A Man of Samples (1887)

A Man of Samples

William H. Maher's commercial-traveler novel follows salesmen, retailers, and road stories from the late nineteenth-century trade. (Open Library)

Watches

Waterbury watch

The narrator says Henley carries a Waterbury watch in each pocket, and another salesman later praises the Waterbury watch as a durable sales premium. The paired watches belong to Henley's aggressive sales routine: he will approach a prospective customer even at midnight. Elsewhere, the trade conversation names a Waterbury as a clothing-store premium, and Cockley gives away two so their recipient can compare their timekeeping. The watch recurs as merchandise as well as a personal timekeeper. (Project Gutenberg source text)

Source text: Henley can do this. The boys on the road know that he carries a Waterbury watch in each pocket, and expects to sell 1,000 bills in 1,000 minutes. (Project Gutenberg ebook 6132)