America’s Love Affair with Garage Sales

Summary

---

Episode Overview

Title: America’s Love Affair with Garage Sales
Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (guest host David Fuerst)
Guest: Katie Weaver, writer for The Atlantic
Date: July 1, 2026

This episode explores the deep-seated American tradition of garage sales—what draws people to them, their cultural significance, and the very real thrill (and occasional heartbreak) found in rifling through others’ discarded treasures. Special guest Katie Weaver discusses her Atlantic cover story “The Whimsy and Heartbreak of America’s Garage Sales,” bringing personal tales, historical context, and a healthy appreciation for “other people’s junk.” Callers chime in with their own legendary finds, and the conversation delves into nostalgia, optimism, and the psychology of secondhand shopping.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Do Americans Love Garage Sales?

• Personal Connection: Katie attributes her lifelong interest to her family: “Birth is what set me up on this path. Being the daughter of the cheapest woman in the world is what set me off on this path.” (02:56)
• The Thrill of the Hunt: Beyond cheapness, there’s excitement in the search itself—dreaming of discovering something priceless, a feeling echoed in popular culture like Antiques Roadshow.
• Nostalgia & Reuse: Americans’ attachment to their stuff, and their optimism that their unwanted items might serve someone else, is central.

Research and Reporting for The Atlantic Piece (04:35)

• Katie describes scouring yard sales, estate sales, and thrift stores in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for her Atlantic article. She relished “doing what I would be doing if I weren’t writing about it every single weekend. And this time, I got to expense my gas for work.”

$100 Challenge—What Did She Buy? (05:24)

• She did not start with a shopping list: “Anything I could ever possibly need, surely I already own it...I really just wanted to see what catches my eye.”
• Some goods were even free, achieved with gentle haggling or people eager simply to declutter.

Suburban Space & The Rise of Garage Sales (06:05)

• Weaver cites theories linking the boom of garage sales to Americans’ move to the suburbs. Larger homes meant more accumulation:
  “Once you have space, then you fill your home with junk, and you need to have a yard sale.”

What Our Stuff Reveals About Us (07:47)

• Weaver’s findings about national identity:
  “We are a nation that loves Christmas decorations, that travels abroad and collects little items that we then have no use for...what really touches me about thrifting...all this stuff could have just gone in the trash, but people are saying, no, maybe someone else could use it. So I think...it’s very optimistic to donate your things...There’s just a hopefulness.”

Emotional Landscape: Whimsy & Heartbreak (09:47–11:04)

• Estate sales, in particular, evoke deeper questions of mortality and legacy:
  “You’re allowed to just go into their home and paw through all their belongings...you inevitably, it’s a memento mori moment...one day all my stuff is [going to be] strangers are going to be pawing through it.”
• Weaver finds herself drawn to hand-embroidered items, wedding invitations, and even family photos: “If it’s a great picture, absolutely. I’ll buy anything.”

---

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

Callers’ Legendary Finds

• Vincent (06:48): Acquired a beautiful Gretsch drum set from a family downsizing (“I still play it to this day.”)
• Madeline (11:36): Father's stack of artwork included four signed Salvador Dalí prints for less than $100 (“He said, one day you'll each get one of them.”)
• Text (13:03): Autographed Joe Namath photo for $10—coincidentally inscribed to the buyer’s own name.
• Candice (15:31): Bag of odd dolls, purportedly beloved by Brooke Shields and Michael Jackson during childhood.
• Sadie (16:20): Possesses beds and mementos from the famed Gray Gardens estate sale (“several sets of Porto sheets...belong(ed) to Sally Quinn, not the Beales”).
• Nancy (17:50): Discovered ancestral photos at an antique show, recognizing her great-great-grandparents (“I am the family genealogist...It just gave me goosebumps.”)

