The huckster's wagon
A rolling dry goods store for country folks
By Perry Piper
The evolution of entrepreneur-ship in the days of our youth saw the huckster wagon become the next step "forward" after the pack peddler. The latter was limited to what he could carry but was not bound by roads.
The wagon peddler could carry a much greater stock, and heavier items, and he could use the capacity of his vehicle to transport "trade-ins" he took in swap. These often included old hens or butter and eggs, traded for sugar and spices.
Two kinds of wagon peddlers, or "hucksters," visited us on Muddy Creek. One sold fresh fruits and vegetables and might have made one trip a year into the country with oranges and grapefruit.
This type of huckster used an open-sided wagon pulled by a horse until about 1930, when he graduated to a motorized vehicle that had open sides or wire mesh on the sides. The Reo Speedwagon of about the 1925-era was one such vehicle.
The peddler who more often came our way used a closed-body wagon. I can see it still. It was one of those special spring wagons that was to a buck-board what a heavy-duty panel truck is to a pickup today.
It was gaily painted and had a built-in spring seat with a roof or top that extended over the open cab.
The sides of the cab had round windows of glass and often there would be flower vases on the inside in which Charley the hustler would place spring wild flowers or wild roses or, in the later summer, cat tails and dried weeds that struck his fancy.
One horse pulled the wagon and it always had an old felt hat perched on its head, with two holes cut in the crown for the ears.
Charley was one of those happy-go-lucky, let-tomorrow-take-care-of-itself sorts of fellows. He was always singing folk songs or strumming on his banjo as the horse picked its way along the road.