Saturday, September 12, 2009

Peddlers, how many of you remember?




Peddlers were people who would pass the houses to sell their wares. Most of the times they were strangers. A lot of the times the people would be glad to see them, it would save them a trip to town or to the store. In the book of Saint Mary is a sentence regarding peddlers "It would be easier for them to find a job than sell from door to door. "In the book it also mentions in 1905 or around 1905 some villagers remembered a man going from door to door with a bear all dressed up and he would perform and they would donate money. Also some peddlers sold hooked rugs from door to door, another sold pots n pans, another sold clothes, and some native americans would go door to door to sell their beautiful baskets.
A certain Michel Caissie would travel door to door on his bicycle to sell lottery tickets, combs,and whatever he could sell. This Michel weighed around 200 pounds and he would stay over whenever the villagers invited him in.
Some sold religious things such as statues, crucifix,image and so on.
The peddlers that I remember were the ones who came by my home and sold all sorts of fish and shellfish, (boy their trucks sure stunk)grin. I also remember someone coming by selling pots and pans and silverware. Mom bought some of those. I remember Watkins dealers coming to our home, Mom used to buy their medicated ointment and their fruit drinks and spices. My mother in law once told me that during the Depression she would go pick oysters, shuck them ,put them in bottles and go sell them door to door. I myself remember picking blueberries and going door to door selling them for ten cents a quart. I worked hard for those ten cents. grin. And I remember selling door to door for Regal's. Especially during the Christmas Season. My sister sold for Avon. Do you remember the milkman came to the door,or the ice man used to bring big blocks of ice for our ice box?
We sure have come a long way since then, now we have internet, and deliveries, so we pick up the phone order our Pizza and poof it has arrived. But again maybe they too are peddlers, did they not come to my door with the Pizza? grin.
Then we had the photographer with the pony coming by to take photos of the kids. I think everyone or nearly everyone has a photo of someone on a pony.
These are all part of our past, if you enjoy reading today's blog,think about your great grandchildren reading about peddlers of our times. I think later on down the road all these little stories we share will be appreciated and enjoyed by someone. I personally feel that memories are to be shared ,photos are to be shared, our history is to be shared and most of all our life should be shared while we are still able to think ,to write,to talk, now is that time to do it. For our descendants some of whom we will never know, but they will have a piece of us to remember.
Thanks for the visit, do stop by again .
Have a great day
Aline

6 comments:

Maria said...

oh I remember my grandmother telling me about the peddlers....
Great article you wrote here Aline,
Maria

alineskee said...

Thank you Maria, I do remember when they came to our house. Back then it was a way for them to earn a living. When I sold for Regals around Christmas I would really enjoy going to different homes and chatting with the ladies. And when I sold the blueberries and got ten cents, boy was I ever rich. grin

Brian Cormier said...

My grandparents on PEI were visited regularly by the "meat man" and the "fish man". I remember their visits very clearly when we'd stay with them for a few weeks in the summer.

Greta Koehl said...

I do remember the milkman leaving milk on our doorstep, and it seems that there were some cleaners who would also deliver the clothes that they cleaned. The other thing I remember was going to get fresh eggs at the dairy (Southern California, 1950s and 1960s). We would just drive up to a big open counter and buy the eggs.

alineskee said...

Greta I remember Mom used to get six quarts of milk, they were left on our front doorsteps, and at that time the cream used to come to the top of the milk and my brother who was around three would go and drink the cream from the top of the bottles (without being noticed.) grin.

alineskee said...

Brian I remember the fish man very well. I don't remember the meat man, maybe they did come and peddle their meat but I don't remember. The fish man that came to our house was a Mister Collet, and you could smell him a mile away. grin.