Cultural Observations

• Weaver on optimism and guilt:
  "People are hoping that they can keep it out of a landfill." (08:55)
• Weaver on secondhand addiction:
  “If I had been there, I could have gotten that. Maybe I'd be living in Woodstock.” (09:20)
• Host David Fuerst on the communal experience:
  "Save some money while spending money and search for those treasures that are...out there waiting.” (19:17–19:24)

---

Timestamps for Noteworthy Segments

• [01:29] – David Fuerst introduces the garage sale topic and guest Katie Weaver.
• [02:54] – Weaver on the personal roots of her thrifting obsession.
• [04:35] – Weaver describes her approach to researching her Atlantic piece.
• [05:24] – $100 challenge: shopping intentions, finds, and negotiation.
• [06:05] – Sociological perspective: suburban expansion and accumulation.
• [07:47] – Core findings: What the stuff says about American culture.
• [09:47] – Emotional dimension: From whimsical finds to estate sale melancholy.
• [11:36] – Madeline’s Salvador Dalí prints story.
• [13:03] – Steve’s autographed Joe Namath photo.
• [15:31] – Candice’s Brooke Shields/Michael Jackson dolls.
• [16:20] – Sadie’s Gray Gardens estate sale legend.
• [17:50] – Nancy’s serendipitous genealogical discovery.
• [19:04] – Weaver’s closing thoughts on the enduring lure of yard sales.

---

Conclusion

From spontaneous finds to long-planned treasure hunts, this episode celebrates the strange, hopeful, and often emotional world of America’s garage sales. Katie Weaver and a chorus of listeners illustrate how rummaging through other people’s belongings is more than just a hunt for bargains—it’s a window into the nation’s spirit, our attitudes toward stuff, legacy, and community.

Closing Thoughts (19:04):
“This has just made me want to go out to one right now… I love hearing about them. I’m so glad everyone was able to save some money while spending money.” – Katie Weaver

---

For more stories:
Read Katie Weaver’s piece, “The Whimsy and Heartbreak of America’s Garage Sales,” in The Atlantic.

---

Listen to "All Of It" on WNYC, weekdays from 12–2PM.

Transcript

[Katie Weaver]

WNYC Studios is supported by Progressive Insurance. Did you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. When you take a sip of an ice cold Coke Zero Sugar, you know you're getting real Coca Cola taste you love. And with zero sugar it's so delicious you can almost taste it with your ears. Hear those bubbles. Imagine them tingling on your tongue. Fizzy deliciousness. Listen to that cascading liquid. It's unmistakably tasty. All with zero sugar. Crisp, refreshing and ice cold. Ah, Coke Zero sugar. Real Coca Cola taste zero sugar.

[Home Depot/Ryobi Advertiser]

When it comes to your yard reliability matters. Shop with confidence at the Home depot and get 4th of July savings on Ryobi, the number one cordless outdoor power brand. It's time to choose your power. Both the Ryobi 18 volt and 40 volt self propelled mower kits are on special buy for an even lower price of four. $429 each was $479. Ryobi's battery platform delivers the power, runtime and dependability you need to tackle yard work with ease. Shop 4th of July Savings on Ryobi Outdoor Power only at the Home Depot while supplies Last pricing valid June 25 through July 8. Use only C store online for details.

[David Fuerst]

It's all of it on wnyc. I'm David Fuerst. Discovering the treasure among some people's cast, or at least searching for it, is a beloved tradition in America. Garage sales, estate sales and thrift stores can have a nostalgic Americana feel to them. They can also inspire our curiosity. Where do these items come from? How old are they? Why were they given up? And will I finally find that pristine original mono vinyl copy of Sgt. Pepper somewhere at the back of that rack? Okay, Katie Weaver is here to explore this phenomenon and the history of garage sales with us today. She did all of this in a recent piece for the Atlantic called the Whimsy and Heartbreak of America's Garage Sales. And she argues that we can learn a lot about who we are from the stuff that we buy. Katie, thanks for joining us.

