Central and Heck, a busy corner. All photos by Paul Goldfinger © 2014. Click on all photos to enlarge
Getting off to an early start. Having fun. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor, Blogfinger.net, 12/13/24–10 years ago
All indications are that the town-wide yard sale was a success. It was, as hoped for, a spirited event with lots of laughs and socializing. It seemed that sellers and buyers were all eager to enjoy a warm day in the Grove. We met many visitors from out of town. One woman told me that she has been to many town yard sales, but ours was the best.
We had 62 families plus others who didn’t sign on, but who had yard sales anyhow, so the numbers were actually higher.
The Cashman family from Pennsylvania stop off at the Blogfinger compound and sale.
Old timers speak of yard sales and flea markets in the Grove from many years ago when little old ladies would empty their attics and put out antiques, but those days are largely over, although some antiques were around. People hunting for those sorts of treasures were out scoping the terrain two hours before starting time.
We went around and sampled some of the sales. Michael Goldfinger (my security staff) and I biked around and talked to yard sale people. We found that most of the sales were busy and were showing a lot of housewares, clothes, vinyl, CD’s etc. . There were a few furniture pieces and a wide assortment of stuff.
A sale amongst the tents. Roberta (L) from Hightstown and Lauren from N. Brunswick find some treasures at Bob and Jane’s house. ©
As usual, most of the sellers had items left over. Some said they made around $150.00, but one seller, who was set up in front of a very large house, told us that he had already made over $700.00, and this was about 11 am. There were no complaints, and most seemed to be having a good time.
One seller had her iPhone stolen from her porch. There were a couple of suspicious characters whom she suspected. The New York Times last week reported a major increase lately in stolen iPhones. In addition, a county prosecutor who lives in the Grove told me that there has been a rash of such thefts at yard sales in particular. I guess people get distracted and just lay their phones down.
Jean and Jack having some yucks at their Heck Avenue sale.
The question arises: Are yard sales, especially the town wide variety, worthwhile in the Grove? Obviously there is not a lot of money to be made, but it seems to be a sort of festival where the benefits are not only commercial. It is a sporting event where the goal is get around town, find some bargains, meet some people, have some laughs and see interesting things.
I think it livens up the town and helps counter stereotypes of the Grove as a stodgy boring place, a characterization which has been false for years, but we at Blogfinger have been trying to overcome since our founding in 2009. We love to reveal the real lifestyle of this town which continues to evolve and gain energy. Maybe we will see the “Real Housewives of Ocean Grove” on TV some time.
Mt. Hermon Way–always a hot bed of yard sale activity. In the foreground is Cousin Brucie Holmes.
We met one seller who had about 100 records for sale. Her son said that his Mom is stuck in the Motown era. One buyer bought 75 records at $1.00 each, but most were still left. We had a dresser that went unsold for $15.00. In the end, we put it out to the curb. We met a rotweiler who was drooling from the heat, but mostly people did not bring their dogs.
Some Haitians showed up at our sale and they are hard bargainers. We settled on $17.00, for a chair, but there was a language issue. I offered “dix-sept.” She said “dollars?” I said yes, and we had a deal. In Paris I had a lot more trouble making my French understood.
We were playing music on our porch—it was mostly Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks with some bouncy roaring twenties stuff. The music attracted more interest than our sale items. Our first sale was a record album by the Steve Miller Band. The buyer could not believe that I never heard of that group. My photos of Ocean Grove sold well as did linens.
So do you all agree that it was worthwhile? Should we do it again next year?
THE BEATLES from their album “Revolver.”