Document text
Accession 410. 4
$1187
Date received
10/10/40
Consignment no.
1
Shipped from
ash. Off's*
Label
Amount
9P
et c.2440-1!, r et kely ,t4,i 4, r-4,
WPA L. C. PROJECT UNIT
Form -3
/0.1k1P.7:1.... Collection (or Type)
Place of origin
I111. Dats.andt,
kr•Dec•)
Project worker...Bil.44..._hallabifik
Project editor
RemarksA...dithinDit.511741911.../It...SOL...&647
-1
Pack on my Back.
Hilda Polacheok.
American Folk Stuff.
2 7 u."0 4A)--ertIo'
How did I happen to become a peddler? When I came to
Chicago in 1870, there was nothing else to do. I was eighteen
years old; I had learned no trade in Russia. The easiest thing
to do was to peddle.
(Here was a promising start to a tale of frontier commerce
by a true old timer. His story grew out of a conversation
about the present day refugee problem.)
People coming to Ametioa today have a much harder time.
There are better houses to live in and nearly everybody has
a bath -tub, but there are no jobs. It is not easy to make a
living. In the old days, if you had a few dollars, you could
buy some dry -goods and peddle. But today you must know a trade
or have a profession, otherwise you have no chance.
I went to live with an aunt and uncle when I first came
to Chicago. They lived in a small four room house on Fourth
Avenue. (Federal Street today) They had four children but they
managed to rent one room to two roomers. I shared the bed with
these two men.
The day after I got to Chicago my uncle asked me if I had
any money. I told him I had ten dollars. He told me to invest
it in dry goods and start peddling. I peddled in Chicago till
after the fire og 1871. There were not many stores, so I had
no trouble selling my goods. I used to make from six to ten
dollars a week. I paid my aunt three dollrs a week for my
food and lodging and the rest saved. I had the responsi-
W 3687
Hilda Polacheek,
American Folk Stuff.
Peek on my Back.
bility of bringing my father, two sisters and two brothers
to Amerioa.
It was the great fire of 1871 that made me a country
peddler. Oh, yest I remember the fire very well. It was
in October. We used to go to bed early, because the two
roomers had to go to work very early. We were getting ready
to go to bed, when we heard the fire bells ringing. I asked
the two men if they wanted to see where the fire was.
"Why should I care where the fire is," one of the men said.
"As long as our house is not on fire, I don't care what house
is burning. There is a fire every Monday and Thursday in Chicart
go."
But I wanted to see the fire. So I went out into the street.
I.saw the flames acrods the river. But I thought that since
the river was between the fire and our house, there was nothing
to worry about. I went into the house and went to bed.
The next thing I knew my two bed -fellows were shaking me.
"Get up," they cried. "The whole city is on firel Save your
things! We are going to Lincoln Park."
I jumped out of bed and pulled on my pants. Everybody in
the house was trying to save as much as possible. I tied my
clothes in a sheet. With my clothes under my arm and my pack
on my back, I left the house with the rest of the family.
Everybody was running north. People were carrying all kinds
of crazy things. A woman was carrying a pet of soup, which was
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Pack on my Back.
Hilda Polaoheok,
American Folk Stuff.
spilling all over her dress. People were carrying oats, dogs
and goats. In the great excitement people saved worthless
things and left behind good things. I saw a woman carrying
a big frame in which was framed her wedding veil and wreath.
She said it would have been bad luck to leave it behind.
When we came to Lake Street I saw all the wagons of
Marshall Field and Company lined up in front of their 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 merchandise was taken
to the street -oar barns on State near Twentieth Street. I am
sure that Marshall Field must have been one of the rowners of
the street -car company. Otherwise why would the street -car
people have allowed him to bring his goods there. A couple
of weeks later, Marshall Field started doing business in the
ear -barns. I remember buying some goods there.
No one slept that night. People gathered on the streets
and all kinds of reasons were given for the fire. I stood
near a minister. He was talking to a group of men. He said
the fire was sent by God as a warning that the people were
wicked. He said there were too many saloons in Chicago. There
were too many houses of prostitution. A woman who heard this
said that since the fire started in a barn it was a direct
warning from God. She said Jesus was also born in a barn.
I talked to a man who lived next door to Frs. O'Leary, and he
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Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
told me that the fire started in Mrs. O'Leary's barn. She
went out to milk the cow when it was begining to get dark.
She took a lamp with her and the cow kicked the lamp over and
that's how the fire started. There were all kinds of songs
made up 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 made up to .that tune.
These are the words:
"One moonlight night while the families were in bed,
Mrs. O'Leary took a lantern to the shed,
The caw kicked it over winked her eye and said:
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight, my baby."
As may of the homes were burned, many people left the city.
Some went to live with relatives in other cities. A great many
men became country peddlers. There were thousands of men walk-
ing from farm to farm with heavy packs on their backs. These
peddlers earreid all kinds of merchandise. Things that they
thought the farmers and their families could use.
There was no rural mail delivery in those days. The far-
mers very seldom saw a newspaper. They were hungry for news.
They were very glad to see a peddler from any large city. They
wanted to hear all about the great fire. When I told a farmer
that I was from Chicago, he was very glad to see me. You see,
I was a newspaper and a department store.
The farms were ten,fifteen, twenty, and even thirty miles
apart. It would take a day sometime to walk from one farm to
the next one. T used to meet peddlers from all over. It was
-5
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
not an easy life. But we made pretty good money. Most of the
men had came from Europe and had left their families behind.
We were all trying to save enough money to bring relatives to
America.
