Saturday 29 November 2008

Hard sell

Last year Maggie chanced upon a craft fair sale here in Ciudad Rodrigo. She went in to see if they had any Christmas cards. The group of mature women who had organised the sale soon recognised her for a Brit and insisted that she talk to one of their members - Señora Bromfield - a Spanish woman who had married a Briton and spent 27 years living in the Midlands.

A year later Maggie is still friends with Mrs Bromfield. Indeed we were invited to lunch with her today. Our meeting place was to be the craft sale organised by Manos Unidas a Catholic based charity that sells "Third World" handicrafts to raise money for humanitarian projects. We brought a brilliant nativity scene made up of a Peruvian Mary, Joseph, baby Jesús, Kings and donkeys.

I was impressed by the hard sell, no holds barred advertising for the craft sale. You will see, in the photo, the huge hoardings and eye catching displays the group mounted to entice passers by into parting with their cash. Well, if you enlarge the snap you will see there is a small notice on the door.

Mrs Bromfield, by the way, is a treasure with an endless supply of anecdotes and a huge supply of whisky in her drinks cabinet.

No comments: