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FORK OR A FIRE SHOVEL
Since Fireplaces were the only means of heating and cooking, there was a
good business done in peddling shovels, forks, pokers and so forth. In the
early days these implements were generally made of iron. Later other metals
were used. FIRE IRONS.
As a rule
these peddlers were old women. They wore full-skirted dresses with tight
fitting waists and white cotton kerchiefs around the neck, and the customary
white apron. A wide brimmed hat was worn over a wimple, as shown. The wimple
of white linen covered the forehead, neck, chin and sides of the face.
Medieval women when out of doors always wore it. These women had a very
simple cry, which never seemed to vary: "Buy a Fork or a Fire Shovel."
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DISPENSER OF MINTWATER
In the early 1830’s there was a man in New York who peddled Mint Water. This
was a concoction made from mint leaves and rum---similar to a mint julep.
He, armed with a jug and a measure, walked the streets of New York selling
mint-water by the pint or quart. Used in moderation, mint-water was
considered beneficial. If used too freely it was said to excite an “unholy
love” for ardent spirits. In England fresh mint was sold by the “Herb-wife”,
and her cry of “Come buy my mint, my fine green mint!” echoed through the
London streets. Or sometimes the cry was: “Buy Rue! Buy Sage! Buy Mint! Buy
Rue! Buy Sage! Buy Mint! A farthing a bunch”
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Johnnie Apple seed is so well known as hardly to need any description. He
was born in Springfield, Mass. in 1775. When he was about 25 years old the
desire to wander to the new country of the West grew upon him. He was not an
especially attractive man in either face or dress. He wore scarcely any
clothes – sometimes just an old sack with holes for his legs and arms. In
winter and summer he went bare-foot. On his head in lieu of a hat, he wore a
tin saucepan in which he cooked his food when mealtime came.
He traveled
by boat, by foot and sometimes on horseback. His sacks of apple-seeds were
collected from cider mills in New York and Pennsylvania. He carried with
him a rifle, a hatchet, a rake, a hoe, and a coil of rope, fishing tackle, a
bag of meal, a lump of salt, a small sum of money and his Bible. He preached
both to settlers and Indians.
In 1838 it was estimated that the seed he had planted had grown into
fruit-bearing trees over an area of 100,000 square miles. He spent 46 years
traveling over the country-well beloved by all.
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Another unique solicitor of foods was the seller of meat for Cats’ and
Dogs’. He walked the streets daily and supplied his regular customers with
bones, meat, tripe, hearts and liver for their pets. He was extremely
popular and had only to enter a neighborhood in order to be immediately
surrounded by the cats and dogs of the street without waiting for his cry of
“Cats’ and Dogs’ Meat.”
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“Any Molasses Cornballs Today?”
Since candy was not widely made and sold in America until after the middle
of the nineteenth century, molasses cornballs were very popular with
families of moderate means.
The corn was often grown on their own land. In the evenings the family would
gather around the hearth and pop the corn. When popped, the corn was stirred
into molasses syrup and shaped into balls. These molasses cornballs were not
only a favorite with the children but with the grown-ups as well.
Cornballs were peddled in the streets wherever there were crowds. A circus,
a fair or a political rally always offered a good field. At affairs of this
nature there was a ready market for the cornballs and sales were always
brisk.
Candy was expensive and not too common, since the bulk of it was imported
chiefly from France. After the Civil War, the candy business in the United
States increased sharply. Stick candy, rock candy, gumdrops and marshmallows
and even bonbons and chocolate drops were being manufactured and sold in
this country. This candy was sold in bulk. Twenty, thirty and forty pound
boxes were sold to the grocer. He would box them or sell them in bags in any
quantity desired. It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that candy
could be bought in most stores. By that time penny candy, and the more
sophisticated chocolate creams and bonbons were easily obtainable, even in
the country stores as well as in the stores in the city.
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“Ink Vendor”,
Another peddler of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries was the Ink Vendor. He
carries a small key of ink on his back, a
funnel and measure fastened to his belt and
he holds a handful of gaily colored quill
pens. His cry was “Fine Writing ink”.
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“Earthenware Vendor”, A much older
and more experienced woman was the Vendor of
Pottery and Earthenware. She often drove in
from the out-lying countryside, her cart or
donkey laden with baskets of dishes, jugs,
pitchers and teapots. She would unload her
wares and set them up on rudely constructed
stands on the village green, in the market
place or at one at the fairs. Her cry
was:--“’Any Earthenware, buy a jug or teapot?
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“Medicine Peddler” The Peddlers of
herbs and medicines flourished in America
all through the nineteenth century.
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“Tapioca for Sale”
A young sailor on shore leave during a
period of convalescence was living in a
small unpretentious boarding house in
Boston, Ms. This was in 1894.
One day he was served a dish of tapioca pudding
for dessert. He found it most unappetizing.
It contained lumps of uncooked tapioca. He
complained to the boarding-house keeper, a
Mrs. Stavers; He was met with a belligerent
reply that no doubt he could make a better
pudding. He accepted the challenge and
suggested that she grind the tapioca up in
her coffee grinder.
The lady followed his suggestion. She was instantly
rewarded with so much praise from her
boarders because of the resulting smooth,
creamy pudding, that she ground more tapioca
than she needed for her own use, and packed
it in paper bags.
The young enterprising sailor went from house to
house selling it to the neighbors and later
to other people living in the adjoining
towns.
At first it was known as Mrs. Stavers’ Improved Dessert
or Tapioca Superlative. It soon became very
widely known and extremely popular. It was
only a short time before the rights to her
process were bought out by a John Whitman,
who organized the John Whitman Grocery Co.
and sold the product to retail stores under
the name of “Minute Tapioca”. After nearly
eighty years, Minute Tapioca is still used
and still popular.
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