The living expenses of the peddlers were very little. The
farmers' wives always gave us plenty of food. I did not eat
anything that was not kosher. But I could eat eggs and there
were plenty of them. There was fresh milk and bread and butter.
The farmers always gave us a place to sleep. In the summer
we slept in the hayloft. In the winter, if there was no
spare bed, we would sleep on the floor. When the farmer had
no extra blankets, we slept with our clothes on to keep warm.
I had a customer in Iowa. I used to get to his farm once
a year. He had a nice six room house, and it was one of the
few places where I could have a bed to sleep in. When I got
to the place after a year's absence, there was no house. The
ground was covered with snow, and I could not even see the
plaoe where the house had been. As I was looking around,
thinking that I was lost, my good friend the farmer came out
of a dug -out. I asked him what had happened to his house.
"Oh, we had a terrible storm about four months ago, and
the house blew away," said the farmer. "We are living in this
dug -out now, it isn't as nice as the house was, but it's safe
and warm. Come on in."
I had never been in a dug -out and I was surprised to see
-6
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
how nice the farmer and his wife had fixed up this hole in
the ground. There were seven people living in this dug -out,
but they made room for me.
The farmers were very lonely during the long winters, and
they were glad to have anybody come to their homes. Very often
they were cheated by crooks that travelled about the country.
The farmers called them city slickers.
I remember the story of one of those slickers. You see,
I never worked on Saturday, WhiCh was my Sabbath, and I never
worked on Sunday which was the farmer's Sabbath. You see, I
had a five day week long before the unions started asking for
it. I was spending Saturday with a farmer, and I was pitting
on the back porch in the afternoon, when a horse and buggy
drove into the yard. Two men got out of the buggy and walked
into the kitchen. No one knocked on doors those days. Theta
were no door -bells. One man was well dressed and the other one
looked like a hired man. The man with the good clothes, said
that he was "Doctor O'Brien", and the other one was his driver.
The "doctor" wanted to know if he and his driver could get some
dinner. He said be could pay any price. The "doctor" wanted
fried spring chicken.
Well, we had finished our dinner. But the farmer's wife
said she would fix dinner for them. She went out to the yard
and caught two fine ;spring chickens. She dressed them and
soon they were frying. Thile the good woman was fixing some
potatoes, the "doctor" went out into the yard. As soon as
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Hilda Polacheck,
Amerioan Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Back.
he was out of the kitchen, the driver told the woman that she
should be careful when the "doctor" paid for the dinner, be-
cause he had a lot of counterfeit money.
Well, the woman put the dinner on the table. The driver
the -called the "doctor" and those twO men sat down and ate
everything on the table. I never saw anybody eat so much.
After they each had. three cups of coffee, the "doctor" took
out a big wallet and gave the woman ti„Aen-dollar bill and
asked for the change.
The woman thought the money was counterfeit, so she said
she had no change. The "doctor" was very sorry, but he said
he was driving to town and he would leave the money in the
post office. The men left. Of course there was no money
left at the post office.
For months after that, every farm I 'came to, I heard the
story of"Doctor O'Brein,- and his driver. A farmer who had
heard the story had the "doctor" arrested for carrying count-
erfeit money. But all his money was good. That was just a X
trick to get free meals.
After carrying the pack on my back for two years, I de-
cided to buy a horse and wagon. many other peddlers got the
same idea. I used to meet the small covered wagons as they
drove about the country.
I had now been peddling for five years and had saved
enough money to bring my father, brothers and sisters to
America. They came to Chicago. By that time a great many
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack on my Beek.
new houses had been built and we rented a four room house
on Maxwell Street. My,oldest brother started peddling. One
of my sisters started working in a clothing factory, while
the other one kept house.
After my father had been in Chicago a few mtniths, he
wanted to go to Burlington, Iowa to see a friend who had been
his neighbor in Russia. When he got there, he met this
friend's daughter and decided that I ought to marry her. So
I went to Burlington, met the girl, and I agreed with my father.
The young lady and I were married in 1875. I rented a small
house near my father's homeand we furnished it. I beliete we
had the first rug in the neighborhood. We were very proud of
our first American home. It was the begining of a good life.
I stayed home for a week with my young wife. It was my first
vacation since I had come to America. Then I started off again
in my wagon.
Several years after we were married the house next door to
ours burned down. My wife, who was a very good housekeeper,
took the family into our home. The husband was peddling in the
country and he did not know about it. So when he came home,
he could not find his family. Finally some of the neighbors
told him where his wife and children were. He came to our
house and made himself at home. But he told my wife later
that he did not like it at our house because it was too clean.
He could not spit on the floor.
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Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
Pack On my Back.
Many of the men who carried packs on their backs and in
covered wagons, became very rich. They learned American
business ways. Some of them opened mall stores which their
wives looked after while the men were on the road. When the
stores showed a good profit, they would quit peddling. Some
of the largest department stores in the country were started
by men who peddled with packs on their backs.
I never got rich. My wife and I raised six phildren.
When my sisters and brothers got married, my father came to
live with us. Then one of my sisters died and her children
came to live with us. 'then my wife brought her parents to
America and they lived with us. Then we wanted our children
to have an education, so we sent them to college. There never
was enough money left to start any kind of business. But I
feel that we made a good investment.
During the fifty years that I peddled, I always went home
f7r all the Jewish holidays and when a baby was born. I would
stay home a week and then was off again inl.my wagon.
Yes, the peddlers with their packs did their share to
make life more comfortable for the farmers, while they were
ploughing the Around and raising food for America.