It started out with me thinking of Florine Stettheimer. She sold nothing in her life time; had only one opening in 1916, and said that she set her prices high because she couldn’t stand the thought of one of her paintings ending up hanging in someones living room above their sofa. When a Williamsburg hipster offered me “10-15 dollars” for my dresser, I thought of Miss Stettheimer; smiled and said, “I’d rather take a hammer and break it up in tiny pieces and shove it in a black garbage bag rather than sell it to you for 10 or 15 dollars.” Well, I at least thought that when I answered, “Sorry, can’t do it!”
We did quickly get into the flow of selling and some of the most fun moments were moving on the pieces that I had found on the street. My friend Michael who did not at first get the value of tag sales– got into the swing of things and ran inside, peeled the label off an old vodka bottle and then sold it to a lady for $3. Sometimes it’s not about the money and sometimes it is. Tag sales are also a delightful way to meet your neighbors, although I would suggest having one when you are moving in–instead of moving out.
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