32 Friday, May 2, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
F11\11..
BY LARRY PALADINO
Special to The Jewish News
0
A landmark on
Grand River Avenue
is closing out
its bargains
from World
,
1.71 1 111
.
1‘.,
f£1
'!
ccasionally, Detroit has
held what it called "The
World's Largest Garage
Sale" at Cobo Hall, peddl-
ing the city's surplus at
bargain prices.
Promoters apparently weren't
frequenters of Barry's Surplus on
Grand River . near Oakman
Boulevard. If ever a place could lay
claim to- having the largest garage
sale it probably would be Barry's —
not for just a few weeks, b_ut for 40
years.
And while Detroit's sale invari-
ably had some unusual items, there's
nothing that can quite compare with
what has been available at Barry's,
founded by Irving Wine shortly after
World War II and still selling war
surplus from that era.
If you, for some reason, wanted a
periscope you'd find it at. Barry's. Or
perhaps a mine detector, a parachute,
doughboy spats, survival rafts,
airplane camouflage covers,. air raid
helmets, three-foot-long wrenches,
house jacks, or perhaps a gas mask. Of
course, there was more practical
stock, like Army field jackets or
trench coats, Navy pea coats, sleeping
bags, tools, air mattresses, ponchos,
and more,
Some things were new, many
things used, and many things old but
never, used. There remain unopened
boxes of rubber Korean war boots,
good for 40 degrees below zero — but
only sizes 5 and 15. There. are other
items never taken out of their wax-
protected cardboard containers since
the day Wine bought them ten, 20, 30
or perhaps .40 years ago. And there
are things he bought that never sold
because people didn't know .what they
were. Wine didn't know, . either, but
often when buying huge 'quantities of
goods at government auctions it was a
case of buying everything 'in a lot or
not getting it at all. , . :
In its heyday, Barry's was better
than a museum. It still has some of
the feel and musty smell of a,museum,
but most of the good stuff is gone. And
in a few more weeks .most , of what's
left will he gone, too..
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