HOM: The Show Is On

When the doors to the Salt Palace opened, the first chore was heading for the show chairman's table, presenting your receipts and paperwork, finding out where your tables were, and getting your exhibitor's badge and related items. Next was actually locating the tables, then going out to the truck and bringing in the table covers. There were two sets of these, one to cover the tables and another to cover your merchandise at the end of the day. We used stretchy nylon covers as they looked nice and were easy to clean. Usually a cup of fresh coffee and a doughnut or two from one of the food vendors that usually gather nearby helped the day get off to a good start. Once the tables were ready, the boxes would be brought in and set up and the extra stock brought in and arranged. When you were ready for business, you flipped the top covers over everything and started wandering around watching others set up. Yeah, its called bargain hunting. The public never sees the best buys at a gun show -- the other dealers grab them and mark them up and resell them. When the doors were opened to the public it was time to head back to the tables, flip off the covers and get ready for business. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)