Most of us from East Texas know about Canton Texas about 30 minutes from Tyler Texas. This place isn’t your typical flea market. In fact I wouldn’t use the word flea market when talking to a vendor at Canton trade days or they might just have to set you straight. Canton goes way back historically as being a gathering place where people would come to trade goods and services. The tradition goes back over 150 years and is a source of pride for the city of Canton TX known as “First Monday”.
First Monday trade days had to do with stray horses believe it or not. On the first Monday of the month when the judge in Canton arrived to convene his court. Canton at that time was an open range full of wild horses. The judge setup the first Monday as they day people could arrive with their horses in a horse auction. People would come from far and wide to trade and this auction is what has now turned into Canton trade days first Monday.
Please don’t get confused as if you come to Canton on the first Monday of the month there will be no gigantic flea market. The weekend prior to the first Monday of every month is when the Canton trade days extravaganza begins. This isn’t a run of the mill flea market but something you will need all 3 days to explore.
There are antiques available for purchase that can be had for good deals as well as marked up beyond what would be considered reasonable. It all depends on what you are looking for and how quickly you want to find it. If you do enough digging you will be able to pick up some pretty unique items for cheap.
At one time I was in the process of building a log house and I needed some old triple block pulleys. Ebay had them for sale for a little bit more than I wanted to pay so I went to Canton to see what I could find. I was able to get the triple block pulleys I needed for about half of what it would have cost on ebay. I bought a Yao Ming action figure still in the box for $1.00 and I believe this was a few dollars cheaper than what it would have cost new.
Many people are at Canton trade days behind a vendor booth almost as more of a hobby than to make a good living but they keep coming every month and some actually do make a good living. Depending on where you go in Canton will determine the type of stuff you will see and for what price. There are indoor and outdoor areas and places completely offsite that are open all month rather than just on first Monday.
Some businesses business model like Paul Michael have used Canton to capitalize on this hot spot for buying junk for the house. Paul Michael is offsite from Canton trade days and gets daily shopping traffic rather than just 3 days in a month. In fact I bet Paul Michael has siphoned a way a good deal of the shoppers that normally frequented Canton trade days. Pretty savy business sense if I do so say myself.
On our last visit to Canton we did visit Paul Michael but their stuff is quite pricey and so they pretty much serve the well to do. If you want to get good stuff for a cheaper price we recommend sticking with the trade day grounds.
Last visit to Canton we picked up all our cabinet hardware from their from a vendor booth called Cabinet Jewelry. We ended up saving about $2.00 per knob and handle that we used on our new cabinets than if we had of used Lowes or Home Depot.
When in Canton trade days you will want to eat something. There are a lot of fair food type places but pay special attention that you skip that corn dog and turkey leg and instead go to Cookin’ Cajans. This place was gone for a few years do to the owners having some health issues but is back in business again. This is one of those places that people drive an hour or two every month just to eat at so don’t forget to try it while your there.
I am not sure if Cooking Cajan’s is under new ownership as the original owner may have retired. While getting your food I recommend their crawfish etouffee, a Cajan egg roll, and some bread pudding. Hey go ahead and buy it all and if you can’t eat it all you will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
If your not a big bread pudding fan go over to Taylor’s homemade icecream and try that stuff. I always go to gets me some of that Taylor’s homemade icecream. Very good!
I personally go to Canton to browse the puppies for sale, eat some Cajan Food, buy an old farm tool, get a small toy for the baby, and look at some of the East Texans that rarely come out of the house (pretty fascinating moo,moo outfits worn by both men and women.)