First Monday Trade Days

So today we did a very East Texas thing...

We went to First Monday Trade Days in Canton.  According to the trade days official site, the tradition of "first Monday" began in the 1850s and outgrew the original location on the town square in the 1960s.  Originally, produce, livestock, guns, and who knows what else were bartered and traded, with until the 1930s, wild horses making up a large part.  Now, the sky's the limit.

Photo from Flickr

We set out early because today was going to be a hot one, but the mornings are getting cool, so we lit out to be at the trade days by 9 am or so.

 We parked and checked out Dog Town - the section that has dogs, cats, rabbits and even livestock that is more akin to the ancient days of First Monday.  We recently had to rehome a retriever with a family because she just never got used to us or our lifestyle, so we were curious to see what we could find.  The home feels empty without a pup.

Lily and our cat Ashes.  She liked the cats, but never really seemed to like home.  Not sure why. We're good people.

Among our favorite places is I Am Erica's Flags (say it fast).  The gentleman that runs the store is very knowledgeable about his history and carries a huge selection of historic flags.  We fly our flags, and they wear out quickly, so we bought a couple of Third Nationals and a Bennington flag (Revolutionary War) for my classroom.  As it warmed up we walked the pavilions looking for gifts for Christmas.

The grounds are huge, with (according to the city) over 100 acres of space for 6,000 vendors. If you want high-end stuff, visit the pavilions.  If you want everything else, take a stroll through the open-air parts.

A big reason for our visit was to meet with dog breeders.  Many people come out to sell pets, but our purpose was to visit with people familiar with either Scottish terriers or West Highland terriers (Westies).  After a turn though, we didn't see anything, but one little shop had schnauzers and others, and when we asked if they knew of anyone with westies, they said they had one left of a litter at home (8 miles away).  They offered to bring it out, and we said okay, so after our other shopping they brought a little male westie that we fell in love with immediately.  

So guess who we brought home?

Canton First Monday is a spectacle that every Texan should experience at least once.  Some vendors come each month from other states as well.  A bit of advice: if you've never been, be aware that if you want to see it all you won't be able to do it in a day.  Want to RV it?  They have spaces for a fee.  Might make a fun weekend in the future.