Occupation of "huckster"
Marce Schulz
>
> I was amused to find while researching one of my great-great-
> grandfathers that, after having a go as a farmer in the 1860
> federal census in Montgomery Co, Pennsylvania, he was down in
> the 1870 census as a "huckster."
Frank:
When I was growing up in a suburb of Philadelphia, we had a huckster. He was a man with a
horse-drawn wagon, and he sold fruits and vegetables. He led the horse up and down the streets
and called out "Potatoes! Carrots! Tomatoes! Fresh Green Beans!" etc. in a sing-song voice. I
don't remember how often he came, but all the women in the neighborhood came out and bought from
him. There was a scale hanging from one side of the cart. My mother always refered to him as "the
huckster", so I grew up thinking that's what a huckster is. There was definitely no negative
connotation to the word. And it was fairly common in other neighborhoods.
By the way, this was in the 1950s, believe it or not. We also had a horse-drawn milkman, and a
knife shapener who hawked his services up and down the street, but he walked.
Marce
Shirley Sotona
>From: Marce Schulz <ma...@bigbang.pgh.net>
>Subject: Re: Occupation of "huckster"
>Date: Fri, 01 Mar 1996 09:15:23 -0500
>When I was growing up in a suburb of Philadelphia, we had a huckster. He was
a man with a >horse-drawn wagon, and he sold fruits and vegetables. He led the
horse up and down the streets >and called out "Potatoes! Carrots! Tomatoes!
Fresh Green Beans!" etc. in a sing-song voice. I >don't remember how often he
<snip>
>By the way, this was in the 1950s, believe it or not. We also had a horse-drawn milkman, and a
>knife shapener who hawked his services up and down the street, but he walked.
>Marce
In 1986 and 1987 I lived in the small town of Tilton, NH. There was an
elderly resident--- The Eggman-- who still sold his eggs from a horse drawn
cart he would lead (bells ringing) up and down the streets, as he visited
regular customers and hawked his eggs to passersby. I was told he had been
selling eggs that way for decades (started back when there were still
others making deliveries via horse and cart). He delivered eggs to town twice
a week. The first time I saw the little yellow horse drawn wagon and the old
man shouting "Fresh Eggs!", I couldn't believe my eyes (I kept looking
for the rest of the parade!).
Shirley