I remember the Fuller Brush Man coming to the house. Back then, they sold liniments for the animals, too. My dad used to buy Bag Balm from them for the cows' udders in the winter time and for his poor old cracked hands. He also used to buy this other liniment called 'Liniment for Man or Beast'. It smelled pretty awful, but my dad used to mix it up in warm water and drink it when he was having intestinal difficulties. I shuddered every time he'd mix up a glass and swore I'd never, ever let that stuff get any where near my lips. Years later, I was in a wedding party. I was attending business school in Syracuse at the time, and one of my dorm mates was getting hitched. Her fiancé was in the Air Force at Rome, NY, and it was going to be a military wedding. All of his buddies were in the wedding party and matched up to us girls. We used to go to Dolgeville for the weekends where they both lived, the girls at Nancy's house, and the guys at Larry's house. Larry was adopted by his grandparents and lived on a farm. We spent many happy hours there. One weekend, I became physiqued and was in the house to be near the bathroom. Larry's grandmother came in the house and I could hear her in the kitchen mixing up something. The next thing I knew, she stepped through the door of the living room with a glass in her hand. I KNEW that smell!!! She told me to drink it and she held the glass out to me. I told her I KNEW what that stuff was - Liniment for Man or Beast - and I was NOT going to drink it. I'd suffer!! Well, she disappeared. The next thing I knew, Larry, who was 6'4" and 220 lbs. of solid muscle, walked into the living room followed by his grandmother who was still carrying that glass. Larry just stood aside with his hands folded in front of him in the 'at-ease' stance staring at me. His mother said, "You can either drink this voluntarily, or I will ask Larry to hold you down while I pour it down your throat. Either way, you are going to drink this." I knew they both meant business, so I gave in, taking little swigs of it while I held my nose. Larry was left behind to 'stand guard' so I wouldn't be tempted to water the house plants. I finally held my nose and downed the last half of the glass. About an hour later, one would never have known I had a problem. I felt great. But to this day, I have never swallowed another mouthful of that nasty stuff. Now-a-days I used something much more palatable for the runs and upset stomach: blackberry brandy; blackberry wine; blackberry anything...... it really works, too. I thought the old Italian lady who told me about it was crazy, but she was 100% right. And it is much more enjoyable that that ol' liniment. I also remember many other door-to-door salesmen: siding; roofing; insurance; Mason Shoes, from whom my father bought a new pair of work shoes every year; Avon; and several others. There was one man, in particular, who was always trying to sell my dad siding and roofing. He was a skinny, little man with shifty eyes. He made such a nuisance out of himself one year that my dad threw him off the property and told him if he showed his face again he'd haul out his shotgun. My dad died at the end of August, and in October I rescued a German Shepherd named Poncho that had been trained as a guard dog. She did not like men at all! Poncho used to lay outside in the shade of the bushes around the front porch, well hidden from view. This man came to the house the following spring. Because of her training, Poncho came out from under the bushes and got between the man and the house and sat down. My mother went to the back door to see who was out there, recognizing the salesman immediately. She asked what he wanted. He asked if the dog would bite. My mother assured him that she would and reminded him that my father had thrown him off the property and told him never to come there again. He told my mother that he knew my father was dead and he'd go anywhere he wanted. Mom told the man he had about five seconds to get in his car or she'd have the dog put him in his car. He turned to walk away, my mother turned and went back inside the house. The next thing she knew, the man was hollering his head off - "help me! help me! help me!" - because he had made a mad dash for the back door after my mother walked away and Poncho had him pinned to it, spread-eagle with his face mooshed into the screen door. Poncho would not release him until my mother went out the front door and around the house so that Poncho was between her and the man. My mother gave the release and heel command. The man was unharmed, just scared out of his wits. He went towards his car; my mother went toward the house with Poncho by her side and ever vigilant. As my mother reached the steps, she turned around and the man was again approaching the house. My mother said, "Poncho, take him!" and the dog put the man in his car head first. Good thing his window was down. That was the last time we ever saw him. Unfortunately, I missed the whole thing because I was working. I surely was proud of Poncho. She saved our bacon on several occasions. She even put my husband's half-brother in his car one night when he was being foolish! Ahhhh.... those were the good ol' days!!! I apologize for the length of this email. I just get carried away some times when the memories come rushing in! Hugs, Mary

