"Speckled pups!" called out the farmer.
"Smart speckled pups for sale."

Do you remember when you first became interested in flea markets?  My obsession interest started at a very young age, around 5 or 6.

Living in north Alabama, we had relatives spread throughout the area and spent Sunday afternoons driving throughout the countryside visiting family.  Those trips often resulted in a drive through Scottsboro, a small town that still retains its homey atmosphere.

Like many Southern towns, Scottsboro conducted a monthly 1st Monday event on the square where farmers came into town to trade, barter and sell.  The market actually began on the Sunday before and you could buy just about anything there - guns, produce, hunting dogs, chickens, churns, crafts.

Daddy would give us a dollar to spend which we thought was a kingly sum. Hand carved wood toys, homemade fried pies, baby chicks, marbles - the choices seemed endless and my brother and I tediously deliberated over our purchases.   In the end
he usually bought at least one arrowhead for our father and I would settle on a flour sack tea towel or pot holder for Mom.



One of the most fascinating things I remember from the market was seeing my first memory jug.  Ever heard of them?  Theories speculate that memory jugs originated during the 19th Century in the southern Appalachian states and were often used as grave markers by the poor
who couldn't afford a tombstone.  Other historians theorize that they were a post-Civil War arts and crafts form of an early scrapbook originating in Africa.  

Everyday items were adhered to a clay jug with plaster or river mud, small mementos of loved ones.  Each was unique and gaudily beautiful in its own right.  I was fascinated by the tiny treasures that were forever frozen in time.


 

                                Appalachian History                           Purple Palette Artists

 The jug to the left is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.   Many historians speculate that the resurgence of memory jugs as an art form during the 1920s and
   30s was a result of the Depression.  Collectors today can expect to pay hundreds
   of dollars for an authentic jug.


Although I have vivid recollections of the fried pies and the memory jug, the smart speckled pups won my heart.

Maybe that's why we have a smart speckled pup today.