In 1920, the Polish Angling Association launched in Kowaniec a hatchery of ray-finned fish. (Photo No. 355) An interesting object-lesson on stocking management is presented on the picture taken on the banks of the Dunajec on which a so called fish weir was prepared, a dam for fish heading up the river for spawning. (Photo No. 408) Fishing, as we can see here, was performed in a traditional way. Highlanders equipped with long poles for rabattage and nets show great fortitude standing, as we can suppose, in ice-cold water on the Dunajec (we should not forget that salmon starts its wandering in autumn.) Other successful catches, aiming not at winning spawn but for consumer purposes, are presented in the next photographs. Proud fishermen posing with excellent specimen of salmon after a successful catch by the Dunajec (Photos No. 155, 410) and on the porch of the„Fisherman's House” (Photo No. 421), situated in a wooden villa in Kowaniec.

The town of Nowy Targ made good use of its location since the its beginning - in the centre of Nowotarska valley, close to the border with Hungary, on the crossing of traditional trade lanes which met on the main square of the town. Benefiting most of all from trade, the town was for centuries strongly connected to Spiš and Orava, not only in terms of trade. To the development and wealth of Nowy Targ and its inhabitants contributed the plentiful privileges granted by successive authorities: the privilege of fair, of goods storage or the privilege of the route.

The first privilege of an annual St. Katherine's fair was granted to the town by the king Casimir III the Great. This was expanded by the king Casimir IV Jagiellon who on St. Jacob's day granted the town the second privilege allowing for a market on Thursdays. Augustus II rose to five the number of fairs and Stanisław August added four new to them.

The right for storage of salt from the Wieliczka salt mine and of lead from mines in Olkusz was owned by the town in 1593, since 1580 the town of Nowy Targ the right to store Hungarian wine. The privilege of route bound the merchants to stick to the prescribed route under the penalty of losing their goods. This privilege was granted to Nowy Targ by Sigismund I the Old in 1533. In exchange for this the dwellers were obliged to keep roads and bridges tidy.

At the beginning of the 19th century Emanuel Kronbach noted: „The inhabitants occupy themselves mainly with farming and a little with crafts and cattle rearing. (…) Townsmen also make the living out of trade in wine, cattle, yarn and linen. Goods are imported from Hungary or exported there. They also send goods to the neighbouring Kingdom of Poland, to the free city of Cracow and to the plains of Galicia. This trade brings sometimes significant benefits. The town dwellers lead a peaceful life and enjoy the present moment” (E. Kronbach, „Tableau d’une partie du Royume de Galicie spécialement des monts Karpathes au cercle de Sandec”, Sanok 1820, translated by J. Dobrzański).

This sleepy town changed dramatically during fairs. Streets were crowded with wagons full with goods heading to the town from neighbouring villages at dawn. The main square was filled with stalls with the products of local craftsmen: furriers, tanners, saddlers, wheelwrights, coopers and carpenters. There were cows, horses, sheep and pigs in large numbers on fairs. The cattle market was traditionally held on the Little Market. Since the end of the 19th century there existed a profession of a „cattle examiner” which was later replaced by a special comittee of a municipal vet, two of his deputies and three delegates: every animal taken to the market was weighed and examined. In 1878 an attempt to introduce regulations to fairs was made, fair fares supported the town's budget and, similarly to toll and propination, fairs were subject to lease. Mainly Jews occupied themselves with this; the first license to collect the charges obtained Aron Mandl and Salomon Goldman.

The unique atmosphere of highlander fairs was an inspiration to painters: Aleksander Kotsis, Antoni Kozakiewic, Michała Rekucki or Karol Kostur.

There are only few photographs on this subject in the Museum's collection. A busy and lively fair on the main squareof the town can be seen in the picture taken out of windows of a tenement house's southern frontage. (Photo No. 514) Two photographs from the interwar period taken with a great feeling by Franciszek Rozłucki present the scenery of the Main Square and on the Szkolna Street. Unknown authors perpetuated the market on the Słowackiego Square. (Photo No. 313, 358)