For decades people have needed to sell their used stuff.
Many took to the classifieds section of newspapers; in fact classified ads were a major revenue source for most newspapers. Others held garage sales, selling loads of stuff at once.
Nowadays Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Kijiji, and other sites fill that gap.
In the 1960s in Vancouver there was another option: The Trading Post.
It was a TV show that was broadcast on CHAN (now Global) and hosted by Ron Morrier, who some may remember as the host of a wrestling show on BCTV for 20 years.
The Trading Post was a call-in show with Morrier talking to folks about what they had to sell (or wanted to buy). He'd then get their phone number and repeat it for the audience at home so they could phone up the original caller.
"Trading Post was the Craigslist of Vancouver’s early television era," reads a blog post by the Vancouver Archives about the show.
There were three things that people weren't allowed to try to sell: clothing, cars, and accommodation. Everything else was open; the episode below includes tikis, purebred chihuahuas, electric guitars, and water softeners.
The fun of live TV
A basic example of how it worked happens around the three-minute mark of the video below, which was broadcast in 1967.
"I have six-year crib for sale and it has a new mattress and I'd like $15 for it please," says one caller in the video.
"Six year crib, a new mattress, how much?" asks Morrier, who can be seen writing everything down.
"$15," repeats the woman.
Morrier then asks for her phone number and once she's off the line he repeats what's for sale and the number.
That call goes well, but some of the others are a little rougher and give a good idea of the difficulties of doing live TV in the 1960s. In one case it sounds like a child is calling about an electric car, and, in another, a woman is selling Polynesian tikis which Morrier struggles to understand.
"Polynesian kitties?" he asks.
"Tikis," the woman says.
"Pussy cats," Morrier says.
"T-I-K-I-S," the woman spells out.
"T-I-K-I-S?" Morrier repeats back to her.
"T-I-K-I-S," the woman says again.
Morrier was serious about the cars, too. One man calls in and says "I have a 1955 Buick-" before he's cut off.
"I'm sorry, we don't accept cars or automobiles," Morrier says before hanging up on the man, who can be heard saying "No-" before the line goes dead.
Not everyone had to call in; Morrier would also read letters.
And not everyone had to be asking for cash. One man wanted to swap his rowing machine for encyclopedias and a woman hoped to trade her TV for some tires.
For context, $10 was about the same as $87 today, due to inflation.
