Now I have to share with you my very favorite story. We meet many wonderful people when we have our booth up at events, and we enjoy their sense of humor and have fun with them. So, we have multiple stories. But this is the BEST!
Many years ago, I had the booth up at a County Fair in the small town of Calhan, Colorado, in the southeastern part of Colorado. Back then, our product line was mostly aimed at the Rodeo and Horse People.
We didn’t have many purses, but made a lot of rodeo gear bags, bags for horse tack, etc. Among them was a Hay Bag, which people use to feed their horses. You put the hay in the top and the horse eats out of the hole in the front. This is particularly good when you travel as you can hang the bag on the side of the trailer and keep the hay off the ground. Some horses are very sensitive to breathing in dust off the ground.
Here’s a picture of an old catalog showing the Hay Bag at the lower right.
So, there I am in my booth in Calhan and in walks a middle-aged couple, who look to me like local farm folk. The lady is real nice, with a smile, and the man is no-smile, stocky, strong, browned by the sun, arms folded in front, no-nonsense. He reminds me of my old German uncles — hard-working, salt-of-the-earth type folk.
The lady is looking at our bags and spots the Hay Bag! “Look, Dear,” she says, “a feed bag!” He looks. “Nay,” he says, “you don’t need that. It’s not your Mother’s size.”
I couldn’t believe it! And I looked at him and there he was with a cute little onery grin!
It’s been years since we’ve been there, but I’ve never forgotten this story and his dry sense of humor!