Tennessee in the south, from Lookout Mountain, Georgia, to Gadsden, Alabama, to Lookout Mountain Parkway. Both are scenic drives allowing you to appreciate the beautiful countryside of these states all while enjoying the fun and excitement of The World’s Longest Yard Sale.
The 127 Yard Sale is an annual event, which takes place the first Thursday-Sunday in August each year. This unique outdoor second-hand sale draws hundreds of thousands of people (shoppers/vendors) each year from all around the country.
Fentress County, Tennessee, County Executive Mike Walker originated the idea for the longest yard sale in 1987. When it began, the sale route followed US 127 from Covington, Kentucky to Chattanooga, Tennessee. A few years after the event was established, the Lookout Mountain Parkway was added to the route, extending it from Chattanooga southward through northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama to Gadsden.
In 2006, the route was extended northward from Covington, through Ohio to the Michigan border, making its last major stops around Bryan, Ohio, and points northward.
Then in 2010, the sale was extended even farther northward to Hudson, Michigan. And in 2012, it was extended another five miles north of Addison, Michigan, totaling an approximate end-to-end distance of 690 miles. Downtown Chattanooga is the only area along the yard sale route that is currently not participating in the yard sale due to the high volume of traffic.
The world’s longest yard sale might be touted as the planet’s greatest gathering of antiques, knickknacks, baubles, trinkets, bric-a-brac, curios, gadgets, rummage, and every other polite synonym your nearest thesaurus can conjure for stuff.
Items that have been found along the 690 mile path of the world’s longest yard sale, in years past include, but are not limited to: a toilet seat bedazzled in plastic rhinestones, a bobblehead of Gandhi, hammer pants and pants covered with pictures of hammers, a statue of McDonaldland’s Grimace, and posters of Burt Reynolds. Cribs, bibs, tiny shoes, handmade jewelry, jars of marbles, belt buckles shaped like cornhusks, and salt and pepper shakers of every variety have been found. Add to the list nudist gnomes, rifles, military canteens, clocks crafted from frying pans, a lamp made from ram’s feet, and even a used CPAP machine. Also, customers have collected chinaware, the cracked shell of a gutted pipe organ, Civil War novels, a toy figurine of a retired football quarterback, broken fire hydrants, and splintered bowling pins. Other nostalgic items found were tie-dye shirts, Bowie knives, cracked hubcaps, a cymbal-banging monkey, Heineken-themed clogs, and a Clint Eastwood puzzle missing half its piece. Some customers even scored oversized posters of babies in bunny costumes, gas weed-whackers, and half a coconut shell. History buffs found a yellowed newspaper dating back to the 1930s, rusted wagons, eyeless dolls, a faded bumblebee costume, and a hand-drawn sign with time-tested advice: “Pee not into the wind. Some other unusual items sold include melted candles, board games, boxes of books, a small gourd painted to depict a wintry scene, square dancing dresses, a brown couch pocked with cigar holes because it stirs memories of a sour relationship, fine china, and ceramic feline figurines. There’s quite literally a buffet of quirky cultural artifacts to add to your junk drawer or collection of treasures.
One sign along the way reads: “Lots of Stuff That Ain’t Worth Fixin.” But inevitably someone will buy it.
Yard sales offer a voyeuristic glimpse into other people’s lives. You can see their failed hobbies, the fashion they discarded along the way, and even the trajectory of their children’s development: their first bicycles, the soccer pads, stinky high school band uniforms. You can track an entire life. Yard sales are unique because the general public is invited onto private property not only to witness these changes but to take part in them. Many times, the most mundane belongings come attached with some story or sentiment.
So whatever it is that you are looking for, chances are you can find it somewhere along the 690 path of the world’s longest yard sale. You might even find a multitude of things you didn’t know you wanted but discover that you simply can’t live without.