European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A to Hopper examines the Content of a Glass Cote in the Para Flea Market which this year ii celebrating its 100th Ann venary. Paris Flea Market 5o acres of treasures and junk a 1900 Vintage flying horse for $625. Use shirts at $ 1.25. A Century old Barber Schair. A life size Marble statue of a woman for $17.000.welcome to Paris Flea Market the Mecca of Bric a Brac More than 50 acres of stalls Selling treasures and junk. The Marche Aux paces was established about 1885 Lor the Selling of goods principally scavenged from trash cans. This summer the merchants of the Flea Market Are celebrating their 100th anniversary. It s Paris second most famous site after the Eiffel Tower claimed Blue jeans Hawker Daniel lava any. Located on the Northern Edge of Paris in the drab suburb of St. Ouen. The Market is open on saturday. Sunday and monday and draws 150,000 to 200,000 visitors weekly Many of them tourists from around the world. From the Early years come legends of Lucky shoppers discovering Grimy paintings by Van Gogh Renoir and Cezanne and buying them for a pittance. Today the Market has grown and evolved. More than 2,000 Sellers offer everything from Brand now fake leather jackets and Michael Jackson mirrors to beautifully restored period furniture and gilded chandeliers. There Are some great Antiques hero and some of them Are very very  said Claude David a retired St. Ouen planning official who helped organize anniversary festivities. Antique dealer Louis Montalent Sells Walnut furniture from King Louis Philippe s 1830-1848 reign. Price fall in a rough Range from $250 to $800 and Montalent says. I do All the restoration  Montalent has a permanent stand within the Vernal son Section of the Market. Vernison is one of a half dozen organized markets within the Marche Aux paces. Each has its own specialities rules and reputation. Joseph Cohen 76, Sells from a temporary stand on a sidewalk near the Porte de clog Vancourt subway Stop. But he enjoys the life Selling incense necklaces and perfume in Eiffel Tower shaped bottles. Ill give you this Wate Pipo from India for 360 francs $40 he offers. You can smoke tobacco or anything you want in it. You d pay 800 francs $88 for it in  a 46-year Veteran of the Market Cohen said. It s much bigger and less typical now than it was Back then. They really Shook us up when they built the peripheral Highway through Here in the 1960s." one woman with a stand in the Swank Boron Section of the Market was keen to sell a statue of Leda a figure from greek mythology at a Cool 160,000 francs about $17.000. My son found it at a chateau in Limoges she said. You Don t find items like this on the Market any  two women from Austin Texas were particularly interested in period furniture. I think the prices Here Are As cheap As you Are going to find  Sherry jacks said. You can find Here a 17th or 18th Century Buffet or armoire for the equivalent of $3,000 that Back in Houston would Cost $4,000 to $6.000." historians say it is impossible to put an exact Date on the Flea Market s founding but a Milepost was an 1884 decree by Paris prefects that rubbish should cease to be dumped onto streets and should he placed instead in Metal containers with lids. The Law dealt a blow to thousands of rag pickers and junkman who made their living combing through the refuse. They rebelled. The authorities gave in and the junkman were permitted to go through the rubbish As Long As they did so outside the City. The most popular spot became St. Ouen near an army Barracks and in 1885 the town Council set about trying to regulate the new Commerce. They were Selling old Beds and mattresses that might have had fleas in them so it became known As the Flea Market said Robert Waitzman who has a stand in Boron and has been in the Market 40 years the merchandise to sell Here is very hard to find said Waitzman who specializes in Antiques in Bronze. Since the end of world War ii we have sold great amounts for Export abroad to South America the United states Canada Egypt. Lebanon. They bought 18th and 19th Century things. Everything that was exported is gone now. You cannot make any More of it.  he said we Are in a kind of economic crisis. Merchants hold on to what they have and Are not tempted to sell unless the Price is right. Pieces Are More expensive but Revenue is not going up because there Are fewer sales. If it were up to the French customers we would  wednesday september 11, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13