"Some men chose to open mercantile establishments in population centers, throw open their doors and invite the world to beat a path to their emporiums. Other entrepreneurs could not adjust to the immobility of city life although they were merchants at heart. Restlessness of independent men brought forth the peddler who eventually produced the traveling salesman. In the 18th and 19th century peddlers were commonplace across the great expanses of the vast American continent. Their spirit of adventure, quest for new horizons and a pioneering instinct fulfilled their dreams of independence and freedom while providing them a means to earn a living. But they paid a price, too. There were cheerless, lonely nights between hamlets, villages and isolated farmhouses with no families to welcome them, no cheery hearths. But they found solace in the ever-changing beauty and wonder of a land of surpassing beauty and variety." (Published by Scott Arts Graphics)
