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Atlas of Morocco . . . Doing Business online since 2003
Atlas is a Berber woman from the ancient Kingdom of Morocco, and this is her little two-person company. We are not a giant importing corporation, though it might be nice to become one eventually, to better serve you and all our other friends and customers. Berbers are light-skinned people whose tribes have existed in Morocco and neighboring areas for thousands of years. According to some historians, they may have originally come from what is now Ireland. Most likely, they migrated south through England, France, and Spain before crossing the Straits of Gibralter into North Africa. Many of them tend great flocks of sheep in the region of Zemmour, between the nation's capital at Rabat, and the ancient city of Meknes. They produce a wide variety of textiles from the wool. Atlas is just one generation out of a tribal tent. Her father and mother were from neighboring tribes, and their marriage was arranged by relatives when the young girl (Atlas' future mother) was just nine years old. Her future father was a little older.
Atlas and her thirteen siblings were born in Khmisset, a small town near the capital city of Rabat, and spent their youth there. Several are still there now; but Atlas followed her new husband to the United States while she was a young woman. Now she's spent half her life here and holds dual citizenship in the two countries she's learned to love equally. She has been bringing gifts from Morocco and other places to her friends in the United States for more than two decades, but only recently have we begun to offer some of these same things for sale on eBay and the web. Our prices and minimum bids are set low, in order to offer the best values possible on everything we have for sale.
Women and Girls of All Ages Work Together in Moroccan Rug Cooperatives A "rug cooperative" consists of several women and/or girls who support themselves by using primitive, hand-powered looms to create fine wool rugs for sale. Many girls are not able to attend school, even though public schools are free to them. The long trip from their tribal home to school in the city is often too dangerous for them to travel by foot or on the back of a donkey. Atlas' own mother was one of these tribal girls and made rugs like these when she was very young; but she was fortunate. Her elder brother arranged for her to marry a certain young man in a nearby tribe. They soon moved into the city, where he became a successful businessman with two stores of his own.
The object of using such handmade imports in the United States is not to try to match your decor, but rather to have something unusual, wonderful, or exotic. Put it on your own wall or give it to somebody you love. These items all make wonderful gifts! There is one other thing you should know: many of the things we sell can absorb smells. So let us assure you that we always store everything in clean, non-smoking areas where there are no strong odors to worry about. We will never be satisfied with just selling you one item. We hope you'll keep on buying from us again and again. And we hope you'll tell your friends to do likewise. But we know this will never happen unless you are completely happy with your purchase. For this reason, we guarantee your satisfaction for 30 days or your money back. (See our Guarantee Page for details.) Minimum bids are posted clearly, and we never use a reserve price; so you know every bid counts. The price of shipping insurance is always included in the S&H rate posted in each listing, and all shipments will be insured for your protection. We cannot ship outside the United States. Please don't bid on our auctions if you don't have an American shipping address. Thank you very much for understanding. (See our Terms of Service Page for details.)
Thanks for stopping by. Please be sure to bookmark this page and come back often to see what new things we are offering for auction. And please tell all your friends about us. We want them to be our friends, too. |
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