Canton First Monday Trade Days

Here is an aerial view of the place Sandy and I travel to every month. I have placed a yellow push pin in the area (Pavilion 4000 Booth 4271) where we currently set up every month. There are approximately 7000 vendors that set up here each month. There is another six Pavilions know as Old Mill Market Place about 3/4 a mile from the main grounds where we are located.  This area for some reason though never caught on like the main grounds have. We even had a booth there for about two years before moving back to the main grounds. The area across from Old Mill is known as Dog Town. They primarily sell animals here. Dogs (puppy mills) being the most popular. There is a saying about First Monday which is “if you can’t find it here it does not exist”.

 First Monday Trade Days. according to various sources, the tradition began with district court meetings held on the first Monday of each month or with the monthly visit of neighbors in the Confederate times. The custom began with the swapping of surplus stock by barter and grew to include casual bargaining for or swapping of dogs, antiques, junk, and donkeys on a 30-acre grounds. It is so popular Canton goes from a town of 5,100 to a town of over 300,000 during the first Monday weekend, making it the largest flea market in the world. In the past, due to the success of First Monday, the city of Canton had no property tax, however, as of 2006, that is no longer the case. 

We have been coming to First Monday Trade Days now for about 23 years. We did take off for a little over three years and traveled the US selling our crafts and seeing the sites this great country offers. One of the greatest reasons we've come here for so many years believe it or not is not the money but the friendship one builds here with their fellow vendors. We are like one big family. In fact this is where we met our friends Joe and Sherri of Somewhere in Time. We had already met Mark and Dortha with RVing with Poppa earlier at a craft show in Tulsa OK. They too did First Monday. We could hardly wait for each First Monday to come where we would gather with our friends for fellowship, story telling, good food and popping  bottle caps of your favorite brew. In fact I learned a trait from Joe that's called “Back Wash”. I would noticed when around Joe he never drank his bottle empty. There was always some left in the bottom of the bottle. I found out that this was his  “back Wash’ and you just don't drink that. I figure since it was diluted with his saliva the alcohol was no longer 100% so why waste the effort.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.