I was reading some Chicago Cold Case crimes, and one involved a young man in his 20s back in 1984. He was brutally murdered. I looked up the case in the Chicago Tribune history which said, “John Smith a door-to-door insurance salesman…”
OK this was 1984 and they still had insurance salesmen that sold door-to-door in the city of Chicago? That took me for a surprise
Anyway it got me to wondering, when in your area did door to door salesman stop.
I grew up in Chicago and by the early 70s, the only door-to-door sales person I can recall was the Avon Lady.
Also does anyone still deal with door-to-door salesmen?
I’m pretty sure there’s a city ordinance against door to door peddlers where I live. I’ve never had one knock on my door. A few Mormans & politicians (for city council) over the years, but no peddlers.
I used to still get them in my old neighborhood. We moved in November. We’d get people claiming that they were trying to get votes for a scholarship, and the way to vote for them was to buy a magazine subscription or three. Plus, of course, some godbotherers came by now and then. We frequently had people wanting us to hire them to do yardwork, or home improvements (right, I’m gonna pay UP FRONT to get my driveway redone), or to buy candy bars. All this despite the “no soliciting” sign just over the doorbell.
The cable company and phone company have been sending people around quite a bit recently. A meat van usually comes around once or twice a year. (Yes, it looks as shady as it sounds.) Other than that, it’s usually just parents and children trying to sell fundraising dreck.
We get them all the time offering subscriptions for newspapers and gas/elec/water/phone companies.
I had a job as a door-to-door salesman when I was at Uni in Scotland - this was in the 90’s, selling soaps and shampoos. My housemate had a job as a vacuum cleaner salesman.
I’ve been here since 02. I’ve had a guy pop in to try and sell me an photo he took from his air plane. And I had a guy stop in to tell me he was the real estate agent for the neighbor and wanted to know if I knew anyone who might be interested.
We still get them (in Southern England). Usually selling double glazing, or trying to get people to switch their supplier for some utility or other, or occasionally they’ll be some small-time catalogue franchise seller of cosmetics or household plastics.
I have a no cold calling sticker on the door, but they often ignore it (sometimes because they’re so sure I’ll make an exception in their case). Some city councils have banned door-to-door cold calling in some areas. I wish they would in mine.
They apparently haven’t. Last Saturday I got a visit from a little blonde chick who claimed she was “polling” but who was actually doing cold sales. I refused to let her into my house and to give her the information she was asking for (no, if you work for X you have no right to see my bill from Y).
Which reminds me: I have to call the company she was working for and verify whether she’s actually theirs or someone using their current batch of offers as an excuse to enter and case people’s houses… and if she’s theirs, they’ve lost me as a client.
I almost did it for free last week. Getting the floors sanded so it was mayhem when all the circuits blew. I was trying to fix them so the guys could work and the Mormons turned up with their material. They wanted to know if I wanted to be saved or whatever: my response (polite though it was) convinced them the people next door were a better chance of being saved.
We still get: windshield repair, lawn care, auto dent repair, curb-number-painters, a lot of kids selling crap to support-the-whatever, those kid slaves that sell magazines out of an old van, Mormons, and the Watchtower folks of course.
With recent large scale hail damage, we were inundated by roofing contractors. I finally had to put a sign on the doorbell that said “Roofers Go Away”.
Living in an apartment, I don’t get many. The last one I had was in the early 90’s. She was maybe 9 years old and was selling cookies. I politely turned her away and went back upstairs to my friends. When they asked who it was, one friend gave me this face: :eek: and said “You sent her away?!?”
He lept over everyone in the room, and I believe lept down two flights of stairs in a single bound to chase the girl down.
About five minutes later he came back upstairs looking like this: “She said it takes two weeks to get them.”
In Pittsburgh, they haven’t. Most are contractors/roofers/pest control; some are Comcrap/FIOS. But they still ring my doorbell, usually when I am trying to sleep in or trying to cook dinner and some have been known to hear some cross words now and then. Numbers run about 5 every 2 months during the warm months and less during the winter.
“She said it takes two weeks to get them.”