1892 Traveling Salesmen United States Railway , First Edition Signed Marshall

Description: O'er Rail And Cross-Ties With Gripsack A Compilation On The Commercial Traveler By George L. Marshall Published By G. W. Dillingham New York 1892 The title-page is dated in Roman numerals, MDCCCXCII ( 1892 ). Hardcover. Green Cloth Binding. 5.25" x 7.5" 346 pages. Portrait of the author ( frontispiece ), and an illustration showing a traveling salesman among passengers on a train in the year 1885. First Edition Signed in ink by the author on the front endpaper : " Yours Truly, Geo. L. Marshall , Jany. 4 - 1892 " Signed, first edition of a scarce title. Author George L. Marshall relates anecdotes of experiences of traveling salesmen ( or " drummers ") in the United States in the 1880s. " O'er Rail And Cross-Ties " - railroad travel , " With Gripsack " - a " gripsack " being a small suitcase or traveling bag. If you boarded a train in the late 1800s, your travel bag would have been called a grip. A grip was not a bag you checked to the baggage car or entrusted to the care of someone else ; it was a personal bag kept with you at all times. In the late 19th century, " drummer " was a popular name for traveling salesmen - think of the phrase " drumming up " business. Drummers were also called commercial travelers, runners, or " gripmen " (" grip " here referring to the trunk or suitcase carried by salesmen ). " Some thirty years ago, I contracted what grew to be an unfortunate fondness for a Knapsack. It furnished me solace on many weary tramps, until, without my volition, I laid it aside. The road of life stretched away before me. I had heart and hope, I was willing to work. The transition from knapsack to gripsack was natural..." " For twenty long years I have tugged my grip over long routes of travel, to almost every busy mart in the Union , carrying glad tidings of trade as I journeyed. In these years, much that makes life miserable, and a great deal that gladdens it, transpired within my observation... I have seen from small beginnings swift fortunes made ; and I have seen millions made miserable by sudden failures of fortune. It is to acquaint the reader with some of the actual ups and downs of the drummer, that this compilation has been made." " The tales are told as I heard them, and in every case ( when possible ), due credit has been given to the authors." - from the author's Preface. " ... what a drummer is, how he lives and works, and makes his way in spite of obstacles, that would appear insurmountable." " ...and to acquaint the reader with some of the shrewd, sharp sayings made by drummers , as well as about them." - from the author's Preface. A sampling of The Contents includes : The Drummer Selling as an Art Requisite of a Drummer About the Boys The Seal of Brotherhood Defying the Railroad The Head Waiter How He Fooled 'Em A La Mode Muskegon Strange, if true " Drummer's Jokes " A Drummer's Remedy The Bell Boy Men on the Road The Story of a Country Inn The General Agent An Old Timer's First Trip Christ , Church & Co. A Comedy in a Sleeping Car Mistaken Identity On The Road , Twenty-Five Years Ago Those Bold, Bad Drummers Salesmen and Railroads The Drummer's Life The Boys on the Road The Drummer's Best Girl A Traveling Man Talks Who Pays the Bill " Who turn dat Hog loose ? " Masterpieces of the World's Arch Distorter of the Truth Rival Drummers They have Sand A Startling Experience He Met his match He paid, as usual An Old Timer Worrying a Bridal Party Knights of the Road A True Story of a Slow Train He was full of Wrath The Sad Experience of a Drummer The Dead Drummer A truthful " Cracker " Pleasing a Grumbler Tex-Ar-Kania Sandwich The Car Porter Lost the Cigars Lamentations of a Traveling Man The Drummer's Mistake A Christmas Toast The Battered Old Grip Making the Best of Difficulties The Faithful Traveler Etc. ----------- Condition Worn and stained binding. ( see the photos ) The hinges are tight. Signed by the Author on the front endpaper ( as noted above ). No markings. Old waterstaining on the pages toward the rear of the book. Some page rippling, some other page staining, some page wear. Showing its age, but this is a scarce book. ----------- First Edition Signed by the Author Carefully packed for shipment to the buyer.

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End Time: 2024-09-06T13:29:44.000Z

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