[Katie Weaver]

Thank you so much for having me

[David Fuerst]

and callers, we want to hear from you as well. If you want to join this conversation, what's the best thing you ever found at a yard sale? Where do you go for yard sales? Give us a call. 212433, 9692. That's 212433, WNYC. And, Katie, what set you off here? What inspired this deep dive into garage sales?

[Katie Weaver]

Ooh, well, I'm always shopping them in my free time anyway.

[David Fuerst]

Oh, a lifetime is what set you up for this?

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, yes. You know, birth is what. Is what set me up on this path. Being the daughter of the cheapest woman in the world is what set me off on this path. And my editors at the Atlantic wanted me for our July issue to write, you know, kind of an essay about just something I really love about America. And the first thing that popped into my head was other people's trash. Anything that someone's trying to get rid of, that's what I love. That's what my home is filled with. That's what my body is clothed in. I just love other people's junk. I love it so much, and I love. So saving money. I love getting a good deal. That's. That's really my addiction. So I'm so excited to hear what people call in and talk about.

[David Fuerst]

You mentioned why, why you love it so much. Why. Why do Americans love garage sales? Is it. Is it just what you're talking about, or are there some other categories?

[Katie Weaver]

I think a lot of it is cheapness, but also just, you know, kind of as you alluded to, the thrill of the hunt, the idea that you might, you know, someone might be throwing away a priceless painting and you're the one who recognizes it, and now you're a millionaire.

[David Fuerst]

Right. You'll be on Antiques Roadshow in another week.

[Katie Weaver]

Exactly. The thing that really does happen sometimes, that's what's so crazy about it, is it actually can happen. But even if it doesn't, I think you can still have a lot of fun and saving money, even though, you know, if you're going to them as often as I am. Are you really saving money if you're constantly shopping at garage sales? That's a question for my husband to ask, not for me to ponder.

[David Fuerst]

I see. Okay. If you want to join this conversation with your thoughts about garage sales and the appeal of garage sales. 212 433-9692 so, for this particular piece, where did you go? How did you go about doing your research?

[Katie Weaver]

So I used to live in New York, but I am now in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is. New Yorkers take a. Take a trip out to New Mexico. It is fabulous for secondhand shopping because a lot of. A lot of very cool elderly people retire here and Then die. And so you get all their cool stuff. So I went to yard sales around my home. I stopped at a town called Bernalillo, and I went to an estate sale there. I went to thrift stores, but really I was just doing what I would be doing if I weren't writing about it every single weekend. And this time, I got to expense my gas for work. So that was nice.

[David Fuerst]

So for your piece, you set out to see what you could get secondhand with $100 in your pocket. Did you have a particular shopping list in mind or just seeing what called out to you?

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, no, never. I have so much junk in my home, Anything I could ever possibly need, surely I already own it. So I don't shop with a list in mind. So I really just wanted to see, you know, what. What catches my eye. And I got to say I think I did fantastically well because I got a lot of things that people were just giving away for free, which was nice, you know, and sometimes they were even things that someone had put, I think, a 25 cent sticker on, like, an open jewelry cleaner. And I was like, do you really want to fuss with the coins? And she said, no, just take it. So negotiated it down to free. Amazing.

[David Fuerst]

Just take it. Well, a lot of times people. People have reached their limit of how long they can keep this stuff in their homes. This stuff takes up a lot of space, right?

[Katie Weaver]

Yes, yes, absolutely. And it's one thing that I was really interested to learn as I was researching this story was that there's kind of a theory that as Americans move to the suburbs and their homes got bigger, that is actually when they needed to have garage sales because when they were living in small apartments, as, of course, many New Yorkers do, you couldn't accumulate too many extra things. There was not space to do it. So once you have space, then you fill your home with junk, and you need to have a yard sale.

[David Fuerst]

Not junk. Great stuff.

[Katie Weaver]

With treasures.

[David Fuerst]

With treasures. If you want to join this conversation, let's take a call right now. 212-433-9692. Vincent in Warren, New Jersey. Welcome.

