1884 HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF AN INCREDIBLY HARDWORKING 31 YEAR OLD CONNECTICUT PEDDLER

On offer is an original 1884 handwritten diary of a needle peddler, George E. Metcalf, of Connecticut. George was once a teacher; now he crisscrosses Connecticut as he sells needles, then oranges, then stationery, then back to needles. He zips across the state, first on train, or "the cars", but thinks nothing of walking ten or more miles between towns, peddling his wares. He gets a letter from his wife in early January that their baby is sick, so he takes the train home. One minute he's in Bristol, then Glastonbury, then Windsor Locks, then New Haven, then Poquonock, then Branford, then Cheshire and Southington. In March another baby is born. In April it appears his wife Alice has had enough and heads home to Middleton, with the babies. In Bristol he stays in a traveler's home "thick with bedbugs." He sells in Waterbury and Millvale, Guilford and Middletown. He visits the P.T. Barnum side shows in Hartford. George has an oyster breakfast at Branford and then goes oystering in Guilford, on Long Island Sound. Then on to Saybrook and Deep River. Walked to East Lyme, then over to New London. He notes that he has turned 31 and is just a peddler! He watches a Republican torchlight parade in New Britain Oct. 16, Democratic procession Oct. 23. On Nov. 26 he's selling stationery in Colchester and reports that he's made the most money today that he's ever made-- $6.48. He spends Christmas at home with his parents in Middleton. He receives a handkerchief for a gift. No more mention of wife or babies, but he looks forward to better sales in 1885. Description: ~120 pp. 7.5 x 12 cm. Standard leather diary with closure tab; With weights and measures tables, interest laws for all the states, tide table, distance and time by shortest mail route, population of cities, etc. Good condition.; Manuscript; 48mo - over 3" - 4" tall; Peddling, Peddler, Naive, Economy, Commerce, Hand Written, Personal, Americana, Memoir, Handwritten, autograph, autographs, signed, letters, document, documents, manuscript, manuscripts, writers, writer, author, Holograph, personal, Ephemera, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito,