Because of his antiquity the peddler occupies a distinguished position in the history of merchandising. Some historians have credited him with being the earliest business man or petty capitalist in western European economy, while others have seriously questioned his primacy in this respect; all agree, however, that he made his appearance very early in the history of merchandising. From his beginning he seems to have exercised most of the economic functions which have characterized him throughout his history. The transportation and retailing of goods to a scattered and rural market unable as yet to support the settled petty capitalist have generally been the function of the peddler. From the earliest times, too, he has traded his wares for the products of his customers, thus promoting commerce where money has been scarce and where people have lacked local agents to transport their surplus to outside markets. Always he has found the arrival of settled petty capitalists and the conditions which have given rise to them a competitive menace, and he has been able to survive only when he has modified his plan of operations so drastically as to destroy much of his original pattern of conduct.

Next month will appear The House of Hancock by William T. Baxter, professor of accounting at the University of Cape Town. This publication is one of the Harvard Studies in Business History, edited by Professor N. S. B. Gras; prior to public sale, copies are being sent to members of the Business Historical Society.

A short volume has recently been published by the Texas State Historical Association on the history of a country store which is unique in style and content and unusual in its subject. The book is Charles Schreiner, General Merchandise, by J. Evetts Haley. Written largely from the records of the Charles Schreiner Company, of Kerrville, Texas, and the memories of old-timers of the community, the volume tells a story of business which began in the hill country of Texas on December 24, 1869, a story of success which is still continuing.

Among the numerous explanations offered for the origin of the American dollar sign, no one seems to have raised the question of whether the dollar sign may have the same ancestry as the word “dollar.” There is no doubt about the etymology of “dollar.” It is derived from the German word Thaler, through the Dutch daalder. Furthermore, it is certain that Thaler is an abbreviation of Joachimsthaler.