[Pack on my back]

Document text

Accession no.
W. 3•686
WPA L. C. PROJECT
Form -3
UNIT
ilaikaarl..._Collection (or Type)
Date received
10/10/40
Consignment no.
1
Shipped from
Wash. Off Jai
Label
Amount
up
Title..21Lak_.an..v._ _bask
Place of origin
 Datatt0-1,------
r C
Project worker Hilda Po lao heak
Project editor
Remarks

Pack on my Back.
by
Hilda Polacheck.
Amwrican Folk Stuff
Narrated by Mr. Hyman Bernstein,
5136 South Greenwood Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois.

7114a F91-aohm*,_
American Polk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
How did I happen to become a peddler? Well, I'll tell
you. I came to New York in 1870, The boat docked early in
the morning. Two hours later another man and I started to
look for jobs. In the evening we came back to our rooming
house. He had found a job in a clothing factory. I did not
find a job. So my landlady said that I should peddle matches.
I peddled as long as I had to earn a living.
(Here was a promising start to i tale of frontier com-
merce by a true old timer. His story grew out of a conversa-
tion about the present day refugee problem; our narrator
started by telling how he came to the United States:)
To begin with I left Russia and went to Liverpool,
England. I got there early in the morning. I found my way
to the dock. I was told that the boat for America would leave
in the evening. I wanted to see Liverpool, but I was afraid I
would get lost. So I sat down on my suit case and waited for
the boat to leave. As I was sitting there a young man, about
my age, came up to me and said:
"Are you going to America?"
I said yes.
"Maybe you cad= take me along?" he asked me.
'Have you a ticket!' T asked.
"No", he said.
'Have you any money', I asked.
"I have one pound", he said. will give it to you if
you will let me carry your suit case. If I carry a suit case
W3686

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Hilda Polacheok,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back,
it will look like I am going to America. And if you are
stopped because you have no suit ease, you can show your
ticket,"
I didn't like such business. But then I was sorry for
him: he wanted to go to America as much as I did. So I let
him carry my suit case. But I didn't take his money.
WeLwent into the boat. He put the suit ease down near
me and went down to the lower deck. Before the boat left,
everybody had to get in line and show the tickets. Half of
the ticket was taken. The other half was to be taken when
the boat got to New York. After the boat had left the shore,
the man without the ticket came up to me.
"When you go in to eat, bring me a piece of bread," he
said.
Well, I could not let the man starve. I had brought
some sausage and cheese from home. I did not eat the food on
the boat. It was not kosher. While I was sitting at the
table, I put a couple of pieces of bread in my pocket. I gave
them to the man with a piece of my sausage. I did this at
every meal. But I was worried. What would the man do without
a ticket when the boat got to New York? Somebody said in two
days we would be in New York. I could not sleep. That night
I told the story to the man who slept in the berth above me.
"I'll tell you what we'll do," said the man. "Yesterday
I talked to a Jewish man who is an American. He travels

Hilda Polacheok,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
between England and America very often. He told me he always
goes on this boat. Maybe he knows the oapt411111 and maybe he
will ask the oapatain to fix it."
In the morning we looked for the American. We told him
our story. He said he would talk to the captain. In a couple
of hours he came back.
"Tour friend is lucky," said. the American. "The oaptiiiñ.
said that if the boat was going back to Tringland, he would have
to take the man back. But the boat is going to Australia. So
when the boat gets to New York, he can leave the boat the same
as the people who had tickets."
When the boat docked in New York, we all got off. No one
asked any questions. There was no monkey business. No one
asked how much money we had. There was doctor to see if we
were sick or well. Nobody cared what we did. It is different
today.
A crowd of people met the boat. They were mostly rela-
tives of the people who came over. I had nobody. The man who
slept above me on the boat was met by an uncle. He asked me
where I was going. I said I did not know. So he took me and
the man who had no ticket along with him. When we came to his
house he told ul to go next door. There the woman would take
us as roomers. The woman and her husband and eight children
were living in two rooms. She was a nice woman. She said she
could rent us two cots on the roof.

