Selling Bread

Early Bake Rite Bread Truck driven
by John L. Swanson of Tomahawk WI.

           Dad was a route salesman, daily driving the yellow truck with Mrs. Carter painted on the sides and laden with bread, donuts, Hostess Twinkies and my favorite, the Paramount little fruit pie. He rose early, about 3:00AM, to make sure his truck was properly loaded and to be on the road well before sunup. The day’s drive in the early years encompassed about 200 miles before he would return to the dock with the truck carrying only yesterday’s bread that the company deemed not fit to sell.

            It was my turn to see what Dad really did at work! He awakened me early. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I trudged behind him while he got the truck ready, finally clamoring up on the vinyl seat for the long day ahead. We started out for the first stop, a small country store. Dad was in and out of that store in minutes as the owners were not yet there. The supermarket was next. Dad loaded Cases of bread onto the two-wheeled dolly and wheeled them to the bread department. I carried the boxes of pies, not a heavy seller. The store was open now. Customers were looking for the best buy. Dad and I worked quickly, knowing we had many more stops. He rearranged the shelves bringing the older loaves to the front, while I, surrounded with the many loaves, stacked the bread he pulled from the shelf neatly into the boxes to be returned to the truck.

            A gruff voice spoke from behind me. “Hand me one of those loaves in the orange wrapper”. Instead, I handed the customer a loaf of my favorite, telling him, “This one tastes better”. The gentleman took the loaf I offered and warmly smiled as he put it into his cart. I had just made my first sale at age four!

John L Swanson in his bread truck. The Mrs. Carter brand name was used after Patty Piper.