I remember when my mother’s cousin, “Aunt Patty,” held the first patio sale EVER at her suburban California home, sometime in the early 1960s. It was cool. It was chic. And it caught on. My mom liked the idea and tried out a front porch sale in her rural Oregon town of 500. The neighbors were puzzled, but quickly organized their own redistributions of extra stuff via their lawns and garages.
I went to a friend’s moving sale the other day, remembering this
relative and her early success. This Cuenca sale’s organizer is leaving Ecuador
soon, and needed to size down before taking off to Turkey. We’d gone shopping
together two days beforehand for stickers, and finally found some colorful tags
for her cast-off clothing, indigenous art, warm blankets, houseplants, jewelry
and other gems. All priced to catch anyone’s eye.
“My cell phone rang all week. People wanted to come early,
but I said ‘no.’ I wanted everyone to have a fair chance at a bargain,” she told
me. I admired her business ethics!
The morning of the event, eager expats and Ecuadorians were
lined up thirty minutes before she opened her apartment door. I counted fifty
people waiting for the fun to start—from moms with babies, to retires, mostly
women, but a few men sprinkled in the crowd.
Fun way to meet people and get a good bargain, one fiftyish
guy, a blogger who writes about Ecuador, said, as we sat on the curb of the
flower garden, waiting to get inside.
Judging from the great woven Ecuadorian jacket that I bought
for just $15, I think my Aunt Patty had a great idea. She was ahead of her
time. (So maybe she didn’t invent the garage sale, but she was an early
adopter.)
If anyone knows when the next Cuenca apartment sale takes
place, give me a call. I know for sure of at least 200 new friends who would
like to get there early.
Gualaceo? I know we can get a van!
