Butcher, Baker, Candlestick-maker...

[Matt W]

Consider, if you will,a trade route of the Morrow Project world. Along such a route you may find Trading Posts: fortified havens for the entrepeneurs and service industries that aid the Merchants in their travels.

I'm trying to come up with details on the shops and businesses that would operate within a Trading Post - and I've hit a writer's block. So I'm asking for suggestions

Any ideas?

[ArmySGT.]

Hostler. A fortified inn were merchants pay to stay.

Wagon wright, wheel wright, blacksmith. Build or repair wagons, and shoe horses for a cost.

Grain Merchant / Produce merchant / Grocer. Men and Animals need provisioning so some would be fresh and some packaged to travel.

Writer ( Scribe) someone to write down an order or message.

Scout / Guide - Someone that knows the area and the locals. To find buyers.

Protection. Provided for or against local Overlords.

Carpenter. Makes crates and boxes.

Weaver- Makes sacks.

Tanner- Leather Aprons and rawhide.

Saddle Maker- Makes Horse and Ox/ Mule team tack

Potter / Glass blower - Bottles for liquids.

Cobbler - Journey of a thousand miles, begins in sturdy shoes.

Shop Keep / Mail - Somebody should by the goods and order more from somewhere else.

[mikeo80]

A few more ideas that I have.

Gunsmith: Creation and repair of firearms. May also be involved in making of gunpowder.

Sheriff, Marshall, Police Chief: Local peace keepers. Most are probably honest souls, however, there would be the chance for the greedy one who charges for his protection.

Justice of the Peace, Judge: Local arbitrator of justice. See description of Sheriff

"Madam Wu's House of Pleasure": If the local stopping point is large enough and there is enough traffic, there will be a "house of ill repute".

Glass Blower: In a post WWIII life, glass jars will be a necessity for storage of food.

"Honest John's Trading Post": A place where people will trade what they make for other items, what travelers find along the way will also be traded here.

The stopping point would have to fairly large for the following:

Church
Newspaper
Telegraph office??
Train Station?? Both of these are found in Timeline scenario "American Outback"
Undertaker
Bank
School

Hope this helps!

My $0.02

Mike

[Matt W]

Thanks for the suggestions!

The Red Stripe Mall & Motel (part 2) - first draft

This Red Stripe facility is known as "Intersection Market & Motel". It is located on the outskirts of North Platte Nebraska, near the intersection of I-80 (east-west) and I-83 (north -south)

The facility is robust even by Red Stripe standards of fortification: the walls are concrete and reinforced with steel rails (taken from the nearby marshalling yards of Union Pacific). As usual, the only decoration is a stripe of red paint around the upper edge of the exterior wall

Initial impression: A hollow square, 2 storeys high, and over 150 metres wide.

The "courtyard" is approximately 100 metres square and open to the sky. Once inside, the visitor is welcome to visit any of the stores and businesses that operate here. The more established enterprises have permanent facilities in the many niches and openings that line the walls, while other entrepeneurs operate from temporary stalls that are dotted around the courtyard. Some of these stalls might only be present on Market Days (about once a week)

Established businesses

Red Stripe Motel: The upper floor is mostly used for accommodation and many merchants pay to live "above the shop" (and appreciate such decadent luxuries as indoor plumbing) but there is enough space to provide 30 private rooms and two dormitories. For the convenience of Badge or Slaver customers, each dormitory is lockable from the oustide and only has (small) skylights

Red Stripe Stables: food & shelter for horses. A small blacksmith shop is also found here

North Platte Bodyworks: Craftsmen working with wood, plastic or sheet-metal can provide all your repair & maintenance needs (they manufacture & repair horse-drawn wagons/carts, also repair the bodywork on trucks & cars)

Intersection Fuel and Service: Mechanics and distillers. This business has both the equipment and the skills needed to perform routine maintenance on most vehicles (although Bikers & Truckers usually just rent the space and tools and do all work themselves). They make ethanol fuel, and "brew up" biodiesel

Red Stripe Savings Loan & Pawn (SLAP): You can't run an economy without some sort of money and this is where the "money" is stored. Currency used within the Trading Post is "Red Stripe Cash" or RSC. All other currency (anything from scrap metal to manufactured goods to gold to KFS credits to Texas Dollars) is converted into RSC and becomes basically a bookkeeping exercise - this avoids the problem of bartering ("I'll give you 2 sheep for that saddle" "But I don't need sheep, I want a revolver"). The SLAP also provides a valued service by issuing "certificates of deposit" . It's a lot easier for merchants/truckers to tranport a piece of paper to another Trading Post than transport the goods they exchanged in return for their original stock. Bandits are also discouraged because these certificates can be queried by other Red Stripe Trading Posts (the network operates a crude morse code radio system). Certificates can be cashed at any Red Stripe facility

