400 Mile Sale Is Underway

Yard-sales galore

400 Mile Sale along Highway 68/80
Near Hopkinsville, KY

Kentucky's 400 Mile Sale began Thursday and continues through Sunday along Highway 68/80. Tomorrow (Saturday) will probably be the biggest day, both in the number of sales and the number of shoppers.

Coming home from town this afternoon, I stopped along Highway 68/80 east of Hopkinsville where half a dozen vendors have set up in a pasture. They have lots of room there for their tables of merchandise and for customer parking, and also for their vehicles and trailers.

One vendor said he is from Nashville. He travels to flea markets all over the South, selling antiques and collectibles. He said he has sold quite a lot of furniture in the last two days. He closes up shop at 7 p.m., throws tarps over everything, and drives to town to a friend's house where he is staying.

Another vendor has his self-contained travel trailer pulled up behind his tables of merchandise. He said he has a generator and enough water for the duration. A Winnebago-type camper vehicle was parked behind some other tables, and I suppose someone is camping in it tonight.

Another of the vendors in the pasture runs an antique store in Hopkinsville. He's probably sleeping in his own bed at home.

Many of the people who are having sales along Highway 68/80 are just ordinary folks, not professional flea market vendors and antique merchants like this bunch was.

Tomorrow, I'm going to drive 68/80 from Elkton to Hopkinsville (around 20 miles) and go to some of the smaller sales at people's homes along the highway.

You never know what you'll find. Today, at the tables in the pasture, I bought a nice pewter decanter and set of goblets. I am hoping to get a 300% return on it when I take it to an SCA event next fall and sell it.

Tomorrow, I'll be looking for more things that SCA re-enactors like -- wooden bowls and plates, wooden handled silverware, pewter and brass items, certain types of ceramics, mugs, goblets, linen and wool fabric, fancy braids and trims, etc.

Also, Dennis has given me the titles of a couple of books he's wanting.

I'll look for those things, but what I'll actually bring home is anyone's guess.

400 Mile Sale along Highway 68/80
Near Hopkinsville, KY