Recalling beloved yard sale memories in Franklin County
She Says
For those of us who’ve lived in Franklin County a long time, there are surely many memories we love and enjoy recalling from our experiences across the years. For me, some of my earliest involve going to early morning yard sales with my parents, especially with my mom. It was hit and miss, of course, but you never knew when you might find a treasure. We mostly did this in Russellville but ventured outside the city at times.
Sometimes my dad, Elton Camp, would come home from work with a special toy that he said he’d bought me at the “YS” store. I was always thrilled when this happened. It was usually something small, but delightful, and I always loved it.
It wasn’t until many years later that one day I asked him why it was that we never, not one single time, ever went to the YS store together. And where had it gone anyway? It was such a wonderful store, so how could it have closed? In fact, I didn’t recall seeing it at any point in time anywhere. Furthermore, I had never heard anyone else ever refer to it. He let out a long laugh and, puzzled, I still didn’t make the connection.
Not all of you will be old enough to remember that we once had a store in Russellville called TG&Y, a department store somewhere along the lines of Kmart or Walmart, so I hadn’t thought the “YS” store to be a particularly odd name. When my dad stopped laughing, he explained that “YS” simply meant “yard sale,” and that he would sometimes stop at one before or after work.
When I was little, my mom and some other ladies enjoyed getting together downtown and having a big yard sale. I’m not sure how often this took place, but it feels like it was with some frequency. It was on the lot next to Mac’s Market. “Mac” Buell McAlister’s wife, Dot McAlister, was friends with my mom, Delorise Camp, and part of the yard sale group. Mac’s Market was located where city hall is now.
It was always an interesting time. While the standard fare of that particular yard sale setup didn’t tend to appeal to me, it had other fun features, like possibly hiding under a table and scaring someone who was caught unaware of my presence. It was the puttering around and observing I liked, especially inside Mac’s Market. I sometimes found treasures in there. I remember getting a small baby doll in a pink crib. You could wind it up and music would play. There were also old-looking copper pencil sharpeners of all sorts of interesting varieties, including spinning wheels, old stoves and similar items. I bought quite a few of them over time.
Mac smoked cigars and one day gave me an empty cigar box to store my prized pencil sharpeners. I still have it somewhere.
I would also go in there to get a drink or a snack. I remember buying small glass bottles of orange juice. One day, I went in, and he wouldn’t let me pay for it. I was around five years old. Puzzled, I told him that I had enough money to buy it, but he insisted. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I thanked him and left with my orange juice.
What I didn’t realize at the time as much as I do now is that it’s often the small things that make folks happy, and I’ve thought of that moment often down through the years. Neither he nor his wife are still living. I wish I could tell them what it has meant to me. Sometimes the small things are actually quite large.
At the time, there was a (walk-up only as I recall) Dairy Queen or similar such next door, and I liked that I could go over there and order. Mom could still see me, and she let me walk around a little like that.
When I was around 10 years old, I decided I wanted to have a yard sale of my own. We took out an ad in the newspaper and billed it as María’s Toy Yard Sale. I thought I was ready to get rid of a few things, and I was intrigued by the notion of possibly making a lot of money.
Ah, the delusions of a 10-year-old’s unbridled optimism. It was a pretty good day overall, though a few things sold I later regretted parting ways with, including all of my Gobots. If you are old enough to remember Gobots all the way, the Transformers can go right on and take a back seat.
I also sold one of my Choose Your Own Adventure books. I didn’t like one of the pages, and I made a new page I pasted over it before I sold the book. I also sold a stuffed crochet snake, both items to a friend from school.
In recent years, I haven’t been to as many yard sales, though we have visited the odd estate sale or flea market and we’ve enjoyed perusing antique stores, sometimes acquiring items of particular interest to us.
What do you say, Franklin County? What yard sale memories do you have from the past or present? It’s always fun to find a bargain or unexpected treasure. Now I just need to turn into more of a morning person and get back out there …
