Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Mystery History -- Solved!


I stumped everybody this week, although plenty of people provided clever guesses.

In the photo above, shot on Oct. 25, 1951, Pasadena City Manager Don C. McMillin accepts $2 from 7-year-old Bobby Bukshpan for a previously owned bicycle at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium during what was billed as the world's largest rummage sale. McMillin served as a volunteer cashier at the event, which was a benefit for the California Junior Republic Auxiliary.

I'll let these other photos speak for themselves:











Nowadays rummage sales aren't so popular. But plenty of people in Pasadena have yard sales on their properties. Remember, you need a permit! You can get two yard sale permits annually, each of which is good for up to three consecutive days.


Many thanks to USC.

6 comments:

Mister Earl said...

Back in the day what we now call yard sales or garage sales were called rummage sales, but they were almost always in a large hall, sponsored by a group. They were never at individual houses.

Petrea Burchard said...

You need a permit? For a yard sale? Do people actually do this? To be honest, I have my doubts.

Anonymous said...

Only honest people get the permits. Most people, like my neighbors, don't get them because there is no enforcement of this law or punishment for violating it.

Bellis said...

There IS enforcement in my area of Pasadena. Recently, some neighbors complained about other neighbors having yard sales, so the sheriff came round to see if they had a permit, followed later by a permit enforcement officer. All this on a Sunday morning.

Petrea Burchard said...

I think people don't get them because they don't know they're supposed to have them, not because they're dishonest.

Some people have the occasional sale to get rid of extra junk. Some people have regular sales because they're running a business. I think it's draconian to require the former to have a permit, but the latter should definitely have one. There's one like that in our neighborhood we've been calling the city about ever since we moved in. As far as I know, they're still at it.

pasadenapio said...

My office does outreach from time to time about yard sale permits.

Enforcement is based mostly on complaint because on weekends we only have one code compliance officers out there, and there's a lot of ground to cover.

If you think a yard sale is being conducted without a permit, you can report it by calling (626) 744-4633 or going to our online Citizen Service Center (www.cityofpasadena.net/csc).