Garage Sale Hunting in the Hollywood Hills

Searching for garage sales is all about the hunt.

My wife and I love to explore garage sales around Los Angeles. Our favorite spots are the canyon communities — Laurel Canyon, Nichols Canyon, Beachwood Canyon, Coldwater Canyon and Benedict Canyon. The homes are wedged in the hills and often hard to find. This means smaller crowds and a more relaxed hunt.

Rule #1 for garage sale hunting is to arrive early. If a sign advertises 8:00 am, be there by 7:45. Professional eBay dealers and antiquers are always the first to arrive. We’ve grown accustomed to their faces. There’s the tall thin man we nicknamed Ichabod Crane looking for first-edition books for his rare bookstore in the valley. There’s Amanda, buyer for Amoeba Records, searching for pristine vinyl for the Hollywood store. And there’s Inge, owner of a vintage clothes shop in Sherman Oaks, on the hunt for 50’s gingham skirts and dirndl dresses.

We’ve devised a garage sale rating system from best to worst: estate sale, garage sale, moving sale, yard sale and rummage sale. Estate sales involve high-end homes selling everything from furniture to family antiques. One memorable estate sale took place at the home of one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” the original core animators who worked on Snow White, Pinocchio and other classics. The man died and his daughter was selling his possessions. Collectors gobbled up vintage animation cels at $50 each. We…