-4
Hilda Polacheok.
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
'And what happens when it rains” I asked.
"Oh, you can come down and Bit in the kitchen," she said.
"Four children sleep in the kitchen. They sleep very good. They
will not wake up."
"Let's try it," said the man who w'as with me. We rented
the two cots on the roof.
Well, I started peddling. I peddled matches in New York
one year.. I saved up one hundred dollars. I was looking
around to see where I could make more money. I had an uncle
in Chicago. So I wrote him a letter and asked him if I could
make more money in Chicago. He wrote me a very nice letter.
He said that I could make more money if I peddled dry goods in
the country. Well, I wanted to see my uncle and aunt. I wanted
to see Chicago. S6 I sold my basket and I went to Chicago.
(Someone asked what year that was.)
I came to Chicago in June 1871. The'rdWaftetItatrived
fittlitgd peddling. My uncle and aunt lived on Fourth Avenue
at that time. (Wabash Avenue today) They had three rooms. One
room was rented to two roomers. I shared the room with them.
I lived there when the great fire broke out. Yes, I remember
the fire. The nights were getting chilly. The family used to
go to bed early to save coal. We were all going to bed, when
we heard the fire bells.
'Do you want to see where the fire is?' I asked the two
roomers.

-5
American Folk Stuf.
Pack on my Back.
"As long as our house is not on fire, I don't care," one
of the men said. "Why should I bother about a fire?"
But I wanted to see the fire. So I went out into the
street. I saw big flames across the river. Well, I thought,
the river is between the house and fire, so why should I worry?
I went into the house and got into bed.
The next thing I knew the two men were shaking me trying
to wake me.
"Get ups" they said. "The whole city is on fires Save
your things: We are going to Lincoln Park!"
I jumped out of bed and pulled on my p ts. Everybody
in the house was trying to save as much as could. I tied
my clothes in a sheet. With this bundle on one shoulder and
my pack of goods on the other I left the house. Everybody was
running north. When I came to Lake Street, I saw all the
wagons of Marshall Field lined up in front of the place of
business. (The firm was then called Field, Leiter and Company.)
Men and boys were carrying the goods out of the building and
loading everything into the wagons. The goods were taken to
the car barns at State and Twentieth Street. A few days later,
Marsahll Field started doing business in the car barn. I re-
member buying some things before I started peddling.
Everybody was talking about the fire. Everbody had -41644
different story as to how the fire started. I am sure Mrs.
O'Leary's cow started the fire. I was talking to a man who

Hilda Polacheek,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
lived next door to Hrs. O'Leary and he told me. There were
all kinds of songs about the fire. Years after the fire,
people were still singing songs about it. You remember the
song "Hot Time in the Old Town?" Well, there was a song
written to that tune. These are the words:
"One moonlight night when the families were in bed,
Mrs. O'Leary took a lantern to the shed,
The cow kicked it over winked her eye and said:
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight, my baby."
The house where I lived was burned down. I took my pack
and started walking to the country. I had pins, needles, thread,
safety pins, knitting needles and yarn, hat pins, cotton and
woolen cloth, underwear and stockings for the whole family.
Yes, I carried a department store on my back. I walked from
farm to farm There was no rural mail delivery in those days.
Months would pass without isiptelbatrt a newspaper. The farmers
were hungry for news. Everybody wanted to know about the fire.
T would sell my goods and bring news at the same time. Most
of the time it would take all day to walk from one farm to
another. The farms were fifteen, twenty, and thirty miles
apart. But I always made a good day's profit at each farm
house. The farmer's wife always gave me something to eat,
and a place to sleep. I still did not eat anything that was not
kosher. There were plenty of fresh eggs, bread and butter, and
milk. In the summer I would eat fruit from the trees. I got
along.
I walked through Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and some of the

