rummage sales are good!

by NANCY BUBEL

Do you hanker for an alternative to Bigger—Better—New—Improved consumerism? Do discount stores and sterile shopping malls give you metaphysical nausea? Are you offended by plastic and depressed by those nasty "gift catalogues"—all alike—addressed to you in personalized computerese? Me too.

But you still may need a spring coat, fabric for a wall hanging, a few sweaters, some dishes or slacks to wear around the homestead this season. So do I . . . but you won't find me paying fifteen dollars for them at any flossy shopping mall. I'll get mine at a rummage sale for ten or twenty-five cents.

Rummaging is loads of fun—if you like treasure hunts—and is a marvelous grass-roots way of recycling clothes and household goods. No top-heavy organization or sophisticated equipment is needed for rummage sales so you'll find them just about anywhere you go. Churches, fire company auxiliaries, lodges and women's clubs dispose of their surplus and outgrowns this simple way. It both makes money for the group and gives everyone involved a good morning's gossip. Cities, small towns—even some farmers' markets—have their rummage sales . . . usually in the spring and fall when folks are cleaning closets. Some organizations hold a sale both seasons, allowing you to be well-dressed year-round . . . without ever leaving your favorite charity!

Where and when are the rummage sales? Small town newspapers, radio stations and advertising flyers usually carry the notices.

In a city, neighborhood newspapers and supermarket bulletin boards are your best bets. And—in both towns and cities—make a mental note of the location of the sales you attend. Often, the same vacant store is rented by a succession of groups offering rummage.

Some city rummage sales are refined to the point of offering special sections of "antiques", "better dresses", "nearly new" and such. Prices, of course, are boosted to match; five to ten dollars for a really elegant coat or several dollars for a name-brand dress in excellent condition (though if the label matters, I doubt you've read this far!)

At small town sales I've found near-antiques; some really good quality, well made clothes; and a few brand new things mixed in with the general run of stuff . . . all priced at a fraction of what you'd pay at the "boutique" rummages. You never know what you will turn up, of course. That's what makes it as much fun as a combined fishing expedition and grab bag outing.

O.K. So you know when to perk up your rummage antennae . . . now, what's the best way to approach the sport?