Maybe not a trip to Bora Bora, but Canton still a life experience!
Sheri and I wanted to continue our Tex-ploration (Texas Explorations) of the great state of Texas’s little “gems” it has to offer. We finally made it up to Canton Texas for the First Monday Trade Days. Before going too much further here are a couple of some of our past Tex-ploration’s :
How do you capture First Monday? I’m not sure I can but I’ll try. It is an EVENT first and foremost which occurs 12 times a year, hence the name – First Monday. Vendors and customers come from all over and shop until they drop during those 3-4 days. It is a flea market of sorts, but many/most of the vendors are higher end.
Historically, the First Monday has been going on since 1850 when people did their trading in Canton on the day the circuity judge came to perform his legal duties.
Today, you would find Canton particularly fun for any of the following reasons:
- You just like to shop
- You like wearable items (clothing of everything you can imagine)
- You like knick-knacks
- You like art
- You like home or garden decor
- You like antiques
- You like to eat “fair food” (turkey legs, sausage on a stick, etc.)
- You like flea markets
Vendors rent space and then occupy the space and sell their items. Spaces outside can be as little as $50/month and spaces can be at least as high as $250/month. Rent varies based on location, indoor/outdoor, and if the goods can be left in the space the other 26 days of the month.
There is an “official” First Monday Trade Days area or grounds, but all over Canton you’ll find very large pavilions which are not connected to the “official” First Monday which run an identical business model (renting space to vendors). You should try to visit them all as some of the non-official pavilions were actually nicer and had a more upscale collection of vendors.
We were at Canton for the First Monday for January (New Years Day weekend) and it is agreed by most who we spoke with, that the January First Monday is very lightly attended. We noted VERY GOOD foot traffic compared to our treks to the Fredericksburg Market Days so even on the off month, traffic was strong.
For the rest of the article, I thought I’d write some random notes – in no order - about our weekend in Canton and even “name” names where it makes sense.
- Many artists don’t like you photographing their art. This is foolish and shows that they do not understand how to promote their art. In my way of thinking – art is transference of emotion and experience which is better done with story and connection. Your art piece should be a connection to your story. If the art piece is the “the thing” rather than your story being “the thing” and your art the physical manifestation of the story, then you’ll likely never be very interesting. Furthermore, they probably ought to ask what you might do with the pictures. My guess is that 99% of the time, the pictures people take are additive to the business. A good copy-cat doesn’t need a picture anyway.
- No one had web sites for their business. I’m exaggerating of course, but it was amazing how many people had no way other than First Monday to move their product.
- You can get a good burger and malt at the Soda Jerk. We recommend it.
- You can get a good burger at the Dairy Palace. We recommend it.
- You can get very serviceable Italian (lots of red sauces) at Val’s. Not the best Italian you’ll ever have, but it was really good. We recommend it.
- You can get servicable Tex-Mex at Robles.
- One of the pavilion areas which is NOT the First Monday “official” area is called the Village. Attached to the Village is this thing they called “The Mountain”, which is a big hill. It reminded us a great deal of a VERY poor man’s version of Silver Dollar City in Branson. Frankly, we just don’t get “The Mountain”. We can’t recommend it. We won’t diss it, but I wouldn’t make a trip to Canton because of it.
- We stayed at a B&B called Silver Spur Inn on “The Mountain”. It is listed in many B&B listings. If you look carefully at the picture in the preceding link, you’ll see a table, appointed with plates and coffee cups, which is very customary for B&B’s. But it isn’t a bed and breakfast. Its a Bed and Bath. Don’t assume anything.
- Cancellation policy – 30 days – which is really the same as “No cancellations allowed”.
- We think the people that own it are doing their best to eke out a living on “The Mountain” so we actually think they are just doing their best in a tough place to do business.
- There is no breakfast. Just know that.
- The TV is a little 8 inch screen.
- There is no cable TV.
- There is no WiFi – none public that is. Canton does seem to have a “for pay” WiFi system. We didn’t try it.
- The accommodations on “The Mountain” probably are all about the same.
- If you want to stay in Canton – definitely bring your RV. There are a couple of nice RV parks. We did do video so we’ll post it soon.
- Honorable mentions. These are things that stuck out at us and really deserve mentioning.
- L & O Crafts – This lady makes amazing wall plates of face plates for lights. We were amazed and we’ve seen many decorative plates at different trade days but these were a cut above what we’ve seen to date.
- cwkountrykrafts.com – Amazing Martin houses (bird houses for Martins) made from PVC pipe which remind you of Neuschwanstein castle somewhat. The fellow really knew Martins and had “easy clean” concept built into the birdhouse design.
- Heavenly Pies & More – Carrie Etherege – She makes a really STELLAR carrot cake. Sheri says the carrot cake is a “step above” and that the cream cheese frosting was the best she’s ever had. I had two chocolate chip cookies and they were soft and chewy without being gooey. Carrie is a great baker. We HIGHLY recommend contacting her (heavenly.pies@hotmail.com). Tell her RV52.com sent you.
- Savory Fine Foods – There were PILES and PILES of people peddling spices you mix with SOMETHING, but these guys had a spice mix that turns ordinary saltine crackers into something AMAZING. The web site is savoryfinefoods.com. I HATE saltine crackers, but Wow oh Wow these were good.
- Wild West Soda ( oldfashionsoda.com ) served by the Hursts was a really good treat. I really encourage you to find time to try their sarsaparilla soda. It is really a step above anything I’ve had before.
- The atmosphere is one of a party. This is more of a celebration and “fair”. People are there to be “good” and kind. Its so fun to talk with people. We found that by talking with people, we could get within 2-3-4 degrees of separation from someone we all knew pretty quickly. That is really amazing for a state as big as Texas.
- Chiminea’s look to be about $20 cheaper here than in Austin Texas. We’re going to buy one and take it home.
- The Village Market has a completely different feel than the traditional Market Days area. It struck us as much more of a flea market – less artisans and more “flea-like” stuff. If you like digging through the bargain bins at stores, you’ll have fun here. Sheri and I didn’t enjoy it as much either. The creativity in the Village was a much lesser level. Also the layout and use of space was much less efficient than the other Market Days area.
- There is also an area called “Dog Town” where you can buy animals of about any type. These strike me as more for pets and fun and not for ag use because for example the pigs that were there were little runt-type pigs that hog farmers would not buy. The second biggest type of animal were chickens. But dogs are what are really for sale. Over the years, there was enough animal trading that the First Monday had names like “Dog Monday” or “Horse Monday”. If you need a new dog, then you could find one here.
