Sales Compendium

Selling door-to-door has always had a tricky reputation. Back in 1937, Bettie Boop made the mistake of letting Whiffle Piffle try to sell her woollen hammers, rubber nails, a sieve that never leaks, and brand new antiques.

The Hot Air Salesman

Ninety years ago this month, the father of contemporary selling died. John Henry Patterson was 77.

The day after his death, a letter arrived at the offices of System ‘The Magazine of Business’. Patterson had written this letter two days beforehand. It confirmed that he wanted to go ahead with his autobiography, to be written in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. Crowther and Patterson had already had several talks during which Patterson had outlined much of what would go into a series of articles. Apart from the articles in System [starting with Volume 42, Issue Number 5, in November 1922], Crowther published his book ‘John H. Patterson: Pioneer in Industrial Welfare’ just one year later.

Yesterday, the Fuller Brush Company announced that it had filed protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

According to the WSJ, the company has 180 full time employees, and around 10,000 independent salespeople.

Fuller Brush was founded in 1906, and at one time was the epitome of door-to-door sales practice.