Art Fairs, Van vs Trailer

Hi Judy.

Along the way, my spouse made me some of those cool steel weights
for my tent, - 40 inches long by 2 inches square and heavy at 44
pounds. They were compact and didn't roll around. But now he has
made them even better, for each corner of my tent, I have two
weights, each 2 inches square, but only 26 inches long. 

These sound fantastic! I hate my concrete/PVC weights. Can you maybe
give some specifics about the materials and construction?

As to the van/trailer debate, let me chime in to support the station
wagon option. I have a Volvo wagon that fits all my crap INSIDE, with
enough open space left that I can actually see out the back. In fact,
it has more/better room than the 4Runner I had previously.

Allan Mason

As to the van/trailer debate, let me chime in to support the
station wagon option. I have a Volvo wagon that fits all my crap
INSIDE, with enough open space left that I can actually see out the
back. In fact, it has more/better room than the 4Runner I had
previously. 

Let me second the station wagon suggestion. I have a Ford Taurus
wagon that gets good mileage, handles like a dream, whether empty or
loaded to the roof, and holds an amazing amount of stuff. Plus, I
think it’s one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. It takes a
lot to make a station wagon look like anything but a box, but Ford
has created a car that is graceful and futuristic.

Janet Kofoed

I gotta tell ya, my favorite vehicle ever is a Ford F150 Econoline
van with windows. I schlep everything in that van everywhere. They
are going pretty cheap right now too.

Veronica

Hi Allen,

These sound fantastic! I hate my concrete/PVC weights. Can you
maybe give some specifics about the materials and construction? 

The weights are our adaptation of something I’ve seen folks use for
the past couple of years. They are solid steel and usually two inches
square. Steel of that dimension weighs 1.1 pounds per linear inch.
Being frugal folks, my spouse goes down to the steel store and
depending on what they have in stock, buys enough steel to put about
50 pounds on each corner of the tent. The steel yard cuts the steel
to the length he specifies. Sometimes they don’t have two inch square
stock, it might be 2 inches by 2.5 inches, we use what we can get.

Then in our metal shop, he jigs the steel so that he can drill a
hole in the end using the drill press. The hole size is dependent on
what size eye bolt you want to use. He then taps the hole, and screws
in the eye bolt. Then he uses the rotary grinder to round the edges
and remove the rust - it always has rust. Paint of choice is grey
rustoleum. It disappears against the tent legs.

After prepping the weights, he permanently attaches an s-hook to the
eye bolt. Then the weight is ready to hang on the chain I have hooked
to the top of my tent with another s-hook. The chain I use came from
Ace hardware and is about 5 feet long.

Rant: How ever do we get folks to understand that weights only work
if they are hooked to the top of the tent with something that doesn’t
stretch and with the weights OFF the ground. It just fries me to see
a tent with weights on the ground, attached to a bungee cord. That
arrangement in wind will turn the tent into a sling shot. It
certainly won’t hold the tent in place. Remember your physics, if the
weight is on the ground, it’s not holding the tent down. End rant.

Nuff said, go forth and make weights. The only bad news about the
steel weights is the cost of steel - it’s over $0.75 per pound right
now - just about double what it was 18 months ago.

Judy Hoch

About vehicles, I went from a full sized Chevy van Conversion to my
Pontiac Vibe. This is a small yet very well designed interior space
area. I can get a lot of cargo inside and with the two rear seats
down, a lot more. 28 to 30 MPG in the city, 33 on highways. I can
sleep in the back rather comfortably.

Consumers Reports gave it a Best Buy rating. My son and both
grandsons give it thumbs up. Drives like a dream. Has roof racks.

Terrie

Remember your physics, if the weight is on the ground, it's not
holding the tent down. 

Hmmm… this is true if the chain is long, I suppose. If the chain
is taut, I can’t see the problem. It isn’t pulling on the tent, at
least until weather pulls the tent the other way. If you do a little
“reductio ad absurdum”, having the weight on the ground is
equivalent (if the weight is really really heavy) to having the tent
attached TO the ground, and you can’t do better than that. So you
only need the weight hanging from the tent if there is a benefit to
pulling the tent tight all the time, and I haven’t seen the need.

