From the Archives

Would that we were all as tenacious as the enterprising fellow in this 60-year-old letter from March 1958.

My husband, a vacuum cleaner salesman, had just had a major operation and of course was not permitted to get out of bed in the hospital. Two days later, the telephone rang at home. I was bowled over when I heard his voice because I knew there was no telephone in the hospital room.

“I sneaked down the hall to call because it’s important,” he explained. “Please bring my order book with you – I’ve just sold a vacuum to the man in the next bed.”