HANDWRITTEN DIARY - FARM IMPLEMENT SALESMAN - Travel - Sell - Repair - Manuscript - VT - 1900




Item History & Price

Information:
Reference Number: Avaluer:5022Year Printed: 1900
Subject: Exploration & TravelCountry/Region of Manufacture: United States
Original/Facsimile: OriginalTopic: Diaries & Correspondence
Language: EnglishBinding: Leather
Place of Publication: New England-Vermont-New York-&cRegion: North America
Special Attributes: Signed, 1st Edition, Manuscript
Original Description:
FANTASTIC, ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN DIARY KEPT BY AMASA A. EDSON OF WINDSOR COUNTY, VERMONT. A TRAVELING SALESMAN FOR THE STODDARD MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF RUTLAND, VERMONT, SELLING FARM EQUIPMENT. THIS  RARE TURN OF THE CENTURY JOURNAL IS DATED 1900. Our diarist, A.A. Edson would take a train to wherever he was sent by the Stoddard Mfg. Co. and once there he would hire a team, load up his equipment and get on with his job of supplying, selling, fixing, replacing, a complete line of D...e Laval separators, both hand and power sizes, to include a Baby No. 2 running by an electric fan motor with fish line for belting. This would show with what ease the machines could run. At exhibits or shows A.A. Edson would also display Red Cross bottle fillers and washing apparatus for milk dealers, starter cans, pumps, testers, Victor combined churns, skim milk weighers, Stoddard gasoline engines, Green Mountain silos and a general line of supplies. Edson was well liked and a welcome sight to any farmer who ran into trouble churning butter, making cheese, breaking down in the field, etc. 
Edson and company would also display the Wizard agitator which was comparatively new to the New England trade and a new style tubular cooler - the first one exhibited - whey they stated was fully equal to other coolers of that day. The Yankee farmers would attend these trade shows and seminars and come away; as Edson would say; "fully educated to be a successful businessman." Being a farmer himself, his heart was with the struggling farm owners and if he could help them he would drop what he was doing and go give a hand. Every page of this diary is covered with activities, deals, train travel, horse and buggy travel, etc. and he also records his personal expenses and details. There are a couple of collateral documents tucked inside the back pocket of this diary along with the original metal ink pen which you would have to dip into the ink to write. On January 13, 1900, he writes; "I am 56 years old today." His handwritten journal is quite a treasure trove of historical importance and a very worthy acquisition indeed.

Edson was quite an impressive figure in the Grange which he called "a school of education for anyone on a farm." This handwritten diary from 1900 has entries on every page, with handwriting that is crisp and clear. He was constantly on the road traveling. selling, setting up at fairs in Northfield, MA, Danbury, CT, &c; in halls, hotels, and even in the homes of his customers. You could tell just by his handwritten entries that selling was his passion and he loved to travel. He named all the hotels he stayed at and if he wasn't in a hotel he would name the customer or friends who's house he stayed at. He would often write; "I am all but crippled by my back" or "I am all but sick" however he would get right up the next morning, get on a train and get to his next assignment.  
At one of the many exhibits of this company The Stoddaard Mfg. Co. occupied almost the entire left side of this huge farm machinery display/show, with two carloads of goods representing their complete line of the De Laval equipment. This display was so huge that it required E.L. Gardner, a direct representative of the company and he was assisted by 8 Stoddard representatives, and of course A.A. Edson was one of them. He would often refer to his company as M&S. The Moseley & Stoddard Mfg Co. was organized in 1881 by F. W. Moseley (inventor of the Moseley Cabinet Creamery) and M. O. Stoddard (inventor of the Stoddard Churn). It eventually became the Stoddard Manufacturing Co.

The home office was in Rutland, Vermont, and from there, out on the road, he would travel to Canaan, Brattleboro, Hartland, Beacon falls, Danbury, Concord, Tilton, Ashland, Alton, Wolfboro, North Conway, Intervale, Portland, Lewiston, Canton, Webster, Rochester, Plymouth, Freyburgh, Waterville, Ashland, Portsmouth, Beacon Falls, Durham, Perkinsville, Newport, Rutland, Newport, Peterboro, Granville, Pittsfield, Middlebury, Charlestown, Salem, Claremont, Rockingham, Exeter, Springfield, Manchester, Woodstock, Royalton, Ludlow, Bellows Falls, Northfield, &c., covering most of New England. He went to Boston to buy two horses and stayed with them on the train all the way back to Chester, where his brother Erwin met him, and this was their new team for working around their own farm.In July he took a vacation which included mostly mowing and haying, and then back on the road. This man was truly a traveling workaholic, and he loved every minute of it. He came home for Thanksgiving; helped Erwin on the farm; spent some time with Mamie, and the next day loaned his hand (for one day) as the whole family moved into their new farm, then he was off to the depot and on to the next town/state and the next customer. He wrote down the names of all his customers, what town/village they lived in, the name of their farm, &c. wherever he was, which is of genealogical importance.

Stoddard Manufacturing Company: "Shortly after the first successful experiments were made keeping corn in round silos, a factory was started at Rutland, Vt., making dairy goods, with silos as a leading feature, and from the location of the town, in sight of the highest of the Green Mountains and surrounded by the lesser hills, it was known as the Green Mountain Silo, and under this name equipment has been sold throughout the country. As the interest in dairy equipment increased and creameries began to be established through the eastern states the same firm, then known as the Moseley & Stoddard Manufacturing Company began making churns, butter workers, cream vats, etc., until a large business was established, and under the name of the Stoddard Manufacturing Company continued to make a large line of creamery goods. They also sold throughout the northeastern states the specialties made by the Creamery Package Manufacturing Company, as well as De Laval separators and a large line of other creamery apparatus. Sixteen salesmen were continually covering New York and the New England states in their interests, and the company did a thriving business."

Condition: Red leather bound diary is in good condition, internally fresh and tight and he has written "1900" in ink on the front, which is barely visible. There is also a small paper tab under the outside flap, which has 1900, written on it and you can see it barely peeking out in the image of the cover. Measures approx. 3 x 6 inches.

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