Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wallace, The Traveling Man, err, Salesman

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

As I mentioned in yesterday's post on Wallace and the Michigan State Fair, Man's great grandfather was a traveling man, err, a traveling salesman.  He sold farm implements for years, basically for his entire working career, except for a brief stint when he worked as a miller in the earliest years of his marriage.

Imagine my delight when I found the following short mention of Wallace in a newspaper, the St. Paul Daily Globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.) in the May 26, 1888 issue, buried on Page 10.

"THEY WERE ON THE OMAHA
  A Long List of Commercial Travelers Whom "Charlie" Ran Across."
(Down the column several entries, we find:)
"W. H. Lashbrook, of Chicago, put in an appearance at Belle Plaine on Monday."

Even better was this wonderful cartoon graphic that appeared at the top of the column.


So, have to wonder (she asks, with twinkle in eye and tongue in cheek), is Wallace the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gentleman checking in at the hotel?



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2 comments:

Éire Historian said...

Love This!! What a great find. My vote is for the first man in line. I love that mop of curly dark hair and the jaunty way he's wearing his top hat. :):)

Cheers,
Jennifer

Susan Clark said...

I agree with Jennifer. But I do wonder just what the story is with Road Warrior #3. He looks as if he's been caught somewhere he's not supposed to be.