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The roots of the industry in the United States go back to itinerant peddlers, small shopkeepers, and merchant importers that began in the early days of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Thousands of men walked the countryside selling the goods they could carry on their back. When profits permitted, they purchased horses and carts and expanded their assortments of goods. Henry W. Carter maintained five teams on the road and became known as the "Merchant Prince." Called "Yankee peddlers," many of the first merchants came from New England. Jewish immigrants became the most numerous peddlers in the nineteenth century....
