100 years ago: Door-to-door peddlers take over the streets of O’Fallon

100 years ago, Feb. 11, 1926

O’Fallon appears to be a mecca for traveling peddlers, judging from the increasing numbers seen on the streets from week to week.

The number of these itinerants has increased steadily since the re-opening of St. Ellen mine and scarcely a week passes without seeing four or more of them carrying their wares about the streets of the city.

While the city requires no license from all men carrying credentials showing that they served in the World War, there is no way of distinguishing between the worthy and the unworthy. A safe policy is to turn all peddlers down as in most cases their products are inferior.

The editor, on investigating some of them, finds that local merchants in several instances, carried a higher grade of stock and at a lower price.

Another evil that is gaining in numbers is beggars, who solicit the unsuspecting business man and housewife for funds. This also would not stand rigid investigation in many cases.

We have found that the best policy is to “keep off” all strangers, especially when it comes to money matters.

75 years ago, Feb. 8, 1951

Traffic on busy Highway 50 was blocked two miles west of this city for an hour at Tuesday’s evening rush hour when a trailer-truck loaded with beer overturned in a culvert when it skidded on the wet pavement. No one was injured and the truck was not damaged.

Carl Hessling, employed by the Koch Transport Co., of Peoria, was driver of the truck. He said he applied his brakes to avoid an accident with another car.

The brakes failed to hold evenly and the vehicle skidded into the culvert. It took more than an hour for Huller’s tow truck and one from Belleville to get the huge truck out.

50 years ago, Feb. 12, 1976

O’Fallon Postmaster John Goodman will leave for Washington, D.C. March 1, to begin serving his two-year term as president of the National Association of Postmasters (NAPUS) of the United States.

Unofficially, Mrs. Dorothy McArdle, presently supervisor of postal operations at the O’Fallon office, will take Goodman’s place in his absence. Mrs. McArdle is expected to be named as Goodman’s replacement next week.

Goodman was elected to the NAPUS office in September and took office in January. Mrs. McArdle has worked at the O’Fallon Post Office for 30 years.

Goodman was recently honored at a dinner at Augustine’s in Belleville which was attended by postmasters and other dignitaries from across the country.