Traveling salesmen. They peddled everything from handy-dandy gadgets to make life simpler, to soap and magazines. Knock Knock. No, it's not Avon calling.
In a day when the majority of women stayed home and raised kids, the traveling salesman was sure to find the lady of the house when he knocked.
"Good morning, ma'am. Isn't it a beautiful day? Let me show you my wares."
Mom reluctantly allowed the man in the kitchen door where he opened his case on the lid of the washing machine. She looked at his samples and was making noises about not needing any of that product. The salesman, fearing she might not buy anything, began to compliment her.
"Are these your little brother and sister?" He pointed to my brother and me. My Mom, at 5' 1" and ninety pounds, didn't appear to have ever been pregnant or given birth.
"No, I'm their mother."
"Why, you look much too young to have big kids like these. You can't possibly be over twenty!" He confidently stepped closer to her as he troweled on the flattery.
Unfazed, my mother told him, "I got married when I was ten."
The man shied away like a horse who hears a rattler and stared horror-struck between mom and the two six- or seven-year-olds playing a game on the floor. She grinned at him, no deceit showing in her bright gray eyes and honest expression.
"Is that even legal?" he exclaimed. He snapped his fold-out sample case shut and ran out the house like the dogs were after him.
I guess he didn't want to make a sale after all.
Rule 10. Mom has been pranking people for years. Never underestimate her.
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