Ringmasters of the Barn Sales

[grasswire]

The names are charming and curious: Queen of Tarte; Barn House; Little Cottage; Sparrow; Annie, Fannie & Abigail.

The inventory is charming and curious: vintage wrought iron furniture, linens, architectural salvage, chandeliers, apothecary jars, wooden dowels, distressed tin buckets, lamps, curios.

The events draw charming people, selling to the curious, who queue up before opening and swoop in for the best buys displayed in booths worthy of a Merchant Ivory production. They are barn sales. And, despite the economic gloom giving retailers anxiety nightmares, these sales are happening from here to Texas and beyond -- with folks lined up 20 deep at opening.

The stories speak of the gracious hospitality and community connectedness that bind these folks who load up trucks and trailers and travel miles to take part in the sales, such as this summer's second annual Flea Market in Battle Ground, Wash.

The mercury soars, while the summer breeze is a no-show. White tents and festooned market umbrellas stand stone still in the sun as 20-plus vendors buzz around their ministores in a mowed hayfield alongside a storybook red barn........

http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/09/ringmasters_of_the_barn_sales.html