Junk Find Five: First Monday Oct 2016

Previously - Junk Find Five: First Monday Sept 2015

It's time to revisit one of our favorite recurring blog entries where we go to flea markets and swap meets in East Texas and find five interesting things for sale. They may provide some interesting insight into Texas Culture or they may not.  But they are the five items that caught my eye on that particular trip.

Once again, we return to First Monday for multiple reasons:  it's one of the biggest, some say it's the best and, most importantly, it's relatively close to where we live.  Let's see what we found!

So this time, instead of just scoping out an arbitrary selection of oddities, I decided to go with a theme.  Let's call it "Nature."  All our finds today either had to be dug up, skinned or otherwise liberated from mother nature.  Here's what nature's bounty had to offer:

5. Skulls - Various Animals/Sizes

The best part here is the variety.  If you're in the market for the a small mammal skull then odds are you can find what you need at this booth.  What's your pleasure?  Muskrat skull?  Skunk skull?  With jaw?  No jaw?  One stop shopping.

4.  Barite Rose Rocks

The official state rocks of Oklahoma are so rare that they are almost only found in the Sooner State.  These aren't the best formed ones we've seen but their still pretty good.  The unique way they are formed makes them look like their namesake roses and the Oklahoma red dirt gives them their appropriate color.

3.  Bear Skin Rugs

So apparently bear skin rugs are a real thing.  They usually only exist in cartoons and 1970's cologne advertisements but it looks like they can also be found at First Monday.  Even though the usual cliche is to relax on one of these in front of a roaring fireplace, these guys seem a little too creepy to be relaxing.

2.  Big Honkin' Rock Slab Tables and Chairs

If you ever wanted to feel more like Fred Flintstone in the comfort of your own home then these beauties are for you.  Sure they're a little pricey and probably extraordinarily difficult to move but you can't deny how cool these things look.  Can't wait to see their rock slab recliner and loveseat.

 1.  Cobra Vertebrae Necklace

You may be "cool" but are you "Cobra Vertebra Necklace cool"?  Probably not.  Only a certain kind of person could pull off adorning themselves with the bones of a poisonous snake.  If you're not sure that's you then you can work your way up to it with the Cobra Vertebra Bracelet. 

It was a great haul this time around.  We'll see what we get at the next flea market...

Junk Find Five: First Monday Sept 2015

It's time to start a new recurring segment.  We'll go to flea markets and swap meets in East Texas and find five interesting things for sale.  They may provide some interesting insight into Texas Culture or they may not.  But they are the five items that caught my eye on that particular trip.

This time we we visit First Monday in Canton, TX (and to be honest, most of these will probably be First Monday since that's the one I go to the most).

5.  Elephant Playground Ride

A little elbow grease and some cleaning supplies would turn this rusty antique into a top notch backyard playground toy.  It has the benefit of not needing extraneous tools or supplies to install (like a McDonalds Playland piece that you find from time to time).  Just clean it up and set it out and the kids are happy.

4.  Tyson Corporate Award

I probably can't articulate why I think this is so cool.  It's just a rare piece that you can't find in any store.  It's an award for "Excellent in Safety Slaughter Facilities Finest".  I'm not exactly sure what that is or what it means but I'm sure Tyson doesn't just hand them out like sticks of gum.

3.  Horseshoe Certificate

Just like the Tyson Award, this is another one-of-a-kind item.  I'm not exactly sure what the significance is but it appears to be a certificate denoting exceptionalism in the field of shoeing horses by some type of national body that regulates that type of thing.  The date is from the year 1907 and I really love that it is framed.  This was important to someone.  And it could be important to you for the right price.

2.  Mickey Mouse Kazoo (Megaphone?)

This has all the traits of a great flea market find: a long lasting character, a weird/vague purpose (it says kazoo, but it's clearly in the shape of a megaphone), and a general retro vibe.  What was this thing?  What was its purpose?  I guess I could just Google it but that would take all the fun out of it.

1.  Grand Canyon Souvenir Plate

These things used to be THE top souvenir from old-school family road trips in the 60's and 70's.  They then adorned the walls of baby boomer houses above the shag carpeting and adjacent to the China Hutch containing the family's prized fondue set.  They all had original artwork and the Grande Dame destination was always the Grand Canyon.  This plate has it all!

I'm very happy with what we found on this outing.  But there's always something else just around the corner at the next flea market.  I guess we'll see...