Traveling salesmen

When we were children, a lot of our supplies were delivered by traveling salesmen. No not the joke kind. Real working men.

We had the Fuller Brush Men, Our combs and brushes came from him.

We had the Mason Shoe man, Yep, Work shoes mostly.



We had the Watkins Salesman, Mama always bought their vanilla flavoring. You can still get it in Ferndale at one of the old shops. We also bought Drink mixes, stronger than kool-aid but similar.



We had an ice man, Yep, you needed those if you had an ice-box. That was a big box to keep your food cool. It literally held a huge ice cube, or block of ice, and the inner part of the icebox was of metal. Not a bad invention for a time before electricity. Our Ice Man was my Later-in-life
best friends dad. He was George Rudkins, My friend was Georgia or you all remember her as Trink. In Town we had in ice company, it was on the Main street, right across from the high shcool. We often would stop there and buy ice if George was not due to come around.



We had an LB Price Distributor, HE sold blankets, pillows, lamps, etc. Daddy bought the lamp I now use in my bedroom. It is the one with the pink rose on it. That lamp was the first electric item we owned. Besides the fridge and lights in the ceiling. I never recalll being without electrictiy, but I do recall going to my grandmas where we only had oil lamps. Very spooky at night, especially with all the river sounds. Mama gave me that lamp and it too has a long history.



We had fruit peddlers, Mama always bought some fruit from them, she did a lot of canning with bought fruit, plus we picked it from old home places, That was our extension of fruit. I recall Strawberries and Peaches in the summer. Huc kelberries we picked, Muskadines we picked and persimmons and wild plums. We loved it, at that time I did not like Strawberries, I recall Mama and Aunt Sylvia, (her sister) sitting for hours and cleaning the berries. Aunt Sylvia helped and Mama always gave her part. They could not afford to buy their own. My Mama always shared what we had. Guess that is why we had so much in the food line. God just blessed her pantry. I have to ask your Dad he did mention other distributors but I can not recall.