I have fond memories of the Watkins man who stopped by our farm once or twice a month, every month of the year. He carried a big black leather case, which he sat on the kitchen table as my brothers and I watched him unload product after product for my mother to see and consider buying. He was a pleasant chap, calling my brothers and me by name, and seeming glad to see us. We enjoyed his visits as well, especially during the cold and snowy winter months when we saw few visitors.
A few weeks ago, Ruth and I had an opportunity to visit the Watkins Museum in Winona, MN. I learned that J. R. Watkins had started his door-to-door business in 1868, working out of Plainview, MN. His first product was horse liniment. I recall my dad always had some Watkins liniment handy. He said it was good for everything, a horse’s sore muscles, a person’s sore leg, an upset stomach. Pa said that Watkins liniment was good for “man or beast.”
In 1885 Watkins moved his operation to Winona, MN, where it remains today. By 1895, Watkins had added several other products, including its ever popular pepper and Vanilla. Now, more than 130 years later, Watkins products are still sold—but not door-to-door, as I so fondly remember.
In the early days, the Watkins salesmen made their rounds with horse and buggy—see photo above.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When you whack a hornet’s nest, expect to be stung.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday, September 23, 11:00 a.m. Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI. Old Farm Country Cookbook.
Friday, September 30, 5:00 p.m. Farm City Dinner, Platteville (details to follow)
Saturday, October 28, Edgerton Book Festival (details to follow)
Sunday, October 29, 2:00 p.m. Reed School, Neillsville. Old Farm Country Cookbook.
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest nonfiction books, Never Curse the Rain and Old Farm Country Cookbook, and his newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. Also available are Wisconsin Agriculture: A History, Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide book for those who want to write their own stories.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes a bad situation can turn into something better.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday, September 23, 11:00 a.m. Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI. Old Farm Country Cookbook.
Friday, September 30, 5:00 p.m. Farm City Dinner, Platteville (details to follow)
Saturday, October 28, Edgerton Book Festival (details to follow)
Sunday, October 29, 2:00 p.m. Reed School, Neillsville. Old Farm Country Cookbook.
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest nonfiction books, Never Curse the Rain and Old Farm Country Cookbook, and his newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. Also available are Wisconsin Agriculture: A History, Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide book for those who want to write their own stories.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835
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