Tag

Today several families on my block are having garage sales. I am not participating because I would rather just drop my stuff off at a thrift shop and be done with it,no organizing,pricing or sitting around for hours on end,but it made me wonder how the whole garage sale thing got started...here's what I found. The original garage sales (16th century) were called Romage sales,later becoming the word rummage. Romage was a nautical term referring to how cargo was packed into the hold of a ship,the definition expanded in the 18th century to include bustle and commotion. It follows that the first rummage sales were held at the docks where unclaimed or damaged cargo would be offered for sale. By the late 1800s rummage sales were being held in communal locations like churches and parks. From that time the sales have evolved to include private homes where people hold them to make a little money, cut down on clutter and unused items. Garage sales can be found in most locations worldwide and go by different names:yard sale,rummage sale,tag sale and moving sale to list a few. It is estimated that garage sales generate around $2 billion annually.