First Monday in Canton Texas

I’d bet every state has at least one of these, it may not be held on the first Monday of every month. It might happen on the first Tuesday or maybe even every weekend but if you look hard I’d bet you could find one in your area, at least a small one. I’m talking about what used to be called a Farmers Market. They use to be where the local people got together to sale their goods. New and used, hand made things, food, knickknacks, chickens, goats, cows and horses. Anything that could be dragged in was sold. Today it’s still the same way except these days you can also find shops with imports of new stuff from pretty much all over the world included.

Canton Texas during its prime had the largest First Monday Sale I have ever seen. Twenty years ago it was just little booths and tables thrown together in lines that haphazardly formed rows on the flat dirt areas and the rest were scattered up and over the root invested and slick mud hills. You could get lost looking at everything and I guarantee you’d lose the car or truck you came in if you weren’t careful and scoped out some king of land mark. But these days though it doesn’t seem as large it’s much better organized. There are rows of long large metal buildings full of little shops selling everything from spices and furniture and so much more. The hills where we used to stumble over roots and slip in the mud is now covered with asphalt and little old time looking shops filled with candles, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, a massage` parlor, ole` time photos, bars and on and on. Across the main road is where the farmers, junk dealers and puppy kennel owners still line the dirt trails in make shift booths. This was still the Canton I remembered.

It was a bitterly cold day and the weekend after Thanksgiving that we choose to make this trip. It took us about two hours to get there. Canton is just a little south and a little more east of Dallas so it’s close to the big metroplex area but a tad more than a hop, skip and jump for us coming from Waco. And did I mention it was a vey cold day! I don’t like the cold very much so I will admit I would have had more fun if it was warmer but still all in all I had a pretty good time. We walked through most of the shops in the big metal buildings first and that is where I met Mike the spice man. He was selling and I do mean “Selling” the spice that he had created. He told us that he used to own a barbecue joint and his clients were always telling him he should expand but he thought that would be too much work so he decided to market and sell the spice he concocted to a larger audience. At that point I didn’t know how good his spice was but I guarantee he was working hard at selling his product and had my husband in hook line and sinker. My husband who never cooks needless to say walked away with two bottles of spice. I later used it on some fish and Mike, you are right! It is great stuff. Mike has a website if you’re looking for a great tasting spice. He says it’s low in sodium, I don’t know about that but I love the taste. Mike’s website is www.mikesseasonings.com if you’d like to try it out.

If you like metal art then you’d love Texas Metal Art. Cheryl Loggins didn’t have to sell me anything here. I wanted to buy it all. I was amazed at what can be done with plasma cutter and a torch. It took me forever to choose what I wanted there were so many stunningly beautiful pieces of art here. Cheryl I real want to thank you for braving the cold and being there that day. Your circular, rope wrapped torch color heated State of Texas with the blue bonnets will forever hang in front of my desk where I can look at it every day. You can see her beautiful art pieces at www.texasmetalart2.com but I would suggest you venture out to Canton and see them in person if at all possible.

As we walked up the long hill through the little shops I realized we we’re the only ones there. The shops were open but there were no shoppers. It felt like a ghost town. One of the shop owners braved the cold to step out and speak to us. I asked her if the current economy was slowing things down. She said it had a little but mostly just the cold. I guess only crazy people like us we out walking in it. After we finished with the hill area we headed over to the animals and the real farmers market area. This would normally be my favorite part but by now I felt like a popsicle. We walked at a brisk pace through the rows of old tools, goats, every kind of fowl you could need and more, calves, and row after row of puppies. There was a steady flow of people coming and going. The cold didn’t seem to even phase the people buying and selling chickens but I’d had had enough by then and we headed back to the truck.

I really had a great time, bought a few things here and there, including a new pair of deerskin work gloves. Rehashed some wonderful old memories and remembered why we used to only go until the early fall and not through the winter without a heavy coat, two pairs of socks and big ugly but warm hat. It’s one of those places everyone should experience. It takes you back in time to a place where everything was bartered for, the place we used to purchase everything before Wal-Mart and grocery stores were so accessible. Face to face with the people who made it or owned it.