Today, someone at the front door is greeted by a doorbell camera. But the world was friendlier just a half-century ago. And that’s what gave door-to-door salesmen the opportunity to make a decent living.

Traveling salesmen once made up a significant part of business revenue in America. Data from Researchgate and other sources shows that in the mid-20th Century, around 10% of purchases nationally were made at a person’s own front door.

Because of a lack of nearby shopping outlets, that number ...

A ceramic dishpan, a lot of pecans, and a nutcracker made in Little Rock. When we saw those three things sitting in my dad’s lap, we knew we’d hear the cracking of pecans for days afterward.

My dad’s recliner sat beside the bay window in the living room of our red brick house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas. He liked it there because of the extra light, but also because he could watch the world go by.

The extra light came ...

Depending on where you live, staying warm can be a challenge. And the sources of heat are many. Growing up, I recall a whole catalog of ways we kept warm, and most of them weren’t the kind you controlled with a remote.

My earliest memories of heat don’t come from a thermostat. They come from a wall.

Specifically, a wall heater in the sole bathroom of our house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas.

That heater was white, looked porcelain, and had a ...

I was six when Neal Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. I was 10 when Gene Cernan became the last.

Between July 20, 1969, and December 14, 1972, exactly 12 human beings landed and walked on earth’s moon.

The first words said on the moon were from Armstrong when he uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Cernan’s parting words were, “We leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, ...