[Callers]

Hey, good afternoon. The most amazing thing I've ever found at a garage sale. Like your guest just said, the family was downsizing. Their sons had grown, and they were moving out. And the woman I just happened to mention that, you know her, her barn would be a great recording studio. She goes, are you a musician?

[Home Depot/Ryobi Advertiser]

I said, yes.

[Callers]

She goes, well, I have a drum set upstairs that I'm trying to, you know, offload because My sons don't play. It was a beautiful Gretsch drum set and I still play it to this day.

[David Fuerst]

Whoa.

[Katie Weaver]

Amazing.

[David Fuerst]

An amazing find that you do need a lot of space and tolerant neighbors to bring into your life, right? That's a great one, Vincent. Thank you so much for calling in. And you know, I wanted to read, by the way, before we get any further, Katie, the subtitle of your piece is for $100, I bought Bric a brac that explains a nation. Okay, so now I'm going to put you explain the nation.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, okay, let's. You know what? I hadn't even read the subtitle on my feedback, but I will say we what I learned we are a nation that loves Christmas decorations, that travels abroad and collects little items that we then have no use for. I got some free German beer coasters, like tons of them. We are a nation that, you know, uses most of a bottle of nail polish and says, I can't throw this away. Someone else could get some use out of this. So we donate that. And then I'm the sicko who buys that open bottle of nail polish. You're right, I can get some use out of that. So I think it's what I sort of love about thrifting. And what really touches me about it is like, you know, all this stuff could have just gone in the trash, but people are saying, no, maybe someone else could use it. So I think that, you know, it's really, it's very optimistic to donate your things to, to a thrift store or even to try to sell them to other people. There's just a hopefulness that, no, maybe I can keep them out of for like one more person. And I think that's really nice. Is it always true? Maybe not. But people are hoping that they can keep it out of a landfill.

[David Fuerst]

Let us know what you have found at a garage sale. What is the appeal of garage sales to you? 212-433-9692. You can call or text. And we have this great text. Listen to this one. Went to a great yard sale in Woodstock many years ago. Told the owner, this is a great yard sale. Well, she said, the house is for sale too, and we bought it.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, cute. I love that. Well, I also, I mean, I think I said I'm like addicted to a good deal, but I can really get just a contact high from hearing about someone else getting a good deal. I like hearing about other people's yard sale finds almost as much as I love going to yard sales myself. And buying things. It's a double edged sword because I love it. But it's also like if I had been there, I could have gotten that. Maybe I'd be living in Woodstock. Maybe I could have gotten that.

[David Fuerst]

And I'll take another call in just a second. But you describe in this piece the journey beginning with whimsy and high spirits, but it ended up feeling a little darker and weirder as it went along. Can you talk about some of the emotions that you went through working on the piece?

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, yes. Well, I think inevitably, especially when you're dealing with estate sales, which are, you know, generally it's kind of the entire contents of someone's home. So really someone's life. And now all of a sudden you're, you're allowed to just go into their home and paw through all their belongings, which I would love to do with all my neighbors, but they're alive. They don't want me to do that.

[David Fuerst]

Wow.

[Katie Weaver]

So you're doing it with a dead stranger. They'll just let you right in. And as I'm doing it, I think you inevitably, it's a memento mori moment. Like you think, God, one day all my stuff is strangers are going to be pawing through it. And I also think, oh my gosh, I have so much stuff for strangers to paw through. And one thing that I, I'm a bit of a sucker for is, you know, any kind of anything that's like really obviously handmade or hand embroidered or little sort of keepsakes like wedding invitations or family photos. But it's like I can't buy every family photo because there are so many of them. But it's very, I find it fascinating.

[David Fuerst]

You would buy other people's family photos

[Katie Weaver]

if it's a great picture, absolutely. I will. I'll buy anything. I'll buy anything.

