Chester Chatter: Door-to-door salesmen to Tupperware parties

| Sep 25, 2017 | Comments 0

By Ruthie Douglas
© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Remember a time, long past, of door-to-door salesmen?

A knock at the door might mean the Fuller Brush salesman or perhaps the Knapp Shoe salesman. At the end of the Green Mountain Turnpike we even got a Sunbeam Bread man.

Also there was Avon, Watkins products and Rawleigh.

There was also the home parties like Stanley cleaning products, Tupperware, Sarah Coventry Jewelry and near Christmas, toy parties. The hostess served simple refreshments to those friends attending as well as getting orders from those unable to attend. One earned points toward items that were for sale.

Many deliveries were made from door to door. Many of us were wakened in early morning with the rattle of milk bottles carried in metal racks.

An old gent in a beaten up old pickup truck would stop by the farm collecting rags.   We saved clean rags for his pick up each month. He weighed them and paid us. I think he sold them for shoddy.

Also come fall farmers came by with apples.

How things have changed.

People past and present

How sad to hear of the passing of well-known, beloved pharmacist Bill Hale. Bill was owner of Chester Drugstore for many years.

Sympathy to Mary Hill on the passing of her mother.

Mark O’Neil, who is home recovering from recent surgery, has been pleased with a visit from his daughter Beth of Colorado.

On Friday, Sept. 15 members of the American Legion paused to remember the POWs and MIAs in an impressive ceremony presented by Agnes Barnes.

Wow, this past Fall Festival weekend seemed to find more people on our Chester Green than in the Big Apple’s Times Square. Wasn’t it great?

Angie Peterson is home after spending the week with her daughter Lindsey and grandson Jack as well as Karen Howard and Donna Griswold.

Did you know that people in the United States eat more than 5 million pounds of pickles every year?

The American Red Cross held a Blood Drive at NewsBank Center on Monday. The ladies of the American Legion Post #67 volunteered their help and served refreshments.

  • This week’s trivia: Do you know where the Wave Makers Salon was?
  • Answer to last week’s trivia question: Winston Cook’s name is inside the steeple of the Baptist Church.

Street Talk

Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?

Evan Parks: House sitting for a friend watching television.
Lucy Stone: I was in the kitchen washing dishes.
Howard Beach: Working remodeling a house in Granby, Conn.
Kevin Kubas: I was teaching a PE class in Farmington, Conn.
Bev Lauren: We were at an airport trade show in Canada. I will never forget that day.
John Donarum: I was teaching an English class in Hamden, Conn.
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Filed Under: Chester Chatter • Community and Arts Life

About the Author: Ruthie Douglas is originally from Springfield but has called Chester her home for 58 years, and has been writing the Chester Chatter column for more than 40 of those years. Ruthie is also a longtime volunteer throughout the community.

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