Well, Mary that was a long, but GREAT story! I loved it very much. Dogs can always be depended upon to do a man's work, in that case protection. You'd think he wouldn't have done that, but some don't take "NO" for the right answer! And that story about that liniment was something too, DON! Cathy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Sayman" <[email protected]> To: "Don Churchfield" <[email protected]>, [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 12:44:08 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [PD-LIFE] Fuller Brush and Liniment for Man or Beast, etc. I remember the Fuller Brush Man coming to the house. Back then, they sold liniments for the animals, too. My dad used to buy Bag Balm from them for the cows' udders in the winter time and for his poor old cracked hands. He also used to buy this other liniment called 'Liniment for Man or Beast'. It smelled pretty awful, but my dad used to mix it up in warm water and drink it when he was having intestinal difficulties. I shuddered every time he'd mix up a glass and swore I'd never, ever let that stuff get any where near my lips. Years later, I was in a wedding party. I was attending business school in Syracuse at the time, and one of my dorm mates was getting hitched. Her fiancé was in the Air Force at Rome, NY, and it was going to be a military wedding. All of his buddies were in the wedding party and matched up to us girls. We used to go to Dolgeville for the weekends where they both lived, the girls at Nancy's house, and the guys at Larry's house. Larry was adopted by his grandparents and lived on a farm. We spent many happy hours there. One weekend, I became physiqued and was in the house to be near the bathroom. Larry's grandmother came in the house and I could hear her in the kitchen mixing up something. The next thing I knew, she stepped through the door of the living room with a glass in her hand. I KNEW that smell!!! She told me to drink it and she held the glass out to me. I told her I KNEW what that stuff was - Liniment for Man or Beast - and I was NOT going to drink it. I'd suffer!! Well, she disappeared. The next thing I knew, Larry, who was 6'4" and 220 lbs. of solid muscle, walked into the living room followed by his grandmother who was still carrying that glass. Larry just stood aside with his hands folded in front of him in the 'at-ease' stance staring at me. His mother said, "You can either drink this voluntarily, or I will ask Larry to hold you down while I pour it down your throat. Either way, you are going to drink this." I knew they both meant business, so I gave in, taking little swigs of it while I held my nose. Larry was left behind to 'stand guard' so I wouldn't be tempted to water the house plants. I finally held my nose and downed the last half of the glass. About an hour later, one would never have known I had a problem. I felt great. But to this day, I have never swallowed another mouthful of that nasty stuff. Now-a-days I used something much more palatable for the runs and upset stomach: blackberry brandy; blackberry wine; blackberry anything...... it really works, too. I thought the old Italian lady who told me about it was crazy, but she was 100% right. And it is much more enjoyable that that ol' liniment. I also remember many other door-to-door salesmen: siding; roofing; insurance; Mason Shoes, from whom my father bought a new pair of work shoes every year; Avon; and several others. There was one man, in particular, who was always trying to sell my dad siding and roofing. He was a skinny, little man with shifty eyes. He made such a nuisance out of himself one year that my dad threw him off the property and told him if he showed his face again he'd haul out his shotgun. My dad died at the end of August, and in October I rescued a German Shepherd named Poncho that had been trained as a guard dog. She did not like men at all! Poncho used to lay outside in the shade of the bushes around the front porch, well hidden from view. This man came to the house the following spring. Because of her training, Poncho came out from under the bushes and got between the man and the house and sat down. My mother went to the back door to see who was out there, recognizing the salesman immediately. She asked what he wanted. He asked if the dog would bite. My mother assured him that she would and reminded him that my father had thrown him off the property and told him never to come there again. He told my mother that he knew my father was dead and he'd go anywhere he wanted. Mom told the man he had about five seconds to get in his car or she'd have the dog put him in his car. He turned to walk away, my mother turned and went back inside the house. The next thing she knew, the man was hollering his head off - "help me! help me! help me!" - because he had made a mad dash for the back door after my mother walked away and Poncho had him pinned to it, spread-eagle with his face mooshed into the screen door. Poncho would not release him until my mother went out the front door and around the house so that Poncho was between her and the man. My mother gave the release and heel command. The man was unharmed, just scared out of his wits. He went towards his car; my mother went toward the house with Poncho by her side and ever vigilant. As my mother reached the steps, she turned around and the man was again approaching the house. My mother said, "Poncho, take him!" and the dog put the man in his car head first. Good thing his window was down. That was the last time we ever saw him. Unfortunately, I missed the whole thing because I was working. I surely was proud of Poncho. She saved our bacon on several occasions. She even put my husband's half-brother in his car one night when he was being foolish! Ahhhh.... those were the good ol' days!!! I apologize for the length of this email. I just get carried away some times when the memories come rushing in! Hugs, Mary ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

One time the Fuller Brush man came to the house. It was my birhday, so Dad bought one for me. I used it for ages until I soaked it in the sink, like I always cleaned my brushes, and the bristles got kinky!