Weldon, S. James: Twenty Years a Fakir ©1899 Gate City Book and Novelty Company, Omaha Softcover, perfect-bound, 374 pages Reprint ©1980 Gambler's Book Club, Las Vegas, NV Softcover, perfect-bound, 166 pages

Image courtesy eBay seller JayAndLefty

GBC Reprint Image courtesy QuickerThanTheEye.com

Comments: "Weldon traveled this country during the last 20 years of the 19th century, learning and perfecting tricks of the street peddler. Many of these ploys are still used today in one form or another. He helped pioneer the many subtleties of 'street selling' and 'percentage moves. ' His self-taught mastery of man's basic needs enabled him to manipulate people into buying things, sometimes using their own greed as his tool. Must reading for those interested in studying a true American phenomenon - 'The pitch man."

Contents (from book, page numbers for Chapters):

9 Introduction

13 Chapter I: Starting Out, Becoming Ambitious, Leaving Home, Hotel Porter, Card Business, Lightning Rod Agent, Traveling Men, The Accident

28 Chapter II: Busted, Soap Signs, Walking, The Two Actors, Free Theatres, Jumping Bills, The Other Fakir, Pen Schemes, Street Talk, The Friendly Haystack

47 Chapter III: Meeting Prof. Carter, The Music Scheme, Flowers And Novelties, The Ladies, The Soap Racket, Street Gags And Jokes, The Sinking Vessel

64 Chapter IV: The Contemptible Piano Tuner, The Biographical Write-Up Fake, The Flattered Black-Smith

81 Chapter V: Fakir Maxims, A Happy Meeting, Auction Business, Talk And Auction Gags, The Boy Auctioneer, Parting With Prof. Carter

101 Chapter VI: Getting Onto Scheme Goods, Frightening The Ladies, Trick At Church Fair, Street Work, The Catchy Little Look-Backs, And Giving Them Away, The Horse And The Loaf Of Bread Trick, Handling Microscopes

119 Chapter VII: The Museum Scheme And The Six Widows, Traveling Without Paying Railroad Fare, Living On Free Lunches, At A Low Ebb, The Animated Chocolate Drop, Old Auntie From Smoky Row, The Corn Doctor, The Excited Mob, Not Only Broke, But Dead-Broke, The Letter From Home, Getting Out Of Town

140 Chapter VIII: The New Doctor And Professional Grafter, Medicine Fake, The Electric Battery And Money, Fun With Crowd In The Street, Selling Pipes And Giving Watches Away, Fooling The Farmers, The Circus, Turnips And The Elephant, Working The Hotel Landlords

161 Chapter IX: Side Lines And Schemes Of Various Kinds, The Glass Pen, Pie Scheme Choked Off, Selling Notions From Wagon, Fighting The Railroad Bonds, Forced To Leave Town, Legislated Out Of Business, A Warning And The Escape, The Accident, The Penny Raffling Scheme

175 Chapter X: Catching Suckers, Biting Myself, The Hospital Nurse And Mail Order Schemes, Working Saloon Men On Bible Racket

189 Chapter XI: The Portrait Business, Tricks Of The Trade, The Band And Hall Plan, Excitement And Joke At Voting Contest, The Frame Scheme

208 Chapter XII: Tricks In Delivering And Collecting, The Stingy Landlord And The Prunes, Day Board $3.00 Per Week, Drummers $2.00 Per Day, The Elopement

218 Chapter XIII: Working The Saloon Keeper For An Extra Five, Alone Again, Arrested, Fighting The License, Sick, The Insurance Scheme, The Wheel And Cigar Dodge, The Stage Hold-Up, The Horse Doctor And Cholera, Cigars, Two For A Nickel, Making A Preacher Swear

241 Chapter XIV: Temperance Town And Cold Tea Racket, Busted Again, Money Making Schemes, The Shoemaker Couldn’T Sleep, Going Back To Street Work, The Fifty Thousand Dollar Money Deception, Jewelry Packages To Be Used Any Old Way, Some More Street Jokes, A Watch And Chain For Twenty-Five Cents

265 Chapter XV: Selling Musical Instruments, Trickery And Deception, Looking For Something New, Selling The Roaster, The Canvass

280 Chapter XVI: Selling Bibles, Selling Books, What Was Said, Working The Customers, Curiosity, Public Meetings And Library Clubs

298 Chapter XVII: Adding To Bank Account, Looked Better, Felt Better And Was Better, Selling Encyclopedias, Complete Canvass, Tricky And Persistent, Advertising Schemes, Tricks Of The Present Day, Disguises, How Different Business Men Were Worked, Strategy

330 Chapter XVIII: Rebuffs And Insults, The Lawyer, The Doctor And The Coon, Avoiding A License, Working The City Marshal, Jokes With The Milliner, Banking Twelve Thousand Dollars

342 Chapter XIX: The Real Estate Fake, Booming A Town, Making A Fortune, Tricks Of Other People, All This World Is A Fake And Every Person In It A Fakir, The Politician And The Widow, A Diamond Ring For Two Cents

359 Chapter XX: Married And Settled Down, Retired And Happy, A Dip In The Lake, The World Is Round And Wide, Farewell.