Women Who Sold Books Door to Door
2 days ago
- Before public libraries, traveling salespeople brought books to remote areas of the United States, using a subscription model to sell Bibles, manuals, biographies, and fiction.
- Women booksellers had advantages—such as being seen as sympathetic and suited to sell health books to women—but faced physical hardships and social stigma.
- Memoirs of three women (Annie Nelles Dumond, J. W. Likins, and Harriet Wasson Styer) reveal they took up the work out of necessity, escaping difficult personal circumstances.
- Dumond wore a mourning bonnet to disguise her past, while Likins felt the work resembled begging; both faced curiosity, pity, or anger from customers.
- Styer encountered a threat of violence from a man, but also relished the adventure of traveling to remote camps and admiring landscapes despite difficult conditions.
- All three peddlers were aware that their work was considered improper for women, yet combined necessity with a desire for adventure.