Brush man????

[nrepole]

Hi all
I was looking at a WWI draft registration card for Michelangelo Repole (b.14/5/1885) and the occupation listed was Brush Man. Does anyone know what this occupation entailed? Or am I reading it wrong?

Regards,
Nick

[PeterTimber]

I seem to recall that there used to be the Fuller Brush man who went from door to door **SPAM** household kitchen and bathroom brushes. These itinerant peddlers made periodic stops to old customers and then get new customers along the way. In this instance I see the Brush man as a similar street peddler sellingbrushes. =Peter=

[eyetalgal]

I was a Fuller Brush salesperson for a while. It's just like an Avon lady...only brushes and related items.

One of our biggest problems was that the products were too good. A hairbrush would last for 20 years....ergo...no repeat business.

[PeterTimber]

My fuller brush manis a lady who comes by every couple of months at my request to bring me those curved handle bath brushes...you cannot get them anywhere else. The get you tothe hollow in your back without making you into a pretzel. =Peter=

[nrepole]

Thanks guys for your help. If he was working as a salesman after being in the country for 6 years (he arrived in 1912), then he would have had to pick up English fairly quickly. Or am I underestimating the dtermination of an immigrant to learn the new language and assimilate?

Regards,
Nick

[johnnyonthespot]

Thanks guys for your help. If he was working as a salesman after being in the country for 6 years (he arrived in 1912), then he would have had to pick up English fairly quickly. Or am I underestimating the dtermination of an immigrant to learn the new language and assimilate?

Regards,
Nick

Or he sold specifically to Italian immigrants. We had a Fuller Brush man who called on our home often when I was a kid (late 1950's and through the 60's). As I recall, he occasionally exchanged pleasantries with my grandmother in Italian.

[PeterTimber]

Dear Nick in those days the pressure was on for all immigrants to assimilate as quickly as possible. As a child of 12 I had taken over all family administration, taxes, licences and writing letters ( I even talked them into buying me a typewriter!!)

Anecdote: Once I was in a hardware store and I overheard an Italian lady recently arrived looking to buy a collander and she tried desperately to explain in her halting english that she wanted "a thing where the water goin' home and the macaroni she stay!!!!!!!! =Peter=

[nrepole]

As always, thank you all for your help. Very much appreciated.

Nick