VOICE ONE:
Every weekend, many Americans drive around looking for things tobuy. They are taking part in an unusual kind of outdoor treasurehunt. I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Rich Kleinfeldt A report about yard sales and fleamarkets is our story today on the VOA Special English program THISIS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
“Everybody loves a bargain” is a well-known saying. A bargain isa good deal. It is something you get for less than its value. Oneperson’s useless, ugly, or broken object can be another person’sbargain. That is why so many Americans do not throw things away.They put them outside their house. They put on a “For Sale” sign.And, as simple as that, they have a yard sale.
In some parts of the country, such a sale might be called agarage sale or a moving sale. Whatever the name, the activity is thesame. People sell things they no longer want.
VOICE TWO:
Over the years, many people’s houses fill up with objects: Booksno one wants to read any more. Baby clothes for the child who is nowa university student.
These objects are no longer useful to the first owner. Yet itseems wasteful to throw them away. Often, people must make adecision about things when they move to a different house. “Let’shave a yard sale,” they say. “Then we will not have to move thethings we do not use anymore. And we can make a little money at thesame time.”
VOICE ONE:
The sellers put a paid announcement in a local newspaper. Ittells when and where the yard sale will take place. It lists some ofthe things to be sold. These sales are very popular during weekendsin spring, summer, and autumn. On one weekend, for example, you canfind announcements for almost two-hundred yard sales aroundWashington, D-C.
Early in the morning, all the things to be sold are carried outof the house. Then they sit all day in the sunlight — like tiredguests at a party — waiting for someone to take them home.
VOICE TWO:
Just about anything can be sold at a yard sale. Sometimes, thereare more clothes than anything else. Cooking equipment is alsopopular. So are old toys, tools, books, tables, and chairs. Thenthere are objects called “white elephants.” A white elephant issomething you think is extremely ugly or useless.
It may be an electric light shaped like a fish. You feel a sharppain whenever you look at it. To someone else, however, it might bea thing of beauty and joy.
Usually, the seller puts a price on each object at a yard sale.However, that price can almost always be negotiated. The price of atable, for example, might be marked “Ten Dollars.” But the sellerprobably will accept eight dollars. By the end of the day, if thetable has not been sold, the seller probably will accept much less.
VOICE TWO:
Serious buyers also spend time getting ready for yard sales. Theycollect the newspaper announcements. Then they make lists of thesales they want to attend. Some use maps to plan their trip. Theywant to get to as many sales as possible.
A man who lives near the Middle Western city of Chicago filledhis home almost completely with furniture and window coverings fromyard sales. He said he was able to travel to Japan with the money hesaved.
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VOICE TWO:
New things in stores cost more than some people can pay. So, theyare happy to find a painting, a warm coat, or a chair for ten orfifteen dollars. Perhaps they find dishes for twenty dollars thatwould cost one-hundred dollars in a store.
Some professional dealers in old objects also go to yard sales.They may find a valuable object for a small amount of money. Thenthey will re-sell it in their own store. . .usually at a much higherprice.
Other people go because they enjoy the hunt. They like to findbeautiful or unusual things that are being sold for less than theirvalue. They may find a piece of old furniture, for example, that isworth a lot of money after it is repaired.
VOICE ONE:
Some people go to yard sales to find a special thing that theycollect. It may be old toy trains, for example, or paintings ofdogs. Experts say more Americans are collecting old things now thanever before. The most popular things to collect are small objects:old money, stamps, dolls, bottles, baseball cards, toys andadvertising signs.
Most people who go to yard sales, however, are not looking foranything special. They might buy an object simply because it costsso little. They enjoy negotiating over prices, even if they reallydo not need the object. Later, they may hold their own yard sale tosell all the things they have bought.
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VOICE TWO:
A flea market is similar to a yard sale, only bigger. Fleamarkets get their name from small, wingless insects called fleas.Fleas jump on to animals or humans and hide in their hair. Somepeople say the expression “flea market” comes from the fear thatfleas may be hiding in the old things you buy at such a market.
Some flea markets are community events. Many families bringthings to sell. The event may be held at a school or in a park. Someschools and churches hold flea markets once a year to earn money forspecial projects. Most flea markets, however, are held on weekendsduring spring, summer, and autumn.
VOICE ONE:
Professional dealers’ flea markets are more organized than yardsales or community flea markets. Sellers usually must get a trader’slicense from the local government. They must collect tax oneverything they sell.
Some people get all their earnings by selling things at fleamarkets. Others have traditional jobs and earn a little extra moneyat flea markets. Some dealers at a flea market sell lots ofdifferent things. Others sell just one kind of thing. It may beglass objects or old farm equipment. Many professional flea marketssell only antiques. In America, things are considered antique ifthey are at least one-hundred years old.
VOICE TWO:
One of the largest flea markets in the world is held in the stateof California. On the second Sunday of every month, buyers look atobjects offered by more than two-thousand sellers. This huge eventis the Rose Bowl Flea Market. It takes place in the famous sportscenter in Pasadena, California. In sunshine or during rain, sellersshow all kinds of things: books, records, fishbowls, seashells,doghouses.
Arts and crafts are offered at the Rose Bowl Arts and CraftsOutdoor Festival, in connection with the Rose Bowl Flea Market. Theonly objects not permitted for sale include food, animals, and guns.
VOICE ONE:
Another famous market is called “The World’s Longest OutdoorSale.” This event is held each year along a road that runs throughthe southern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. The sale isseven-hundred-twenty-five kilometers long.
The twelfth yearly sale was held last Thursday through Sunday.More than two-thousand people lined up to sell things. They includedantiques, art, farm tools, home-made food, even cats and dogs.Thousands of people stopped their cars and looked over the goods at”The World’s Longest Outdoor Sale.”
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VOICE TWO:
To some people, flea markets and yard sales are a sign thatAmericans are too concerned with material possessions. They ask: Whydo people spend so much time buying things they probably do notneed? Is it some basic human desire to trade or to get something foralmost nothing?
Some people have a strong desire to collect old objects such astoys or dolls. Perhaps they may be trying to recapture the happytimes when they were children.
VOICE ONE:
To other people, yard sales are simply a way to have fun. In somecommunities, ten or twenty families may have a yard sale on the sameweekend. These are important social gatherings. A busy workingmother in Cleveland said she would never have met so many people wholive near her without yard sales.
Other people say yard sales help the environment. Old things arere-used instead of being thrown away.
In any case, experts say buying and collecting objects at yardsales and flea markets are more popular than ever in America.Hunting for unusual items is a sport for some people. For others, itis a way of life.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust and Jerilyn Watson.It was produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the Special Englishprogram, THIS IS AMERICA.