My father, Mervin Diehl of Shippensburg, Pa., began working for Lance Inc. around 1971. At the time, salesmen/delivery drivers had to purchase their own trucks. His first truck was a Chevy Econoline panel truck, and he advanced to a bigger box truck, similar to a bread truck. It was all white with decals on the sides and back, including the famous slogan for Lance in the those early years, Dont Go Round Hungry. The Lance snack food company started in 1913 and is known for its sandwich crackers. Just like other major consumer brands, its glass display jars, sales racks, and other items from the second and third quarter of the 20th century are collectible. My mother did his bookkeeping at night for his sales. At that time, it was strictly a cash sales enterprise. They would sit together at a small desk with a calculator, pad, and pencil or pen each evening after dinner. Dad would count the loose change and go through every single coin, and Mom would calculate the days sales on the calculator, pad and pencil. Together, it would take them a few hours each night, followed by a trip to the bank first thing in the morning. We rented a small garage to store the Lance products. It was owned by Art Bigler and was located behind his grocery store at the corner of Orange and South Washington streets. A tractor trailer from Lance would deliver a weekly shipment of goods every Wednesday. Following the delivery, an inventory had to be taken to ensure everything was correct. At that time, a new order was placed for the following week. Dad would go to the warehouse each evening at the end of his daily route to restock for the next days business. He worked long hours Monday through Friday and most Saturday mornings, although Saturday mornings usually consisted of banking, checking on the warehouse, and vending machines in town. A frequent stop was the Hub City Club to chit chat and socialize. During the week, he would often start around 8 a.m. and get home around 6:30 or 7 p.m. His route consisted of Shippensburg, Green Village, Scotland, Roxbury, Orrstown, Newville, and parts of Carlisle. Initially, this region was not that big. During his employment, his route was decreased three times because he continually acquired new customers. His stops included many different types of businesses, including mom and pop gas stations, restaurants, small family-owned stores, golf clubs, and school cafeterias. It eventually broadened to include grocery stores. Any place that would accommodate a counter display or jar of Lance products, he would service. His products were displayed in glass jars with lids that sat on the counter of the businesses. For larger customers, a wire rack that stood on the floor would be assembled to hold individual food products or glass jars. Others had vending machines which he was responsible for fixing if the need arose. The Lance product line grew as the years went by. The cracker line consisted of several varieties which are still sold today. But the other products included peanuts (plain, honey roasted, hot, etc.), bags of different chip varieties, corn chips, pork rinds, fig bars, oatmeal cream pies, marshmallow pies, and the Van-O-Lunch and Choc-O-Lunch cookies (vanilla and chocolate filled with vanilla cream). Im sure there were others, but I remember these the most. Bulk sales were made to the school cafeterias for soup crackers, both saltines and captains wafers. Dad was an extremely dedicated worker, never missing a day of work other than when he had abdominal surgery. He worked during heavy snow storms and blizzards. He may have started later in the day during blizzards, but serviced his sales route nonetheless. He gained many friends throughout his routes and businesses and was well liked. He spent a lot of time talking to his customers and building a relationship that lasted his 25-year career. Dad died in 1997 of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was still working for Lance at the time. His funeral and viewing was attended by many in the community, so many that the line of people waiting to enter the funeral home to pay their respects was out the door for several blocks. In conjunction with Fathers Day, Interstate 81 Antiques at 15 Hershey Road, Shippensburg, Pa., will be holding a sale from Thursday to Sunday, June 15 to 18. Diehl family Lance collectibles will be for sale, and, of course, Lance products will be at the shop, free of charge. To learn more, call 717-300-3746.