Like the Twenty Mule Team, another well known icon of the Old West is the Wells Fargo wagon, it's still in use today, actually. In the beginning, it was all about delivery, the best possible. Whether by wagon, ship, horse, dog sled, on foot ... of mail, packages and people. At one time there were more than 100,000 miles of routes and included shipments to Mexico and even China. Women were hired to run the offices, handle the mail, send messages ... and even drive one of the wagons! (This was not discovered, however, until the death of 'Charles' Pankhurst, proved that one of the best drivers, one who smoked, drank and even voted, was female). The company was forward thinking in many ways: those working the southern route had to be bilingual, for example. Often Wells Fargo was the first to have the new technology, from phones to punch cards, credit cards, drive- through banking, and so on. Wells Fargo, from the Images of America series, by Dr. Robert J. Chandler, differs from others in this series in that this company is still in existence. (Yes, the song from The Music Man, "Wells Fargo Wagon" by Meredith Willson did run through my mind as I read this book)!

I found The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century, by Clay McShane and Joel A. Tarr, to be a "scholarly" read ... which to me, means it was both interesting and a bit dry! Beautifully researched, the authors used everything from newspapers to Teamster magazines, agricultural journals, city directories, veterinary manuals and so forth to gather information. In some chapters (as in how much land it took to provide hay for working horses) this came across as a bit tedious, and every so often I got the impression that the authors aren't horse folks ... but .... that being said, for the most part this was a fascinating look at a time when the horse played a vital role in city life. They had to be housed, and fed. Streets were designed so they could safely make a corner without backing up, or gradual enough on a slope so they wouldn’t slip. There was a huge support industry, which provided thousands of jobs, including removal of waste, and carcasses ... which happened more quickly than you might think as every part of the body was useful for something (talk about a detailed chapter here!) and some times it needed to be salvaged before rigor set in. The horse trolley paved the way to life in the 'burbs, giving citizens access to work, shops, churches, etc. but able to live out where the air was clean. To my surprise, there are more similarities to the auto industry than you might think. :-)

The Frederick & Nelson stores used to be huge, and offer all kinds of goods and services such as a staff library, kindergarten for staff and shoppers, staff chorus (which sang at holidays), even an ice skating rink. In 1950 there was live coverage of election returns in the front window, and once, even live animals in their window displays. The motto was that they would find what the customer wanted even if it wasn't at their store. At one point there was a separate entry for men to use on (whatever) floor so they did not have to pass through the lingerie department, which made them uncomfortable. For a wonderful look back at this iconic store, look no further than the Images of America book Frederick & Nelson, by Ann Wendell. I have a dim memory of this store, but I was small, and it was big, and that's pretty much the extent of said memory! :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog