Abstract:
In the 1920s, peddlers and rolling stores brought household goods to the parlors and porches of rural women in eastern North Carolina. Itinerant merchants were alternatives for women who felt uncomfortable in country stores, or were unable to visit stores due to practical constraints. A third kind of itinerant merchant were agents who represented large enterprises such as the W.T. Rawleigh Company and the J.R. Watkins Medical Company.