Charles Hall, the “Fuller Brush Man” for hundreds of people, has died at age 94. He worked for the company for a quarter-century in his second career.
Hall was one of the last of the Fuller brush salespeople in the metro area.
In his 25-year Fuller career, he built a such good business knocking on doors in Littleton that many of his customers visited him before he died.
“He loved people and loved going door to door,” said his daughter, Sandra Smith of Littleton.
“He was amazing,” said his son Roger Hall of Simi Valley, Calif. “He had a customer list of 1,000 when he died.”
In an era when few people sell door to door and Americans can drive to giant box stores in minutes or buy online, Hall sold in the way Fuller Brush Co. has done for more than 101 years.
Customers received special treatment from Hall, who’d get a tight lid off a jar, repair a screen door and perform other tasks. Also, he often checked later to see if the customer was satisfied.
“That was Charlie,” said Gretel Schmedes, the Denver-area manager for the company, which has headquarters in Great Bend, Kan.
The company, which once had 20,000 door-to-door salespeople, now has only 7,000, and some are part-time, said Dennis Brinley, chief marketing officer.
Women, added to the Fuller workforce in the 1970s, were called “Fullerettes.”
In addition to the salespeople’s famous opening line, “I’m your Fuller Brush Man,” they were known for customer service, Brinley said.
“They weren’t like some other traveling salesmen who sold, ran and you never saw them again,” he said.
In the early days, the Fuller representative would give the customer a small gift (a letter opener, for example) whether or not the person bought something.
“I’m sure there was some rudeness to Fuller salesmen, but usually the housewife was glad to see him,” said Brinley.
Fewer wives are home today, many don’t want strangers at their doors and very few salespeople want to go door to door, said Schmedes.
Charles F. Hall was born March 15, 1913, in Joplin, Mo., and moved with his family several times before settling on a farm east of Aurora.
He married Dorothy Albright on May 1, 1941. She died in 1983.
Hall finished the eighth grade and got his first job at Bradford Printing Co. in Denver.
He worked there for more than 25 years, a span that was interrupted when he served in World War II.
He left Bradford when he turned 65 and, wanting to keep busy, landed the job at Fuller.
In addition to his son and daughter, he is survived by another son, Robin Hall of New York City; six grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and his brother John Smith of Seattle.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
