Origin
Albert Lafarge writes that one of the first American flea markets was the Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, which began in 1873 as a place where people would go to buy horses; later, they brought their own goods to sell or trade. Other towns quickly adopted this pattern of trade, but the modern flea market was supposedly the brainchild of Russell Carrell, an east-coast antique show organizer. Working as an auctioneer in Connecticut, Carrell thought to run an antique show like an outdoor auction, only forgoing the tent, because fire hazards were too expensive to insure. Carrell's 1956 Hartford open-air antiques market, was claimed to be the first modern incarnation of the flea market, although the true flea market does not consist of professional antique dealers, but rather of people looking to make some extra money on the side.
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