The World’s Longest Yard Sale takes place over 4 days in August along a 650-mile stretch of US Route 127. It was started in 1987 to reintroduce America to its back streets and small towns. Yard sales are popular in the US and are conducted for various reasons, including raising extra cash and clearing space in the home. The sale has expanded to include independent vendors selling food and drink, handcrafted items, and farm-fresh produce. Some jurisdictions require permits for yard sales and vendors of food and beverages to be licensed and inspected for sanitation practices.
The world’s longest yard sale takes place over four days in early August each year along a stretch of US Route 127 from Alabama to Michigan, a distance of more than 650 miles. Also known as the ‘127 Corridor Sale’ or simply ‘127 Sale’, it has its own website and a range of official merchandise, such as lawn signs, vendor aprons and folding tables. Based in Jamestown, Tenn., the World’s Longest Yard Sale was started in 1987 as a way to reintroduce America to its back streets and small towns.
Sales in progress &emdash; also called garage sale, tag, attic, homemaker, mover, junk, or rummage&emdash; they are very popular in the United States. Typically, a household will be listing household items, from clothing and furniture to appliances and electronics, that are still useful but no longer want or need. Generally, they put everything out on the front lawn or driveway, most commonly on one or both days of the weekend. Prices are often negotiable, and a great deal of haggling typically occurs at yard sales. Families will post billboards throughout the neighborhood and on nearby streets and place classified ads in print and online media, then sit by their wares and wait for the traffic to roll through.
Yard sales are conducted for a variety of reasons, such as clearing up space in the home, raising extra cash, or as a way to interact with others and perhaps make new friends. The World’s Longest Yard Sale was established along a portion of Route 127 in Tennessee that had lost a large amount of traffic to nearby Interstates 75 and 40. Its organizers wanted to draw Americans off the interstates and back to the back roads of the America, and counted on the popularity of yard sales to incentivize travelers to take a detour.
Just as conducting a yard sale is hugely popular, visiting and shopping at yard sales is also hugely popular. In the southeastern United States, attendees and buyers of the World’s Longest Yard Sale clear the calendar for the four-day period beginning on the first Thursday in August. Antique dealers and collectors of all kinds visit the sale, as do passers-by and local community members. As with the world’s longest running yard sale, other neighborhood and even city-level yard sales have become well-established traditions in many places, and residents and visitors plan their programs around these events. I
The World’s Longest Yard Sale, like other similarly organized group yard sales, has expanded beyond people selling household items. Independent vendors usually ask for inclusion, requiring rules and organization. When independent vendors are involved, the range of items available generally expands significantly, and organizers also approach vendors to sell food and drink. In addition to the usual collection of housewares, shoppers at the World’s Longest Yard Sale can count on farm-fresh produce, handcrafted items, and lots of old-fashioned farm cooking.
While many states do not regulate or tax yard sales, some jurisdictions require vendors of food and beverages to be licensed and inspected for sanitation practices, and some will also require those conducting yard sales to purchase a permit. Operators of the World’s Longest Yard Sale offer comprehensive information on the permits needed to operate at any point of sale.
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