A Jewish Traveling Salesman Sends His Mother A Letter From Dallas For Rosh Hashanah And Describes His Rambles Around The Midwest

(JEWISH LETTER). ALS. 5pg. 6” x 8”. September 1932. Dallas, Texas. An autograph letter signed “Max” to the Fleischman family in Plainfield, New Jersey. Writing to his mother during the Jewish High Holidays, he discusses his time as a traveling salesman: “Dear Mother, I hope you and the family are all feeling fine & enjoying some nice restful weather. It has been raining out here in Texas, all day Thursday & on and off since then. The farmers need the rain for their wheat, cotton & cattle, so it does some one good…I reached Dallas Saturday afternoon & our weekending here, as I meet many salesmen that I know here. Also theres a good Jewish restaurant here & I’ve had gefilte fish – borst – noodle soup and other good things since I came here. I will leave here Monday & will work some houses in East Texas & then Ft. Smith & Fayetteville in Arkansas, and reach Kansas City (Hotel Phillips) Oct. 1st. So I’ll be among Jews for the holiday. I haven’t a route list as yet from there , but as soon as I get my new list, I’ll send it to you. Things are very slow for me. I hope its better in the Kansas City territory. I stopped at Wichita Falls, the other day, to buy a Super State tire. I have now got 3 new tires. My old shoes ran for over 23,000 miles, which is the best I ever got on any tire. At Wichita Falls, the town was celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, and the Pioneers and their children were dressing in the clothes of 50 years ago. The (sic) were in fancy colored heavy shirts & neckerchiefs, with big cowboy hats. The women wore the large dresses, gingham type, of the time. Everybody on the streets played a part in the celebration…It’s hard to realize that only 40 or 50 years ago, all this land was ‘the wild west’. Today, they have modern buildings in them, many have ten or fifteen story buildings. Towns smaller than Plainfield tho they don’t have shops as nice as Plainfield…Well Mom, take care of yourself. With best wishes for a Happy New Year. Love to all – Max”. The letter has mailing folds and the original envelope is included.