Then & Now: Trades Day in Waxahachie, Texas (1882)

Then and Now: Waxahachie, Texas

In this 1882 photograph, farmers haul wagons of cotton from College Street onto Main Street in downtown Waxahachie, Texas. It is likely that this photograph was taken on “Trades Day,” when all farmers would bring their goods to sell in town or to be loaded onto freight cars and delivered to customers elsewhere. Since few people are farmers today, the modern equivalent of “Trades Day” is referred to as the “farmer’s market.”

In the 21st Century, much of the American marketplace is saturated with cheaply-made goods produced in foreign countries. While international trade occurring on the theory of comparative advantage leads to quantity, some question whether quality has suffered, while the United States economy has also become largely dependent on foreign powers. A century ago, most Americans were not only buying American-made goods, but goods produced according to the theory of comparative advantage between the different regions of their own nation – a concept largely lost on the modern consumer.

Is it possible to reinvent this type of trade today? The idea of bringing back manufacturing jobs is a political “rabbit hole” beyond the context of this post, but modern farmer’s markets still supply a ready source of consumable goods today. Not only will purchasing locally-produced goods lessen America’s dependence on foreign governments, but shopping at a farmer’s market instead of large chain stores can be a lot of fun!

Song: Dudley, S. H, et al. Monarch Minstrel, first part, no. 1. 1902. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-5281/.

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