Believe it or not, Ripley Mississippi is full of thriving industries. Its streets are clean. His people smile. Someday soon, we need to send a team of great social scientists out there to explore how Ripley has achieved such great success that our entire nation can benefit.
One attraction that obviously makes Ripley more successful is an event called FIRST MONDAY. It was launched in the latter part of the 19th century in an effort to help farmers market their products directly to consumers. Even after a hundred years of experimentation, many products are still sold on First Monday.
For many consumers, the main reason for coming to First Monday is to stock up on fresh fruit, melons, potatoes, trees for planting, geese, ducks, chickens, pigeons, goats, donkeys, dogs and probably also cats, as well as rare birds. , iguanas, parakeets, snakes, etc. But many more vendors are now targeting flea market merchandise for the lion’s share of the profits. Wrenches, garden tools, gloves, printed t-shirts, work shirts, work pants, hats, flags, bumper stickers, pharmaceuticals, boxed and canned groceries, rifles, pistols, ammunition, bows, knives, toys of everything kind and of course , cooked delicious.
First Monday begins on the first Saturday of each month preceding a Monday of that month. Consequently, the first Monday will occasionally be held on a weekend for the second Monday of the month.
Vendor nationality ranges from Good Old Boys to Yankee, Red Neck to Viet Namese. The nationality of the client is even broader. I saw a visiting family from Guatemala and two university students from Peru were there selling South American flutes and flute music. Illegal aliens ran about 10% of the forts and bought groceries like they were going out of style.
There is a lot of ground to cover here. The first Monday is such a big event that you will need at least five hours to see it all. If the place was empty, I could walk faster, but usually the place is full. For the weak and tired golf carts are rented. Due to crowds, a golf cart will not make your visit faster, just more comfortable. The road is always crowded and the speed limit is always “slow”. There are four gates to the main road and there is usually a queue at all four. It costs $2 to get in and no help is offered on your quest to find a parking spot once you’re inside.
Vendors can set up any type of booth they want, anywhere they can find it. However, hunting dogs and hunting gun vendors tend to congregate on the bridge at a more distant part of the event. Farm and garden equipment is also more prevalent on the bridge.
A great restaurant is located somewhere near the center of the meeting place. The last time I was able to wait in line long enough to get a table and try the food, it was delicious. Nine or ten “stalls” also compete to fill your hungry soul, but seats are scarce at most of them. The only notable exception to this was a tent provided by a local church. Benches are hard but, oh, the relief of getting up is tremendous. I’ve never actually seen a tent service, but I would have gladly donated to the plate just for the privilege of sitting for those ten minutes.
Most of the fruit trees are about six feet tall and come five in a package for $25. Heavy-duty, tractor-sized brand-name individual plugs sell for $5 and up. Complete sets of half-inch drive dice cost between $20 and $40, depending on the number of dice in the set. HUGE luggage bags are only $40 and pure leather wallets are only $5.
There was a pellet gun that I wanted for a long time. I never bought it, I chased it because of the $119.95 price on sight. In one of the booths here I saw it again, still in the box, big and long and powerful and true. The price tag on the box read “TWENTY-TWO DOLLARS ONLY.” I’m not suggesting that every item is priced like this, but I do know that almost everything on it was a genuine bargain.
Ripley is located where the 4 and 15 freeways intersect. First Monday is on the 15 freeway on the south side of town. If you pass through Ripley, you’ll see plenty of other flea market-type shopping opportunities. You’ll also get a closer look at a wonderful town that should be studied by a team of great social scientists to see how they accomplish so much.