A peddler's wagon was as important to a family in 1790 in Connecticut as a supermarket is to a family today. The peddler carried pots & pans, needles, candles--everything Tim couldn't run errands for. Tim was only 10, but had a chance to work for the summer as long as he remember the rule: 'Never leave the wagon alone.' His father gave him a purple whistle to blow when he was scared, but only then.