[pgkdan]

It’s kinda funny how what used to be normal no longer is, and vice versa.

It really is. When I was a kid the DR made house calls and brought the medicine he might prescribe with him. He'd put it in one of those little white envelopes. My parents paid for all their insurance when Francis, the insurance man came around once a month to collect. My mother bought a vacuum cleaner (electrolux) encyclopedias, Fuller Brush and dinner ware from door to door salespeople. You'd starve to death today if you tried to sell door to door.

[shelterguy]

Avon lady used to stop by every month. Paperboy used to stop by to collect the money and then punch the card.

[pepsi_junkie]

Women, in large numbers, didn't drive back in the 50s or 60s. Or perhaps they did but the family had only one care and the husband often used it for commuting to the office. Either way, door to door sales made a lot of sense when many or most homes had someone that was sort of trapped there. Some of those women were surely like those today who watch QVC regularly. That is to say they enjoy the process of shopping even if not for something in particular (you can't choose what comes next on QVC). When a guy showed up with some brooms to sell, well, some sales probably just made themselves.

But a lot has changed culturally since then.

[pepsi_junkie]

Women, in large numbers, didn't drive back in the 50s or 60s. Or perhaps they did but the family had only one care and the husband often used it for commuting to the office. Either way, door to door sales made a lot of sense when many or most homes had someone that was sort of trapped there. Some of those women were surely like those today who watch QVC regularly. That is to say they enjoy the process of shopping even if not for something in particular (you can't choose what comes next on QVC). When a guy showed up with some brooms to sell, well, some sales probably just made themselves.

But a lot has changed culturally since then.