Items sent to NYC include photographs, woks, utensils, menus, advertisements, Chinese wicker baskets, and vintage soy and vinegar bottles imported from China, among others.

Pinkerton steps to a bookcase filled with knickknacks and lifts the lid off a small wicker basket.

In early June’s pale morning light, teams of four-to-five people, most of them gray-haired and denim-clad, spread out huge balloons attached to wicker baskets.