My weights are just strapped to the legs, so I guess the top could
still sail away, when I’m on a surface where I can’t peg the top to
the ground, as I like to do. So far, so good, though.

Noel

I’m currently driving a Honda Element that is a bit like Dr. Who’s
TARDIS (bigger on the inside than it is on the outside). I can fit
everything I need for a show inside, with the option of having one
rear seat down for a passenger. Or, if needed, BOTH rear seats can be
removed for even more room.

There is also the option for a roofrack, so if I have to use the BIG
tent, then I can put the tent poles on the roof.

AND, it was cheap. (relative to replacing the Dodge Caravan I used
to drive). ;-}

Elizabeth Schechter
RFX Studios

Let me second the station wagon suggestion. I have a Ford Taurus
wagon that gets good mileage, handles like a dream, whether empty
or loaded to the roof, and holds an amazing amount of stuff. Plus,
I think it's one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. It takes
a lot to make a station wagon look like anything but a box, but
Ford has created a car that is graceful and futuristic. 

Yes, my Taurus station wagon also fits all my stuff for either an
indoor or outdoor craft fair inside, loaded with most of the windows
visible. It gets around 24 mpg, and is very comfortable and hugs the
road better than any van or truck will do, I believe. And since it
is not a fashionable vehicle for carjacking, I feel more secure about
that aspect, as well. :slight_smile:

My jewelry cases are from Abstracta Display Co., and are made of
pipes that must be assembled, but are very compact to pack. That
helps them fit into the station wagon.

M’lou Brubaker
Minnesota, USA

I upgraded from an old SUV to a Chevrolet Venture extended length
mini-van a couple years ago. It’s wonderful. It gets great mileage
(for a van), it’s comfortable and so far it’s been very reliable. I’ve
put over 50,000 miles on it since September of 2003 and it still runs
just fine. With the back seat out, I can get all my assorted tables,
boxes, etc., into the van and still have the middle seat in place for
a passenger. My only complaint about the van is that when I need to
remove the seats, they’re heavy and a pain to store. I wish they
folded into the floor, or went into a 4th dimension or something. I
still want to get a small trailer though, so I have somewhere to
store the tables, boxes, etc. in between shows so it’s not all taking
up potential shop expansion space in my basement! I may only actually
USE the trailer once or twice a year when I have to take my dogs
along to shows (when the dogs have to go with me, there is no room
for anything else in the van except their crates). But it would be
worth it to have the trailer for extra storage space the rest of the
time. Oh look, that would give me somewhere to put the van
seats…

Kathy Johnson
Feathered Gems Pet Jewelry
http://www.fgemz.com

Noel, the ideal situation is to stake the tent legs, and to pull the
tent top tight all the time, especially if it rains. With some
tents, the canopy tends to pool the water - with the additional
water weight the corners of the canopy come loose and not only does
the roof collapse, but sometimes - if there is also wind, the tent
legs will twist. Not a pretty picture and usually an expensive
adventure since one would have to purchase a new tent.

Rita

OK, I have a retail store & haven’t done shows for 10+ years, but I
used to do nothing but shows, so for whatever it’s worth, here’s my
$0.02:

Trailers are nice, in that you can pull a smaller trailer with your
normal family car (i.e., don’t have to invest in an extra work
vehicle) plus you have easy mobility after setting up your booth. But
safety would be my main concern.

Are you selling fairly expensive jewelry that thieves would target?
If so, then U certainly can’t merchandise overnight in a booth, nor
in a car with lots of windows while you go out and eat, etc.

Hands down the absolute best show vehicle I ever had was a Ford
E-350 extended cab cargo van w/ a big diesel engine. Diesel is
generally cheaper than gas, provides better mileadge, and diesel
engines last much, much longer than gas engines, while being
relatively maintenance free, too. That van would haul butt and pull a
mountain.

It was a non-descript white cargo van (no windows except in the
front, with a steel partition that seperated the front cab and the
back cargo area. I had a very good alarm (w/ kill switch–very
important) installed, plus always used a steering wheel locking
device. The only clue that the van might have held valuables was the
fact that I had a locksmith install deadbolts on the side and rear
cargo doors. As an extra bonus, because it was so non-descript, I
often parked in no parking &/or loading zones for long periods of
time and NEVER got a ticket! Cops just assume your working.