US Mail: Local mailmen operate from this establishment. It is a safe place to leave/collect mail and staff will make local deliveries (they have horses and a couple of motorbikes with sidecars). They also provide a writing/reading service for customers who are not literate. At least one Mailman will be designated to escort any mail which is being forwarded on to the next Red Stripe facility

Slaughterer: Animals are killed and processed here. Meat and raw materials are sold to a wide range of businesses. Some of the businesses include: butchers, tanners, candlemakers (and biodiesel makers), catgut makers, glue makers, etcetera

Red Stripe Mall: This is where the Red Stripe sells goods to the general public on Market Days. They like to showcase rare/expensive items

Law Office: Disputes, arbitration, contracts and accusations are dealt with by the "Judge" , her staff of clerks and 5 large, quiet men with steel clubs. The judge is also a representative of the local Overlord and has a great deal of influence.

Freddies Bar & Grill: a restaurant/cafe/bar, "Freddies" is usually busy and is renowned for having the best beer and the prettiest waitresses (some of whom may be available for "other services")

Keela Bakery: Producing bread daily for the facility and local families. The bread is rumored to have medicinal powers. (advertising slogan "Electric Bread made with ELECTRIC ovens")

Red Striper Brewery: The Platte river isn't ideal drinking water - but the products of the Brewery are a lot safer to drink than the local water. Most of the "beer" is pretty weak (and often diluted further by customers) but it's not a bad way to rehydrate after a day's work

Power & Light: The facility's electric hydropower generator is controlled from here (most Red Stripe facilities use hydropower and this location uses a generator attached to the I-83 bridge). Customers can also charge batteries.

Clinic: An Emdee & a couple of nurse/midwives are welcome guests of the Red Stripe Corporation (no rent is charged)

Security: A dozen men & women patrol the facility. They are usually armed with clubs & revolvers - but have access to heavier weaponry

Types of Market Traders

These are stall-operated businesses and are often only present on market Days - many are operated by local farming families and craftsmen

Saddler
Soap-Maker
Cutlery (knives a specialty - handles are made from horn)
Gunsmith & Ammo (after a few unfortunate accidents, Red Stripe policy is not to allow ammunition manufacture inside the facilities)
Butcher
Cheeses & smoked Meat
Glass goods (modern manufacture)
Jams & preserves
Preacher
Printer, Bookseller & Bookbinder (some old, some new)
Paper (poor quality stuff - more like papyrus or parchment)
Tailors (also sell buttons, thread)
Rope & strings (rawhide & catgut)
Bootmaker
Smokes (dried tobacco and 'herbal' substances)
Plastic-worker (melts & recycles old plastic)
Bone-worker (needles, buttons, buckles, decorative handles)
Winesellers
Entertainers
Hardware (nails, screws, hinges)
Candles & Lanterns
Kindergarten - a safe place for kids while you shop or go to the bar

When the Truckers, Bikers, Salvagers and Wanderers come by, the Courtyard Market is a crowded, noisy place - with a wide range of goods & services available. It's a particularly BIG day if some Balloonists make an entrance or a tribe of Amerindians appear.


So.. comments invited. Did I miss anything? Should I come up with some sort of price guide?

[Matt W]

Just realised. I missed out the "Machine Shop" A place that buys, sells & repairs old/salvaged technology. Craftsmen include machinists, electricians & metalsmiths

[ArmySGT.]

I like. I think it is to big to be a regular stop. Only 1% of the world population survives. How long is a generation?

If by theory a couple has two kids, and both survive to have two kids, etc, and this occurs at 25 year intervals.

150 / 25 = 6. Six generations have come. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64.

Sixty four persons per first generation surviving couple.

What is the infant mortality rate? Probably determined by tech level, so A like the KFS would have 02% among the Rich, maybe 10% among the 2000. What of the commoners 50%?

Tech Level F 80% or 90% with no medicines, poor diet, and overworked parents.

You could adjust the 64 by percentage. Now this only supposes two offspring. Couples could have more.

The future in TMP is pretty harsh with mutants, monsters, radiation, and biowar plagues still popping up.

I think everything you wrote is well done and plausible, there just would not yet be enough people around yet to fill it up.

I think also that any enterprise this put together and highly function would mean recovery is well along anyway.


What is the Mortality rate for disease, or injury.

[Matt W]

A couple of points

1. Actually - according to TM1-1 - 5% survives not 1 %

2. There were massive population pressures in 13th Century Europe (about 5 kids per mother) so it doesn't need a high technology. Admittedly, waves of plague soon dealt with that problem, but

3. my (possibly optimistic idea) is that - in the ccanon time-frame - the population of North America is 20 to 25 million and is enough to support trade routes

I lay out some ideas for other population figures in this new thread