This is part two of part two (a continuation of last week) and entitled Wholesale Markets.

Paying Your Dues

The show lasted the better part of a week when you included the drive to Dallas from San Antonio and back, plus the setup and tear down.  Not included in all that was the massive queue to get in and out of the elevator.  I decided that it would be better if my wife did the show so that I could make pottery during the week.  Oddly, I don’t remember what we did with our two sons during that week.  They likely stayed with my wife’s parents.  I drove my wife to Dallas and helped set up the show, then went back home and made pottery.  It was a five-hour drive each way from San Antonio to Dallas.  It is incredible how much energy that I had during that time of my life.  I didn’t have a second thought about loading up the van or truck and driving to Dallas to do a show.  Now, I have second thoughts about driving across town. 

Just as Predicted

My assumption was correct that the foot traffic at the show would be scarce, and it was better to spend my time in the studio.  My wife, (my 1^st wife) spent some of her time at the show wandering around the Trade Mart and World Trade Center looking in the different permanent showrooms.  All the products on display are well lit and look beautiful.  During those years, we were both interested in everything Japanese.  Our interest included everything from the culture to the craftsmanship, but especially their pottery.  The work of potters in Japan has influenced my work.  When I went back to Dallas to pick up my wife, I was not surprised that she found a showroom specializing in Japanese products and wanted to show it to me.  What did surprise me was that she had become enamored with a Japanese wedding Kimono and wanted me to buy it for her.  

Japanese wedding kimonos are very ornate with an embroidered train and, when new, are very expensive.  It is the custom in Japan to rent the wedding kimono instead of buying, similar to tuxedos here in the U.S.  The ornate kimono with its long train had been rented in Japan and was now on display in Dallas, Texas.  It was in good shape and not very expensive, but it was not something you wore around town or even to a party.  I refused to buy the kimono as a result it made our drive home colder than usual for that time of year.