Trolling For Treasure: Garage Sale America

When we moved to the Midwest, Mr. Chicken made me promise we wouldn't buy anymore "old shit."

Rare books. Art Deco furniture. Mid-century pottery. Vintage sheet music. Old instruments. Bakelite and celluloid jewelry. We have a basement full of this kind of stuff.

It doesn't help that we spend summers on Cape Cod, perhaps the epicenter for New England antiquing. You can't go five feet without being hit with a sign promising "Ye Olde Useless Crap To Blow Your Wad On."

Then there was that time when Mr. Chicken scored a rare Fire King jadite breakfast bowl at a church rummage sale for a quarter. He knew I loved green glass, but what he didn't know was that his score is worth $125 on the eBay market.

We were hooked.

So when Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review Bruce Littlefield's book, Garage Sale America, I said yes, please!

Despite my promise to avoid old shit, I still like to look for that gem, that rare find that will make my house less cheap subdivision and more shabby chic.

Littlefield's book is full of tips on how to score the kind of finds you see on Antiques Roadshow, and he also shows how he uses ordinary objects in extraordinary ways. The photographs of his Upstate New York home, which is loaded with his garage-sale bargains, are inspiring.

One of his best buys is a pair of metal chairs - you know, the kind that Crate and Barrel wants to charge you $200 for? He gets a pair, sands them down and repaints them. Instant retro cool.

There isn't a lot to do out here on the prairie, but damn if there aren't a plethora of garage sales. I was crossing my fingers behind my back when I made my promise to Mr. Chicken. Besides, if I get a 300 percent return on that 50-cent purchase, he can't be mad, right?

Right?