Reminiscence and Recompense
Reuse and the Garage Sale
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13111981 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gretchen M Herrmann (SUNY Cortland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 4-4 |
| Publication date | 2019-01-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Worldwide Waste (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2399-7117 • E-ISSN: 2399-7117 |
| Publisher | Ubiquity Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.5334/wwwj.12 |
| OpenAlex | W2912490647 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 12 |
Among the mix of motivations that inspire people to sell and shop at garage sales is the desire to prevent the disposal of still usable goods. Sales can be so effective for redistributing consumer goods and reducing waste that numerous municipalities, such as Sunnyvale, California and Sydney, Australia, promote their sales through a community-wide staging. Lengthy corridor sales in the U.S., like that held annually on Route 127 (the “World’s Longest Yard Sale”), serve the same function, drawing positive media attention and promoting civic pride. But unlike the mundane act of recycling used papers and cans at the curb, making goods available for reuse at garage sales is an action loaded with personal sentiment. Second-hand purchases are often imbued with “sticky” emotional orientations (Ahmed 2010) and reminiscences. This article therefore examines the garage sale as a site for redistributing goods with emotions and histories attached. Participants derive some small recompense in the form of money made, the acquisition of inexpensive goods, and the self-satisfaction associated with reducing waste, but shoppers and sellers are also allied in a tug of war against the landfill to claim the future of goods, especially the storied items adopted by shoppers. Beneath their goal of cleaning out the garage, garnering some extra cash, or obtaining a bargain, participants assert that the reuse of and care for still serviceable goods is meritorious and morally praiseworthy. In the process of reuse, they enhance their moral selves and perform a good deed, however minor, by preserving both the stories of these objects and the embattled earth
Advertising · Business · Deed · Political science · Pride · Reminiscence · Reuse · Waste management · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Engineering · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Psychology · Marketing
The cultural biography of things
The Garage Sale as Informal Economy and Transformative Urbanism
Garage Sales Make Good Neighbors
Consuming Ethics
Women's Exchange in the U.S. Garage Sale
Gift or commodity
Growing in Motion
Yard Sales
Your Trash Is Someone's Treasure
For Fun and Profit
Economies of affect
Valuing Affect
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |