ABSTRACT
Founded in 1772, Porto Alegre is the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, a state at the southern tip of Brazil on the border with Argentina and Uruguay. The city is located on the Guaíba River, and its central area for commerce grew up around the port where passenger and cargo boats arrived. In Brazil, the relative value of an import is entirely dependent on the hemisphere from which the product originated. European and North American brands are prestigious, whereas Made in China or Made in Paraguay labels are synonymous with material and symbolic inferiority. In the trading context, the price of merchandise was settled by bargaining, a face-to-face interaction in which the terms of business are relatively fluid. In bartering, trust and honor generally walked hand in hand. The camelódromo operated its own financial logic of currency and credit. The majority of the street vendors did not have bank accounts.
