The Quest , Part one. Flea Markets in Quinlan, Texas.

I was with my husband at a local Flea Market, to me they are all called swapmeets, but because we are in Texas now, I am trying to word it correctly.  In a small town called Quinlan, If you have never been, It is an adventure in itself. Located just off the beaten path, it is located next to the beautiful Lake Tawakani.  The town has gone through some growth spurts latley, but still it has a back road feel, kind of dusty and an ample amount of  thrift stores and fleamarkets.  The oldest is a little shack filled area that has been the local place for probably 30 years.  There are small handbuilt shacks that are in disrepair and are all but falling down. The almost shanty town made inside the little fleamarket has a colorful amount of interesting people who have made a living selling trinkets since before I was born, I imagine.  

About 5 years ago, things began to change for this little community flea market. A new market came aboard. It looked like a storage facility and had the same idea as "Big Daddy's" up in Mabank. Concrete and storage buildings that you could lock up and leave. All had electricity.  In the center of the 3 isles of this metropolis is large spaces with overhangs above, also with electricity.  Spaces are about 35- a day, and the storage spaces that you lock and leave were 250- a month. They might have gone up in price. At first, everyone at the little old flea market were skeptical and angry that something new and improved may be invading the happy place they had built for themselves. Some tried the new place, some have even stayed, finding a niche that works, others tried to keep what they had, hoping it would still work for them. 

It has been about a year since I have been back to the old fleamarket. When I go, not a lot is going on anymore. Most of the spaces are empty and the ones that are not, are mostly covered in tarps, almost like they just abandoned their items and left. Others are still trying to hold on.  Because of the success of the big market, another smaller market has emerged.  It is down the road from the first, and it has a lot of the dealers from the old market. I recognize certain faces as i peruse over the goods they are offering. This is also a storage facility, but the spaces are smaller, and there is less concrete. It is also growing in popularity.  The big fleamarket has an over abundance now of new items, mostly from over the border, lots of appliances , new and used air conditioners, furniture and cheap toys.  I have seen this at places like Canton, and back in California at the San Fernando Swapmeet. Music plays loud, and it is mostly Mexican. I see a lot of the people who have been at this new place since it opened, frowning over the abundance of new merchandise and loud music that I have overheard is against the rules.  In the rule book, no loud music is one of the things you need to agree to when you buy a space.

This last weekend I went to the new Hunt County Trade  and also the new smaller one down the street.  Both had some good stuff, but what I did not see, are the weekender family's that come to get rid of their own crap, and the people who bring in the auction goods that change every week. Those are the people I seek out. The nomads of the wastelands who need to get things moving so they can go and find something else. Where did they go?  It seems it is a sea of dealers , who never really replenish their goods, they just hope someone will want what they already have. Old books,jewelry,old clothes,and old dirty toys , or new clothes,new jewelry and new toys.   I long for the old marketplace. The one that had everything stuffed in boxes, where you needed gloves to go through the junk to get something neat buried under a pile of old nails and trash. Sadly, these things are harder and harder to come by these days.  Maybe the old marketplace will rise again or make a comeback with the smaller storage place if more people can come as weekend sellers needing to unload.  

This is what I hope, but so far it seems things are changing for this small town, as they already have a Walmart and it seems more stores are moving in.  Life for the small town of Quinlan is different. For the residents, I know this is a good thing, for the weekend warriors like myself, It is not. But, Like all warriors, I will find a new place to explore, it may take longer to get there, but I am always up for a challenge .