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contract would require the peddler to take inventory In another reference (Jack Turner, Spice: the
to sell “on credit.” Some also gave the peddler a horse History of a Temptation), it was noted that “Legend
and maybe a wagon to transport goods. There might has it that unscrupulous spice traders of Connecticut
even be a small stipend for expenses. In return, the conned unwitting customers by whittling counterfeit
peddler had to come back with all the funds and ‘nutmegs’ from worthless pieces of wood, whence the
trade items to the company which would then be nickname the ‘Nutmeg State.’ [...] the term “wooden
added up and put against the cost of goods acquired nutmeg” became “a metaphor for the fraudulent or
by the peddler before they left for their latest trek. ersatz.”
Often the peddlers were told to sell everything – even The term “Yankee Peddler” became a synonym
the horse and cart. Any profit could have been shared for a deceptive person trying to rip off customers.
with the peddler instead of a salary, or taken in total Rumors spread faster than compliments, and so
by the company, and then a stipend that had been many of them were unfounded. There were not
negotiated ahead of time would be paid. The Connecticut Peddler from the 1893 many peddlers who were truly deceptive. The vast
book The Circuit Rider majority did their best to stand by their companies
A Reputation Tested by Edward Eggleston and their customers.
The use of peddlers as salesmen included several “One day there came to Captain
companies as other businesses saw this method as a Lumsden’s door that out‐cast of The Decline of Tin
New England – a tin‐peddler.
prosperous way to sell their goods. The peddlers Western people have never heard of The tin manufacturing industry was often
were known for being shrewd businessmen as their Yale College or any other glory of thought of as “too simple” to be a force of industry.
jobs changed over time. These Yankee Peddlers also Connecticut or New England. To them it Steel was the next great metal. The railroad made it
gained a reputation for being a bit too harsh on their was but a land that bred pestilent peri‐ faster and easier to get goods to market. The
customers as rumors of theft and trickery spread. patetic peddlers of tin‐ware and wood‐ Industrial Revolution meant machinery was taking
In the academic paper The Unappreciated Tin- en clocks. Western rogues would cheat away many earlier maker's jobs. While the bronze
Peddler; His Services to Early Manufacturers by you out of your horse or your farm if a market took off (a combination of tin and copper),
R. Malcolm Keir, "Some of the great industries of good chance offered, but this vile simple tin and tinplate manufacturing began its
which New England is so justly proud have ceased vendor of Yankee tins, who called a downward turn.
to remember that they owe their start to the humble bucket a ‘pail,’ and said ‘noo’ for new, Tin manufacturing remained viable in
and even despised peddler. Because the peddler in and talked nasally, would work an hour Connecticut until about 1850. However, the net-
his zeal for a bargain often used trickery (for to cheat you out of a ‘fipenny bid.’” work amassed to match companies with customers
instance, he was guilty of selling hams made of bass wood, cheeses of continues to be used to this day. The peddler may now be represented
white oak, and nutmegs of wood), that is the thing on which his repu- by company salesmen and associates, as well as automated customer
tation rests, and not the real service he rendered to the struggling indus- service used online, and the world of AI in its role reaching even the
tries of his day, by disposing of their products.” most remote of locations via the Internet to make a sale.

Ye Peculiar Game of Ye Yankee Peddler

(From the Journal of Early American Life)

n astounding number of printed nineteenth-century games Playing the Game
centered on Yankee peddlers. Early board game manufacturers • Object: To get the best deals for your produce in market exchanges
Atended to be publishers of children’s books. With titles like The with the Yankee Peddler.
Mansion of Happiness (1843) and The Game of Pope and Pagan or Siege • Players:
of the Stronghold of Satan by the Christian Army (1844), games aimed – Yankee Peddler (the teacher) to oversee the auction.
to instill Christian morality. In 1848, W. & S. B. Ives produced The – For large classes, a “clerk” or two might accept & tally the bids.
Yankee Trader, or the Laughable Game of What D’Ye Buy? Players selected – Cluster students in “farm families” of 4-5 to decide upon their
a trade and related playing cards. A “conductor” then read a story, looking family’s bid for each item.
pointedly at players to fill in • Game Play:
the blanks. Quick players – Distribute cards to families, face
contributed to the story akin down. All families should have the same
to a card-directed Mad Lib. number of commodity and cash cards (but
Too slow? Lose a card. not the same cards).
McLoughlin Brothers – The Yankee Peddler introduces
published a similar game in himself, the number of items he has for sale,
1850, as did Bunce & and the bidding process. He then
Brother in 1851 with introduces the first object. Sell it! As the
Yankee Peddler: Or What Do Yankee Peddler, you want the highest price
You Buy? possible. Go ahead and give details about
In 1888, George S. Parker production, distribution, and social value of
& Co. created a new version, commodities. Do NOT reveal prices.
Ye Peculiar Game of Ye Anxiety over how much the item is “worth”
Yankee Peddler. Parker had is a feature, not a bug, of the game.
invented his first game, – Families submit bids, face down.
Banking, in 1883 as a rejec- – After collecting all bids, the family
tion of games as moral edu- who has submitted the highest bid buys the
cation. He preferred to item. The peddler can refuse to sell an item.
emphasize a different value: Students often bid very low at the beginning
competition. In Parker’s 1888 rendition, the Yankee Peddler served as and then very high toward the end of the game.
gamemaster. The rules warned that the peddler should not be a • To Win: when all commodities have been sold, tally up a final profit
player as he was favored to win. Instead, farmers competed against each and loss for the peddler. Which family got the best deals for their
other to get the best deals. The game below extrapolates from Parker to produce relative to the cost? That family wins the game.
enliven lessons on the Market Revolution.

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