A black and white photographic post card pictures M.S. Porter of Holden, Mo., early day post card jobber and salesman, as he stands waiting for the next train out of Owensville, Mo. The year was about 1910. Porter's foot rests upon a fold-out sample case of post cards, and his suitcase is nearby. Porter called on drug stores, variety stores and general merchandise stores in towns across Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. Almost all his travel was by train. Sometimes he hired a livery team when train connections were bad. And sometimes he would be away from home as long as six weeks, according to his daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Wallace of Liberty. Mrs. Wallace remembers a good deal about the old days and the post card business. She remembers traveling to Kansas City with her father several times to choose and order stock from the publisher's representatives. A big sample room at the Baltimore Hotel would be lined with tables displaying bright new post cards. All kinds were available--the holidays, comic, religious, patriotic and scenic, and scenes of streets and buildings. Later, the big cases of cards ordered would arrive in Holden by freight and Porter would drive to the depot and take them back to the big Porter residence. A front room of the house was devoted to the business. Mrs. Wallace says she earned all her spending money at a long counter in this room. She counted out stacks of different kinds to fill the many orders. She was paid by her father at so much a hundred. By 1916 the business was a big one, and Porter's territory extended over several states. Then one day Mr. and Mrs. Porter had a caller. It was Joyce Hall and he came to see if he could buy their business. He had been jobbing post cards, too, and wanted to expand. Mrs. Wallace remembers that young Hall stayed for dinner at noon, and how he ate and enjoyed her mother's hot biscuits. Her mother later explained to the children that he was a bachelor used to restaurant meals and so enjoyed a home-cooked dinner. All were pleased when the business deal and sale were made, especially Mrs. Porter, for now papa would be home most of the time. Porter traveled for Hall briefly after the takeover. The old post card was furnished by Mrs. Wallace. Kansas City Times, December 5, 1980
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