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Hilda Polaoheoke
American Polk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
southern states with my pack. I never worked on my Sabbath.
I never worked on the farmer's Sabbath. The farmers always
respected my religion and I respected his. You see I had a
five day week long before tUe unions.
The farmers and their wives were always very kind to
everybody. Their lives were lonely and they were glad when
anybody came along. Often the good farmers were fooled by
crooks. These crooks would play tricks on the farmers. I
was staying at a farm house one Saturday, when a horse and
buggy drove into the yard. Two men got out of the buggy
and came into the kitchen. No one knocked on doors in those
days. There were no door bells.
One man was well dressed. The other one looked like a
hired man. The man with the good clothes said he was "Doctor
O'Brien." The other one was the driver. The "Doctor" wanted
to know if he and the driver could get some dinner. They
would pay any price. The "Doctor" wanted some fried chicken.
He said he had not eaten fried spring chicten for a long time.
So the farmer's wife said she would fix dinner for them. She
went out to the yard and caught two fine spring chickens. She
fixed them all up and started to fry them. While the woman
was cooking the potatosand the vegetables, the "Doctor" went
out to the yard. As soon as he was out of the kitchen, the
driver told the woman that she should be careful when the
"Doctor" paid for the dinner, because he had counterfeit
money. Well, the woman put the dinner on the table. She had

Hilda Polacheok,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
preserves and jellies. She had hot biscuits and a big cake.
When the dinner was ready, the driver called the "Doctor".
The two sat dawn and ate everything on the table. I never
saw two men eat so much. After they each had three cups of
coffee, the "Doctor" took out a big wallet and gave the woman
ten dollars and asked for the change.
Well, the woman thought the money was counterfeit, so
she said she had no change. The "Doctor" then said that he
was driving to town, and he would leave the money at the
general store if that was satisfactory. (HS used big words
like that) The farmer's wife said it was all right and the
two men left. Of course there was no money left at the general
store. For months after this, every farm house that I came to,
'I heard the story of "Doctor O'Brien". A couple of months
later a farmer had him arrested for carrying counterfeit money.
But his money was good. That was just a trick to get free meals.
I walked about with the pack on my back for two years.
Then I bought a horse and wagon. Things were easier then.
The nest time I went to Chicago to buy goods, my uncle thought
I should get married. Tell, he introduced me to a girl, and
the minute I saw her, I agreed with him. On my next trip to
Chicago we were married. We furnished three rooms and a week
later I went back to my peddling. Yes, rain or shine, hot
or cold, I drove about in my covered wagon selling things that
the farmers needed. I drove through the south. I drove

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Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
through all the midwest states. During the fifty years that I
carried a department store on my back and in my wagon, I made
many friends.
One cold winter night I came to a farm house. I had
not eaten since morning. I had been driving all day. When
I walked into the house, the farmer said that God must have
sent me. The farmer's wife was ready to have a baby. He
did not want to leave her. Would I drive ten miles to fetch
a midwife? I forgot I was hungry. I told the farmer to feed
my horse and put him in the stable. We hitched a horse to the
farmer's buggy and I started off. We came back in time. The
rest of the night the farmer and I kept the stove going and
heating water. When daylight began to show in the sky, we
heard the baby crying. I could not help thinking that I was
not home when my first son was born.
Business was good on that trip. I sold sheets and
pillow cases. The farmer bought all the blankets I had. He
was so happy that he bought all the baby things in my stook.
The farmers in those days had plenty od money. Before
the civil war they used to get eight cents a bushel for wheat.
Then when the war broke out, the government paid them a dollar
and a quarter a bushel. They had saved their money and they
had plenty of it.
While I traveled about the country, my wife was raising
a fine family in Chicago. I would see my children when I got
home for the Jewish holidays. T. used to stay home for a week

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Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
and then back again to the road. It was not an easy life.
But I knew no other way of earning a living. I made the best
of it.
Yes, the peddlers with packs on their backs served Vier
the lonely people on the farms. They made Marshall Field
rich. The country peddler was put out of business by the
mail order house. The mail order house is being put out of
business by the automobile. And that's the way it goes.