topic Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man? in Community Chat

Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

cherry — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:07:23 GMT

They used to offer high quality products for a reasonable price. We always had the fuller brush combs and clothes brushes. They lasted for years. People needed a good clothing brush because many of the garments were wool, and wool attracts lint

My mother always had a bottle of Watkins pure vanilla extract ,and a bottle of their liniment. I think they are still in business but you have to order on-line now

Stanley's degreaser was also a popular product. I haven't been to a Stanley party in years

Did your family use any of these products? I guess there are other home partys people have now days

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

libbyannE — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:11:45 GMT

I was so little, but I vaguely recall the Fuller Brush man, the daily milkman, and physician house calls. None of that lasted long.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Noel7 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:14:49 GMT

I remember the Fuller Brush man coming to the house, I don't think we ever had Watkins men in this area.

Funny, I was just thinking about the Fuller Brush man this past week. I ordered an old fashioned Fuller carpet sweeper from QVC and it works like a charm. It's hard for me to use the vacuum since I injured my shoulder so the carpet sweeper works for in-between use.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Noel7 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:18:05 GMT

ps I did pause to think about how easily we let men who were strangers into our house.

Probably most of us wouldn't do that now.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

cherry — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:21:05 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
ps I did pause to think about how easily we let men who were strangers into our house.

Probably most of us wouldn't do that now.

Thats true. My parents never locked the doors during the day. I can even recall them laughing because they forgot to lock the doors one night

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Moonchilde — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:24:37 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
I remember the Fuller Brush man coming to the house, I don't think we ever had Watkins men in this area.

Funny, I was just thinking about the Fuller Brush man this past week. I ordered an old fashioned Fuller carpet sweeper from QVC and it works like a charm. It's hard for me to use the vacuum since I injured my shoulder so the carpet sweeper works for in-between use.

We had many Fuller products and did have a salesman come to the house occasionally. I never heard of Watkins until they began selling at county/state fairs. They may have originally not been nationwide?

Fuller/Stanley has an order-direct website, various websites sell a Fuller product here and there, and Amazon has several things as does the Vermont Country Store catalog & website.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

sunshine45 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:30:38 GMT

never heard of the watkins man, but i do remember the fuller brush man. i also remember the milkmen, the encyclopedia salesmen, the avon lady, and the chicken man. they all used to ring the doorbell and sell you the items you needed.

i also remember when the gas and electric meter readers needed to come into your home and do the reading. you let them in and then they would go to the meter.....OR you would leave your door unlocked so they could come in and do it on their specified day.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

cherry — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:33:42 GMT

I think Watkins was based in the mid-west

snip

Watkins Incorporated is a manufacturer of health remedies, baking products, and other household items. The entire catalog includes 400 products. It is based in Winona, Minnesota, United States, and largely relies on an independent sales force of 25,000 people to distribute its products. This sales force sells the products using various methods, including the Internet, person to person, trade shows, party planning, and fund-raising. In order to increase overall awareness for the brand, the company has begun offering a select number of products in national retail outlets.

The company was founded by J. R. Watkins in Plainview, Minnesota, who began selling liniment in 1868 door-to-door the southeastern part of the state. The company moved to Winona in 1885 and added a number of products to its lineup. Baking materials including pepper and vanilla extract were added in 1895. J. R. Watkins died in 1911.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

spix — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:59:36 GMT

@cherry wrote:
They used to offer high quality products for a reasonable price. We always had the fuller brush combs and clothes brushes. They lasted for years. People needed a good clothing brush because many of the garments were wool, and wool attracts lint

My mother always had a bottle of Watkins pure vanilla extract ,and a bottle of their liniment. I think they are still in business but you have to order on-line now

Stanley's degreaser was also a popular product. I haven't been to a Stanley party in years

Did your family use any of these products? I guess there are other home partys people have now days

@cherry Their degreaser was wonderful, grass stains especially, Thanx for bringing it up, think I'll go online to check it out

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

sunshine45 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:23:18 GMT

almost forgot the electrolux salesmen that sold vacuum cleaners.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

VanSleepy — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:32:49 GMT

I remember the Fuller Brush man but not those others. I remember a guy pushing a cart down the alley cling-clanging all the way. He was a knife sharpener.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

ALRATIBA — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:36:49 GMT

The clothes brush I'm still using came from the Fuller Brush "Woman" about 25 years ago. It's in a very nice red felt bag that hangs on the closet door.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

chrystaltree — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:12:00 GMT

That was long long before my time but I remember my mom talking about the Fuller Brush man.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Golden_Oldie — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:23:00 GMT

Fuller Brush man was great. He had so many different items. The milk man and the old fellow who made his rounds with fresh produce in his old wooden pickup truck.

I miss those days.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Jacie — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:24:30 GMT

We didn't have Watkins where we lived growing up. Fuller Brush was prevalent as one of the neighbor "Dads" worked for Fuller!

Every Christmas I got a beautiful new boar bristle brush for all that

1960-70's waist length hair!

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

viva923 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:49:43 GMT

I do remember the fuller brush man. He was such a nice man. He would stop every now -- then when my mom would need something specfic. The sad part about this, he stopped by with the order one evening, he stayed a little bit and chatted. He was killed in a car accident the next day. Never saw another fuller brush man again.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Nataliesgramma — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:50:56 GMT

@VanSleepy wrote:
I remember the Fuller Brush man but not those others. I remember a guy pushing a cart down the alley cling-clanging all the way. He was a knife sharpener.

@VanSleepy here is a picture of the guy who came to out neighborhood

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Katcat1 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:59:04 GMT

I remember the Fuller Brush man but not sure if we had the products. I also remember that my Dr. would make house visits. I am not familiar with the Watkins man (that may have been limited to a certain area in the country).

I actually miss those days when life was easy and fun (no cell phones, computers, rush, rush, rush) and you started celebrating the holidays the day after Thanksgiving not in October.

P.S. My father was the milkman for many years. That's why I love milk but only drink skim/non fat.

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

VanSleepy — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:59:00 GMT

@Nataliesgramma Hmm. Now I can't remember if he was pushing a cart or pedaling that contraption lol Nice picture

Re: Do you remember the fuller brush man and the watkins man?

Noel7 — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:17:11 GMT