[David Fuerst]

Wow. I know who to set up a garage sale next to if I want to have a lot of success. By the way, we're speaking with Katie Weaver, a writer for the Atlantic. She has a piece called the Whimsy and Heartbreak of America's Garage Sales. And let's take some more of your calls. 212 433-9692. Madeline from Seacliffe, welcome.

[Callers]

Hi, how are you?

[David Fuerst]

Great. Thanks for joining us.

[Callers]

Thank you. So my dad is an avid yard seller and one time he and my mom attended a sale on the East End. Every weekend they would get the newspaper and look for the sales. And he attended a sale and there was a stack of artwork in the corner and he didn't have time to go through it all. But he bought the entire stack having only looked at one or two pieces. He paid fewer than $100. And when he got home, he found four signed Salvador Dali prints in the stack.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, my.

[Callers]

Yep.

[Katie Weaver]

Did he keep them or did he sell them?

[Callers]

No, he kept them. And I am one of four. I have three siblings. So he said, one day you'll each get one of them.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, my gosh. That's the dream. Wow. Your father lived everyone's fantasy.

[Callers]

That's amazing.

[David Fuerst]

That is great, Madeline. Thank you so much for that story. That's gonna keep you shopping at garage sales for another for decades. We have text here. Coolest thing I ever got at a garage sale was an autographed photo of Joe Namath for $10. Even though I'm a lifelong Giants fan, I had the signature authenticated. And it was real bonus was it was inscribed to someone named Steve. And my name is Steve.

[Katie Weaver]

Ooh, that's a good one.

[David Fuerst]

Signed Steve from Lynbrook from Joe.

[Katie Weaver]

Name is personal friend Steve. As evidenced by this photo.

[David Fuerst]

As evidenced by this photo. And let's take another call. Candice from Montclair, New Jersey. Welcome. Oh, hello. Is Candice there? Maybe.

[Callers]

Hi.

[David Fuerst]

Oh, hello.

[Callers]

I'm here. Yes.

[David Fuerst]

Do you have a garage sale story?

[Callers]

Yeah, we do. Our family loves garage sales. It becomes our, when it's in season, becomes our sort of morning activity on Saturday mornings. I have two daughters, and it's probably the only way we drag them out of bed early. And so we, you know, often go out in the spring and the fall and try to find little treasures. I call it treasure hunting to entice them. And one of the most memorable things that we have found is a bag of these very peculiar little baby dolls. They're like a plastic toy, and there's like maybe 30 of them. And the way the story was told to me by.

[David Fuerst]

Oh, I think we might have lost. Candace, are you still there?

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, I'm dying to hear about these baby dolls. I hope we didn't lose her.

[David Fuerst]

Well, maybe we could have. Candace, if you can hear us, try to call back so we're not left with that cliffhanger of the dolls there. We'll see if we can get Kantis back on. But let's hear from. Oh, let's hear from Stacy on the Upper east side. Welcome to all of it. Stacy, are you with us?

[Callers]

Thank you.

[David Fuerst]

Hello?

[Callers]

Yes, I'm here. Hi. Yeah, I grew up in New Jersey, and like, as a seven year old or something like that, I used to Take all the stuff out of my room that I didn't want and put it on the hood of our car in the driveway. We had one of those like big hooded cars back in the day. And I just, you know, sell to the neighborhood kids whatever I could. And you know, now I live in the city and you know, I wish, you know, I could, you know, just put a table in front of my building and bring out all my stuff because I have a lot to sell. But I do buy nothing. And I thrift and I give away and I sell on ebay. So always looking for opportunities to like rehome my stuff and look for other stuff, stuff that I can then eventually re home some other time.

[David Fuerst]

That's great. Thank you for so much for calling and joining the conversation. And I believe Candace is back. Candace, are you with us? Could you finish telling us about the dolls? We need to know.

[Callers]

Hi, yes, I am back. I don't know what happened. So the way the story was told to me, there's a woman who was a, there are a lot of people on Montclair who are in film and TV and she was a stylist or a set designer and she somehow knew Brooke Shields grandmother and she told me that these dolls were a favorite toy of Brooke Shields and she used to play with Michael Jackson when she was little. And so as far as we know, these toys were, you know, a prized possession of Brooke Shields and which she shared with Michael Jackson. And so one of these days I'm going to reach out to her and hope to find out if that story is actually true.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh my God. Thank you for calling back. I did not see that coming. That's incredible.

[David Fuerst]

That's great. Thank you so much for that. And let's take another call. Sadie from the Upper west side, welcome to all of it.

[Callers]

Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. Katie, I'm a big fan of your writing and as a third generation tag sailor, I am thrilled to hear you talking about this. So I just wanted to call and talk about the single most legendary epic sail I ever went to. Also out east on the east end. This was in East Hampton and it was the contents of Gray Gardens after Sally Quinn sold it.

[Katie Weaver]

Oh Lord.

[Callers]

Yes, exactly. So in, in storage I have one of the beds from Gray Gardens, but one of the deals beds. And on my wall I have a Lord's prayer from the Beale's bedroom. And on my beds I now have several sets of porto sheets gotten for what I won't say, but single digit numbers which belong To Sally Quinn, not the deal. So all in all an untoppable in my opinion.

[Katie Weaver]

Well, that, that was going to be my question how things were priced. So the prices were pretty, sounds like

[Callers]

they were pretty good by the, by the end of the second day, I'm telling you they were just price move. It was the dream.

[Katie Weaver]

I love to hear that and I hate you with my dream.

[David Fuerst]

You win price to move. I love it. We have a lot of calls coming right now. Let's see if we could get to another one or two. Oh, let's see. Nancy in Westchester, welcome to all of it. Thanks for joining us.

[Callers]

Oh, can you hear me?

[David Fuerst]

Yes. Hello.

[Callers]

Hi. Well, it wasn't a tag sale. It was actually an antique little antique show at the local church a mile from my house in Westchester. And I'm just wandering around and I randomly pick up a pile of old family photograph, you know, which somebody earlier was talking about. And there were my great great grandparents. I am the family genealogist. So I knew what I was looking at and it was just gave me goosebumps that how did this random person. My great great grandparents were lived in New Haven, Connecticut, which is not that far but you know, like an hour away from where I was. But just what are the odds of my picking up this random pile of pictures and it being them? Yeah, I still get goosebumps thinking about this.

[Katie Weaver]

You are probably one of the only people on earth who would even recognize their great great grandparents. If mine walked in my house right now, I wouldn't know who they were.

[David Fuerst]

That's an incredible story and I think we'll have to leave it there. Where could we go from that? I mean, that's incredible. Any last thought about garage sales as we wrap up this conversation?

[Katie Weaver]

Oh, my God. This has just made me want to go out to one right now. I wish there were a garage sale happening in the middle of this Wednesday afternoon. I love hearing about them. I'm so glad everyone was able to save some money while spending money save

[David Fuerst]

some money while spending money and search for those treasures that are. We know they're out there waiting.

[Katie Weaver]

They're out there.

[David Fuerst]

They're out there. Katie Weaver's piece in the Atlantic is called the Whimsy and Heartbreak of America's Garage Sales. Katie, thank you for joining us today.

[Katie Weaver]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Home Depot/Ryobi Advertiser]

When it comes to your yard, reliability matters, shop with confidence at the Home depot and get 4th of July savings on Ryobi, the number one cordless outdoor power brand. It's time to choose your power Both the Ryobi 18 volt and 40 volt self propelled mower kits are on special buy for an even lower price of $429. Each was 479. Ryobi's battery platform delivers the power, runtime and dependability you need to tackle yard work with ease. Shop 4th of July Savings on Ryobi Outdoor Power only at the Home Depot while supplies last. Pricing valid June 25th through July eigth us only. See store online for details.