A truck engine sputtered,

Straining in early morning hours

 

Loaded with a selection of crops

Fresh-picked from the fields.

 

Farmers met at Courthouse Park,

Site of the old Hay Market,

In advance of daylight.

 

When the earliest seller arrived

The free market was open.

 

Some farmers came from as far

As twenty miles or more

To sell home-grown products.

 

Peddled on two-wheeled carts,

In dilapidated wagons,

 

Vineyard trailers, cotton wagons,

Trunks of automobiles and trucks.

 

With striped awnings, tents,

Umbrellas, and canvas shade-cover

Held up with wooden poles.

 

The aroma of freshness

Permeated early morning air.

 

Goodwill was spread

Throughout the marketplace,

 

Between the various sellers

And their customers.

 

Ochinero’s Fruit Company cart

Creaked, and the horse

Shifted its weight,

 

As they unloaded fruit

On the tailgate in wooden boxes.

 

Tabletops and open stalls,

Brown-sack signs with prices

For retail produce,

 

“Wholesale,” or whatever the seller

Could get the buyer to pay.

 

Sold by the pound on dial-scales

Or by the dozen in a paper bag.

 

Merchandise of all kinds

Offered at modest prices,

Two-dozen stands sold meat.

 

All varieties of vegetables,

Fruits, pies, jellies, cakes.

 

Grape juice, bottled mustard.

Jack rabbits, and other game.

 

Pork, a favorite seller

Among those offering meat

And quarters of beef.

 

Tuesday, Thursday, until noon.

Saturday until 2pm.

 

Ten cents a stall a day,

Five dollars a month for tradesmen.

 

The only management: two policemen

On duty to prevent disorder.

 

Goods went for lower prices

Toward the end of morning.

 

Many waited until late

In the morning to make a purchase.

 

When Fresno’s poverty-stricken

Secured favorable bargains.

 

The mayor said,

“Through the market,

Good cuts at lower prices

Enable Fresno’s poorest

The occasional taste of meat.”

 

Wagons were packed-up

With unsold products at noon,

Streets cleaned of rubbish.

 

Farmers were not allowed,

By city ordinance, to hawk

 

Left-over cuts door-to-door

In place of butcher wagons.

 

Surplus meat after closing time

Was corned, made into sausage,

 

Sold to the boarding houses

And other large purchasers

At discounted prices.

 

A large bell mounted on a post

Rung by the officer-in-charge,

Signified the end of the market.