I started early. When I was nine, I became a Wallace Brown rep.
Beginning in the fall of 1963, I lugged a catalogue brimming with Christmas card samples all around my neighborhood. Nice ladies like Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Brown (no relation) would invite me in, offer me a glass of juice or milk, and carefully peruse the overstuffed, spiral bound book of cards I proudly presented to them. These cards were stunning. They were chock full of red foil, silver glitter, fantastic drawings of sleighs and elves and, most important, they could be individualized with the personalized embossment of the lucky buyer’s name. My customers could choose from an assortment of colors and styles, though most usually went with the red or green decorative script. No matter how much I talked up the gold bronzing, it was just too expensive for the average investment in yuletide greetings.
I was jealous. Since my family was Jewish, I knew there were no Christmas cards in store for us. No fancy, embellished script spelling out “Seasons Greetings from the Baker Family.” No jolly Santas, no cute reindeer. It was hard to sell something I secretly longed for, but knew I couldn’t have. I kept a stiff upper lip, however, and did quite well. By the completion of my second season with Wallace Brown (I preferred calling him “Wally” for short) I was awarded a certificate for expert salesmanship, signed by none other than Wallace Brown from New York City.
The following is probably very similar to, if not the same ad that caught my eye and first lured me to work for Wally. I found this on a Google search. It was originally published in a comic book in 1962.
"Do you know 20 people? Of course you do! Add up a half-dozen relatives, perhaps 5 neighbors, the butcher, the baker, the milkman, the grocer, your dentist, several friends and other trades people-and you've probably got a lot more than 20. So what are you waiting for? These folks alone can bring you in at least $50.00, probably $ 100.00 to $200.00 extra money in just a few hours spare time. And this is just a start! Almost everyone you know needs Christmas Cards, and when you show them the spectacular nationally famous 1962 Wallace Brown Line of Cards and Gift Items, it's love at first sight. They'll soap up 2, 3, 6 or more Christmas Card Boxes right on the spot. Keep up to 50 cents of every dollar you take in! This is the fun way of making Money because it's so easy We send you samples that do the selling for you. And, besides making money you'll save money on your own personal Christmas Cards, Gifts, Wrappings, etc. See for yourself without risking a penny. Mail coupon, you'll be glad you did!"
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