Canton
Flea Market, an even bigger deal
By Leah
Square
leah.square@mcherald.com
The
Canton Flea Market, circa 1965; Jack Cummins remembers when it was
nothing more than a band of local artists hanging paintings on the Old
Madison County Courthouse's wrought iron fence.
When
the show began to allow craftsmen as well as artists, Cummins' father
hauled his goods to downtown Canton twice a year. By his mid-20s, the
younger Cummins had joined his dad at the market, peddling his
hand-crafted Shaker and log cabin furniture alongside the elder.
"Everything
had to be handmade or you couldn't come," said Cummins, now living
near Canton. "That was when it was really unique."
Back
then, vendors were able to pick out a lot the day of the show and set up
shop, Cummins said.
Nowadays,
you have to sign up ahead of time, and the next Canton Flea Market Arts
and Crafts Show convenes on Canton Courthouse Square Oct. 11.
Cummins
doesn't exhibit anymore, but his cousin Joe Hanson and wife Jane have
picked up where he left off. The Kosciusko couple have been promoting
their business, Baby Jane's Originals, for "20-something"
years, Jane Hanson said.
In
their Flea Market booth on Fulton Street, the Hansons sell jewelry,
purses and clothing - some made by hand, some not. But their specialty
is religious T-shirts with Bible verses, Jane Hanson said.
"It's
not just a living for us," she said. "It's a ministry."
The
Hansons, who started the business to help put their daughters through
college, are two of more than 1,000 vendors preparing to carry crafts to
the biannual show.
It
has become one of the most popular arts and crafts events in the South.
Held the second Thursday in May and October, at least 50,000 shoppers
from as far as Europe descend on the square and surrounding streets for
the The Flea Market either month.
Anne
Mansell, secretary to the Courthouse Square committee, said shoppers can
look forward to an array of Christmas gifts this time around.
"In
October, everybody's Christmas shopping, and a lot of the exhibitors
have Christmas items," said Mansell, who added that the fall
weather will be much nicer than the May heat.
Mansell
said arts and crafts can be found on the grounds of the Old Courthouse
in the center of the square, Union Street, Center Street, East Fulton
Street, churches on Peace Street and the Old Jail Museum near Canton
City Hall.
The
Flea Market has been voted one of the "Top 20 Events in the
Southeast" by the Southeast Tourism Society.
"Not
in my wildest imagination would I have thought it would be this
big," Cummins said.
