Museums of Failure

That’s what McGill University professor Will Straw called garage sales on the CBC radio show Definitely Not The Opera a few weeks back. I think he was saying that g’sales function as sites where unwanted commodities are accumulated and displayed for public consumption (or something like that). He also called garage and yard sales “sites of second burial.” It seems we’re reluctant to discard our unwanted items directly – we need to distance ourselves from them first and so we relegate them to attics or basements for a time until it’s “safe” to sell or otherwise dispose of them. Interesting stuff.

In any case, I want to draw your attention to this yard sale blog I just discovered. Great name, no? I was thrilled to read this post as I’ve often thought about holding a midnight madness garage sale (though I’m a little leery about the kinds of customers that would show up).

Failure is the word to describe my garage sale adventures this weekend – I found nothing.