Auctioneer Roland Pettersson from Rättvik is in top form as he sits on a stool set atop a box. The sun is burning intensely because it is the hottest day of the year so far. The audience seeks shelter under the shade of the fruit trees and the line for soda and ice cream is long.
Many parishioners will never forget Trapp Lars and his shop in Gruddbo. There were also long-distance visitors who made it a "must" to shop at Trapp Lars.
Maybe he had “the world’s first department store,” with its assortment? Everything from cheese and Falukorv to horseshoes and nails. Perhaps the store was most famous for all its clothes. Jeans, Fristad work clothes, women’s and men’s socks. You could find “almost everything” in the legendary store. What has been etched in the writer’s memory is the sign “Tipsombud” that was in the apple tree.
Now everything is being sold with over 600 bids. “It’s expensive, pure Stockholm prices,” someone says. Old enamel signs command a high value while copper is sold cheaply. An antique cabinet was sold for just over 6,000 SEK. In the sea of spectators, several of today’s “originals” in the parish can be seen, curious about what the original Trapp Lars had in his warehouse.
Lasse Nordstrom
EN