Deja Vu

A Ready Supply of Bullion

Tags:

commerce,

Holy Roman Empire,

Las Vegas,

nerds,

shopping,

trade

2009: Nerds are amassing in Las Vegas for the largest gadget trade fair of the year, the Consumer Electronics Show. In fluorescent-lit corridors and meeting rooms electronics designers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers furiously negotiate contracts with billions of dollars at stake. Meanwhile, a pop-up carnival rages all around them in the ultimate nowhere, Las Vegas, complete with smoke, mirrors, and booth babes. The Seattle Times put the event in context.

Las Vegas always seems like it's in another dimension, but this week it will be even more so when the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show takes place. More than 20,000 new products will be shown by 2,500 companies starting Thursday. They're expecting to sell $166 billion worth of TVs, phones, stereos and other gadgets in the U.S. alone next year.

You'd never guess the economy's limping and millions are out of work. But gadgets are the new religion, objects of worship promising a better future, and the annual CES extravaganza is Mecca.

1737: Pilgrimages haven't only been made in the name of God. While the wares on display are more tablet PC than illuminated manuscript, the act of schlepping across a continent to a dealmaking extravaganza dates back to not long after Beowulf was written. The idea of the trade fair spread out of France to other European cities beginning in the twelfth century. Perhaps the most prominent trade fair during the middle of the second millennium was the one held twice a year in Leipzig. The Leipzig trade fair eventually gained imperial privilege by the Holy Roman Emperor, and in the fifteenth century became the center of trade for English wares in Europe. One local historian notes that "in the eighteenth century, representatives from Western Europe—and occasionally also from North America—met customers from Poland, Russia, the Balkans and Greece at the Leipzig fair." A German encyclopedia provides some journalistic color on what the commercial carnival looked like:

Wares are consigned to the Leipzig merchants year round from all corners of Europe and then sold during the trade fairs. Leipzig has three fairs: the first begins the Monday after New Years and lasts two weeks counting the last week for the settling of accounts (Zahlwoche); the spring fair (Jubilate) begins the third Sunday after Easter and runs a total of three weeks; while the autumn fair (Michaelis), likewise three weeks long, begins the fourth Sunday of September. An indescribable wealth of goods is on offer at the fairs. With the foreign merchants and royal personages, the throngs of visitors are so great that it is usually difficult to find lodging in the city. The conflux of sellers and buyers is very advantageous, and during peacetime virtually every order is filled. Many thousands have never even considered provisioning their trade or selling their products other than in Leipzig, though the source of their purchases might lie closer to home. This is because of the commercial services and security provided by such a large fair, including the selection and quality of goods, the strong credit, a reliable circle of customers, a ready supply of bullion, and the efficient Exchange.

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