Mesquite Furniture Show

Fredericksburg, Texas

A show featuring mesquite wood furniture occupies the market square this weekend. Free admission attracted a large number of local folks, but late in the day the San Antonio, Dallas and Houston cars started arriving. Tomorrow will be packed. This town is mainly a tourist town and they do it right. My guess is that three out of every four weekends is an event that packs the city full of tourists with more money than they know what to do with. Todays prices were a good example.

The wood working in general was excellent or better. Obviously a lot of folks used the same generic patterns so the differences were in trim and quality of construction. The worst piece noted in my tour was really good quality of construction and finish. The horse you will see in a minute was fantastic in fit and finish.

The tour starts with some plain looking table from a few feet away, but the closer you get the better they look. In fact up close they, as is typical of all of it, were close to a work of art.


Several different folks had rocking chairs of a few different styles, but this one was my choice for the best finished one. It was not the shiniest, but has a velvet finish that was almost erotic when you sat in it. $2800.00 each.



These birds were by far the most unusual of the show. Apparently they go out and collect mesquite stumps and chunks to carve into decorations. It was very unusual and interesting to examine them up close.

Notice the bulldog in the back right of the picture above. His owner brought him through one of the tents for a walk. It was my good fortune to be at the right place at the right time to meet my first bulldog. He came walking through the crowd like a minature bulldozer. Some folks shyed away from him, but not me. When my hand got low enough, he came right on over for a good ear scratching. A wonderful pup he is. As they continued on through the crowd, others that had seen me in action, started letting him approach him. It probably took the pup twenty minutes to go the fifty feet back to his water dish. He was very popular.

Now for the fanciest woodwork of the show. At a mere $10,000 we have the hobby horse. This is the first one the fellow built and now he only builds on commission. He said he has more business than he can handle. He has several models and they range from $7500 to over $20,000.


And now we get to my favorite stall. As you are walking by this old country boy greets you and invites you to sit a spell and tell some lies. Mr. Browning of Snyder has his act honed very well. We chatted for several minutes.

His furniture is more rustic in style than the others, but not any cheaper. All this hand made one of a kind furniture is priced proudly. In the picture Mr. Browning is on the right and one of his helpers is on the left. It was a very pleasant time visiting with him and his companion.


Please note the lampshades on the lamps in the bedroom suite are made of mesquite. The lampshades and the birds were in the running for most unique of the show.

It was a fun event to experience and Kevin L. you now have some challengers in your woodworking hobby. But it is still a great way to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.