The Office's Garage Sale Episode Was Inspired By An Odd True Story About A Paper Clip

"Garage Sale" is one of the most memorable episodes of the long-running NBC sitcom "The Office," though ironically not for the plot-line referenced in its title. The titular garage sale featured in the 19th episode of the series' seventh season is merely a backdrop to the episode's real main story — Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) marriage proposal to Holly Flax (Amy Ryan). The event is such a momentous development in Michael's character arc (ultimately taking him away from Dunder Mifflin Scranton entirely) that it understandably overshadows the B-plot of "Garage Sale" — even though this plot was inspired by one man's bizarre real-life story.

Sandwiched between Michael and Holly's love story and Kevin's (Brian Baumgartner) attempts to run a half-way decent game of "Dallas," Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) aims to manipulate the garage sale by turning his thumbtack into the most valuable item at the market through a series of trades. Though Dwight is initially successful in trading up to a telescope valued at $150, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) is able to convince him to trade it for a small bag of "magical" beans.

Something that even "The Office" superfans might not know is that Dwight's quest is actually based on the "One Red Paperclip," a true story that took place in the early 2000s.

As discussed on Jenna Fischer's (Pam Beesly) and Angela Kinsey's (Angela Martin) "Office Ladies" podcast, Dwight's mission was inspired by a Canadian blogger named Kyle McDonald, who was able to trade his single red paperclip up to a small house in Saskatchewan. McDonald's journey was far stranger than Dwight's, however, and saw him trading not just household objects, but experiences and jobs.

After a few months, his red paperclip had become an "instant party," which was a neon beer sign, an empty keg, and a written promise to fill said keg with any beer of the recipient's choice. Having made further trades to turn that "instant party" into a box truck, McDonald traded that truck for a recording contract with the studio Metalworks. Further trades included an afternoon with legendary rock star Alice Cooper and a speaking role in a feature film. Nearly a year after the start of his journey, McDonald avoided Dwight's magic bean folly by finally trading his cinematic debut for a house (via the BBC and CBS News).

McDonald chronicled his journey on a blog titled "One Red Paperclip," which he then adapted into a book. In 2015, he gave a TED Talk on the subject, which can be found on the TEDx YouTube channel.