Talk:Flea market

Why The Are Called 'Flea' Markets

Why they are called 'flea markets' is a good question.

 Send an answer also to macguru@horizoncable.com.

Flea markets are known all over the world and have been in existence since civilization began with neighborly bartering. They are known by many names in the United States other than flea markets, such as swap meets, antique markets, collectibles markets, First Monday, traders villages, farmers markets, special events and many others. Where there is a gathering of vendors, there is a flea market.

• It's explained right here in the wikipedia entry.--67.115.190.134 22:04, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

"They earned their name from the flea-infested clothing and rags sold there" - I think that's incorrect. As far as I know, Flea Market is originally a play on Free Market, because of how Chinese speaking people pronounced 'free'. ChaosFish (talk) 14:38, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

That sounds to me like original research (i.e., speculation). Wikipedia and I prefer sources like the folks who publish the Oxford English Dictionary (see What is the origin of the term 'flea market'?). --Orlady (talk) 15:25, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

That's why I posted it in the discussion page. I figured maybe someone could find a source or something. ChaosFish (talk) 19:33, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Professional Definition

The following article is written by the founder and Executive Director of the National Flea Market Association, Inc., 1997-2002. It was first published in www.findafleamarket.com

.......................................

The origin of the term "FLEA MARKET" is practically impossible to trace. It is a mystery that has never been solved as there has never been a serious investigation into the origin of the name. There is little or no official records or documentation existing on this amazing phenomenon of the flea market. The first reference to the term "Flea Market" appeared in two conflicting stories about a location in Paris, France in the 1860's known as the marche aux puces, translation, "Flea Market".

The traditional and most publicized story is in the article "What Is A Flea Market?" by Albert LaFarge in the 1998 winter edition of Today's Flea Market magazine. In his article LaFarge says, "There is a general agreement that the term "Flea Market" is a literal translation of the French marche aux puces, an outdoor bazaar in Paris, France, named after those pesky little parasites of the order Siphonaptera (or "wingless bloodsucker") that infested the upholstery of old furniture brought out for sale."

Flea Market History

The second story is printed in the book Flea Markets in Europe published by Chartwell Books. In the Introduction of this book, the author writes, "In the time of Emperor Napoleon III, the imperial architect Haussmann made plans for the broad, straight boulevards with rows of square houses in the center of Paris, along which army divisions could march with much pompous noise. The plans forced many dealers in second-hand goods to flee their old dwellings; the alleys and slums were demolished. These dislodged merchants were, however, allowed to continue selling their wares undisturbed right in the north of Paris, just outside of the former fort, in front of the gate Porte de Clignancourt. The first stalls were erected in about 1860. The gathering together of all these exiles from the slums of Paris was soon given the name "Marche aux Puces", meaning "flee market", later translation.

Albert LaFarge, author of U.S. Flea Market Directory, says, "Today's American flea market is a modern version of a phenomenon that has endured throughout history in all civilized societies - wherever there is a high concentration of people, there will be market days when they assemble for the exchange of goods and services." The marketplace of the ancient Greeks was known as the Agora; in Rome, the Forum; and in Israel, at the Temples. Each nation has its own name that translates into flea market.

America has approximately 5000 flea markets, swap meets, open-air, farmers, antique and collectible markets and special events, with an estimate of over one million vendors and one hundred million annual shoppers.

©2000 Jerry Stokes. All Rights Reserved.

References: www.fleanews.com www.fleamarketheadquarters.com www.fleamarketlistinngs.com

Misc. Comments

"Flea Market." Regardless of the origin or the definition of flea markets, I have never heard of anyone who did not love to go to a marche aux puces.

A flea market is a facility that rents space to anyone that offers for sale to the general public merchandise, products, items, services and all other legal needs of the buying public. These renters are known as vendors. Flea markets are worldwide business that have been around for hundreds of years and could be considered as a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry that has never been and probably never will be truly defined.

General Opinions

Flea Markets are the incubators and breeding grounds of entrepreneurs that represent the Free Enterprise System and they are the representatives and protectors of an American Way of Life. Flea Markets are the only opportunity available for a person to start a business without a large layout of capital and long term commitments.

Flea Market Montgomery

requesting more information on Flea Market Montgomery, it's owner, and his appearance on Ellen. Perhaps it'd be best to make a new article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.122.12.209 (talk) 06:06, 25 January 2007 (UTC).

Perhaps you're speaking of Sammy Stephens. MrBucket 03:54, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Why the History of the Flea Market is incorrect or untrue

This page summarizes why we do not know the real history, despite the book that theorized its beginnings (listed in a discussion above - #3 at this writing). We must not only stick to facts, but follow up on references/sources to see if they are even reliable. MagnoliaSouth ^(talk) 04:07, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Tiangge

Hi, here in the Philippines, we have similar flea market-style collections of shops called tiangges. Would this be of value to the article? Shrumster (talk) 06:10, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

San Jose Flea market

I don't see why a specific flea market should be in the list of "See Also". It does not have any historical value, related to this article, so I don't get why it should be in there. I am removing it, listing every flea market in the world would be a terrible idea, not to mention undesirable, seeing as there are, rough estimation: hundreds of thousands of them. --Duckbaker (talk) 23:23, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Lead

The lead could use a major rewriting for clarity. Lots42 (talk) 12:13, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Request for possible COI review

I'm the editor of FleaMarketZone.com, and I added a link to the External Links list. I see that the Conflict of Interests Policy suggests that I mention this and ask another editor to review the addition. For what it is worth, I've been an occasional Wikipedia editor for far longer than I've had my current job. Many thanks! -- Cayzle / Michael Moran Alterio —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cayzle (talk • contribs) 17:09, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

Picture

I think we could find, for the first pic, a good one that involves actual tables. Lots42 (talk) 20:25, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Removed factually inaccurate info and misleading link

I cut out this text:

They often "run away" and are set up in a different location after a short time period.

The sentence is negative, biased, NPOV, false, and the ref supplied does not support it, especially not the use of the term "run away" in quotes. -- User:Cayzle, 6 Sept. 2011.