Peddler’s license

An 1897 article in a Wilmington newspaper titled “The Peddlers License: A Word or Two About How To Many Peddlers Fake It” details the perception of Assyrian peddlers. Today, many families have ties to first-wave immigrants arriving in North Carolina from the 1880s to 1940s.  Many of these immigrants made money as peddlers. This article sheds light on the way in which many Wilmington residents and businesspeople viewed them as “foreigners…[who are] not a credit to a community by any means…” This is an important document reminding us of the environment within which many first-wave immigrants worked to make a living in a new country.