Torsgad august 25, 2022

    

Anna and Joseph Palm with daughters, L-R Eileen, Shirley, and Avis.

 The Palm of Your Land 

(Author unknown) 

    Joseph Palm was born to Louis and Ingeborg (Anderson) Palm, in the SE quarter of Section 2 Palmville Township on December 12, 1898, three years after Louis and Ingeborg arrived as the first immigrants to the township. Palmville Township was named for them for that very fact. 

    Anna (Aasen) married Joseph in Wannaska on June 21, 1937. They lived with Joe's brother, Levi Palm, on the homestead for awhile and then moved to Section 12 in Grimstad Township where they farmed. They moved into Wannaska in 1947 where Anna worked at the creamery there. In 1959, they moved into Roseau.

   When I was a child growing up on a farm 9 miles south of Salol, Mn, way out in the boondocks, so to speak…. one of the most fun days in the summer was when a certain traveling salesman came calling.  His name was Joe Palm and he lived in the Wannaska community. He would drive his car all through the countryside and sell McConnans household products from his car. 

    Now, Joe Palm could have been considered ‘crippled,’ as some might think because Joe had suffered with the disease of polio. There had been what they considered an epidemic of polio back in the early 1900’s---even President Franklin D. Roosevelt had been the victim of polio and he orchestrated the presidency from his wheelchair.

    Well, in order to get more information about this fascinating man, I made phone calls to two of his daughters and asked lots of questions of them in order to bring to life my memories of the man. I found out many things from their recollections.

    Joe Palm didn’t get polio until he was a young man, so just imagine the dashing of his plans and dreams for his life, when he lost the use of his legs. But that didn’t stop him, he was able to get around with the use of braces on his legs up to his hips that kept his knees from buckling. He used crutches and with a stiff-legged gait he was able to get himself out of his car and open the back doors to show you the products he had for sale.

    I remember how excited I was when I saw his car drive in. I would run to get my mother so we could meet him by the time he got the car parked. When he opened those doors to the back seat, the first thing you realized was that there was no back seat; the whole back compartment had been replaced with a series of drawers and cabinets that he could slide out to show you all the different kinds of spices and kitchen products that he had for sale.  

    My mother bought all her pepper, vanilla, paprika for deviled eggs, sage for turkey dressing, and things like that. Joe Palm was certainly not a high-pressure salesman. He had such a kind, quiet, friendly manner that I think most of the neighborhood saved their shopping for those kinds of things until he came around every few months. He also had health care products like liniments and camphor oil, rubbing alcohol, and home-remedy kinds of things that everybody used in those days to cure their ailments.

    According to his daughters, Joe was capable of so many things despite his handicap.  He had such strong arms from carrying his weight around. His daughter told me how he would often sit on the ground and pull himself along to do some of the tasks that needed doing at his home. He could do simple repairs on his car. In fact, had made some kind of metal device that attached to the brake on his car which he could operate with his hand and that’s how he stopped the car. The speed was regulated by the throttle, and as I remember, he didn’t drive very fast at all. He could make most anything he needed with his hands.  I’m sure he made all of the drawers and shelves for his car that held all his products.

    The girls remembered how much their father enjoyed the hospitality of his customers. He was often treated to coffee and lunches as he visited their homes. They were all so very nice to him because he was so nice, and it was such a nice diversion from a hum-drum day to have his car roll into the yard.

    Joe and his wife raised a family of 3 daughters. He was a respected man of the community. After his days of being a traveling salesman, he took over the management of the License Bureau in Roseau, where he worked for many years before his retirement.  Both he and his wife have passed on now, but his memory lives on in the hearts of his immediate family, his extended family, and the community.