If safety is a concern, & if you ever leave merchandise in the car
(and everyone does occassionally, even if just to use the bathroom) I
say FORGET a car–too easy to smash & grab. I had one friend who was
out to dinner and came back to his car to find windows smashed & his
ENTIRE inventory gone.

How long would it take you to recover from that?!?! It basically set
him back 5 years–obviously it was stupid of him to leave everything
in the car, but still…

Doug

About vehicles, I went from a full sized Chevy van Conversion to my
Pontiac Vibe. "... 

Although I don’t do the show circuits, and never haul my jewelry
stuff around(I’m a bricks and mortar type of guy), I drive a Toyota
Matrix which is virtually the same thing as a Pontiac Vibe. I am told
that the Vibe and Matrix are both assembled in the same factory in
Ohio. Its not union-made, but it is American labor-made. I went from
a huge 4x4 Chevy Suburban to this car, back when gas hit $3/gal the
first time around. I went from $125 a week in gas to $35 every 1.5
weeks. Doesnt have the space for hauling lumber, like the ‘burb’, but
it will hold a large load of groceries and my 100 pound Dalmation, in
the back with one seat layed down, and its still not crowded. And
even with the GM discount on the Vibe, the Toyota was most definitly
a better deal.

And for the Union workers that are upset with me buying a foreign
brand, all I can say is, where was your watch made(I am a watch
maker too)? Nearly 100% have no idea at all, or don’t actually
care,and have never even thought about it. The ones who have at least
thought about it, have never checked it out but continue to tout “BUY
AMERICAN” with their bumperstickers. While both the UAW(United Auto
Workers) and IBEW(International Brotherhood of Electrical workers)
give award watches to the workers that are stamped inside with “Case,
China” or “Taiwan”, and the movements are either Japan, China, or
‘Swiss parts assembled in China’ while the dial is marked with
“Unionmade in America” (in microscopic letters at the six oclock
position- federal trade law requires dial stamped to indicate origin)
I pointed this situation out to the local IBEW business manager, and
he was totally unaware, and obviously unconcerned, while he continued
to force local commercial construction projects to use union-only
workers. He has since been jailed for genital exposure in a city
park, along with a half dozen other men, and he retired and moved
away. I guess his wife and kids never checked out who Dad/Hubby
really was either.

At one time, the American watch industry was the envy of the entire
horological world, so much that the Swiss used to make cheap
pocketwatches stamped with American brand names, and then sneak them
into the US, hoping to get a piece of the American watch brand-name
action. But American MADE watches are history now, because American
union labor bought cheap foreign watches while they demanded that we
all buy expensive union made cars.

Hmmm…
Ed Kokomo

I’ll second that station wagon vote! It of course depends on what
you’re carrying, some people have some pretty bulky display cases &
such, but at least jewelry inventory is relatively small. I have a
Ford Focus wagon, and although it’s not the roomiest of wagons, it’s
pretty darn good. Depending on the setup, I either can or can’t still
see out the back when I’m loaded up, but it certainly holds
everything well overall & it’s not a gas guzzler like all the SUVs
that are so overabundant on the roads, still! A minivan could be in
my future, although I will resist it with all my might, but I still
don’t understand why everyone ignores the good ol’ station wagon as
a good haul-everything-around option. I’m glad to see more people are
steering towards them again these days.

Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher
www.designsbylisag.com

You may also consider a smaller RV. I have a VW 23’ which get
18-22MPG. You can weld a safe inside, add a commercial jewelry store
alarm system with 120db sirens run on 110V, have CCTV cameras
recording, or readjust or remove seats for space. You can spend as
little or as much as you like with modifications. Go James Bond. ha

The vehicle may also act as a home if hotels fill up or you plan
shows at the last minute.

I’d suggest a self contained system of transportation for additional
security. I see most jewelers robbed while moving between hotel or
food stops and vehicle.

All the best,

Ed Cleveland
303-882-8855