Thursday, May 17, 2012

I went to First Monday!

 I went to Canton a couple of weeks ago.


First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas is unbelievable.
I think it is the biggest flea market in the world or something. It is actually over 100 acres. It is huge and not do-able in one day. {Believe me, I have tried.}
Tradition and Wikipedia (wink, wink) state that it started as a place to barter and trade when the circuit court judge came to town.
It has grown to insane proportions since then.
Photo: Dallas Real Estate Blog

 About 300,000 can visit on a First Monday weekend. The name always confused the heck out of me at first because the market takes place during the weekend preceding the first Monday of the month and then not on Mondays. Before the days of the internet it took some thinkin to figure out when to head to Canton. The locals don't like it when us city folks call it "Canton". We are supposed to call it "First Monday". Canton is the town not the flea market. This is not to be confused with Third Monday in McKinney or First Monday in Weatherford. Weatherford states that they are the oldest open air market dating to the late 1880's but Canton says they have had theirs since the 1850's. Clearly there is a lot of competition in these parts concerning open air markets. 

Friday is the best day to go to beat the crowds. I have been on a Thursday before, but not all the vendors were open.

On a Saturday in October it is a mad house! 
I will never do that again. I'm a tad claustrophobic when it comes to crowds.

 I wanted to blog and show pictures for you so you could feel as if you were there with me. But... all over the place there were signs that said:"No pictures please." 
I get that they want to protect their designs. I wanted to reassure them that I wasn't going to pirate their stuff that I wanted to blog! 
But I figured that there have been enough bloggers out there talking about Canton, so I let it go. I know that many of you have photographed flea markets.
Do you ask permission to blog about them?
I did snap this shot below where I got some nodders for making crafty stuff this fall.
It was a very cute booth. Over the years they have added covered barns. I still think the best deals are outside. 



Here are some highlights from the day.
I met and chatted with one of the former Mayors. 

I bought a darling Ohio art child's watering can like the one I had when I was a tyke. It is a perfect spring green with bees on it.
I have wanted one for my sunroom for a long time.



It was $25.00. Possibly a little high but totally worth it.

But one of the best things about Canton are the twisty potatoes.
Here:
I think I am going to have to get me one of these.
These are like homemade potato chips but they come in continous curls. I had to have some for old times sake. When friends and I used to go we would bring sandwiches but share these. 
We also tried deep fried avocado. It was weird. It could have used a little more salt or some salsa. 
I didn't see any deep fried butter. Besides, Bill wants to have quite a few empty nest years with me. Deep fried butter would not be conducive to that. 

Here are the nodders.
They were 3 for 5 dollars. I thought that was a good price.

In the old days,I could get unfinished wood shelves for a dollar.

We would get handfulls of wood cut outs to paint all kinds of country cuteness in the 80's.
One of my best deals ever, was one of my Lenox teacups for $3.00.
At the time they retailed for about $29.00 a piece.
My sister-in-law and I had a great day. She got some amazing deals and the world's heaviest milk can!
We had a time getting all our stuff up the hill to our car, but it was as fun as all get out. 
If you are ever in these parts, you should check it out. 
Sprinkled with Trade Days,
Katie
Linking with,
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

4 comments :

  1. My husband and I were out that way and stopped by First Monday Trade Days in early November. Oh, my, what a zoo it was!!! We made the mistake of going on Saturday and everybody had their holiday stuff out. We particularly enjoyed browsing some of the outdoor vendors, where you got more of a sense of "garage sale" than anything else. You just never know what you will find at Canton!

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  2. Well, I have never heard of nodders so I had to come over here from your pumpkin and owl post to see what they were. Are they old springs from a sofa or bed?

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    1. Yes, I have some from an old seat of some kind that I found in a trash pile at a cabin.
      The ones I bought at Canton are from an old bed spring.
      Thanks for stopping by.
      Katie

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