Me Again

[curbdiggercarl57]

This one I have some info about, mainly the obvious. Curious if anyone knows exactly what would classify "Fifth Class"? I'm thinking rags or paper, maybe junk. Better yet, any old photos. We're in between snows here in Denver, and with the ground rock solid hard, I'm starting to get cabin fever. That and a new scanner for the computer. Thanks once again,
Curbdigger

 

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[stefen]

Its a WAG, but I think it can be correlated to newsboys (or newsstands) for the Denver Post.

 

[idahotokens]

A lot of states and counties in the 1900-1950 or so timeframe had a more-or-less standardized set of license laws. Operation of a pool table, for instance, required the payment of a certain amount of license fee. I have seen where peddlers, circuses, liquor dealers, etc. all were issued licenses of a certain class number. My guess is that the license for peddlers was "Class 5". A quick call to the Denver County Recorder's Office would confirm that - and a visit to the office to look through the old license register ledger book (if they still have it) might even tell you who was issued this number. And when. Of course, this license might have been issued by the City of Denver, rather than the county, and the city may have had its own numbering scheme for peddler licenses.

The tag itself is a little bit like a dog license - to be carried with the peddler to show if challenged. The whole scheme was a way for the city or county to collect revenue by selling permits. All of the counties I am familiar with issued paper licenses, so I am now leaning toward the tag being from the city.

John in ID

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Thanks, John, that what I was thinking it was used for, as well. Did contact the Denver County Recorder's Office, they first told me to mail it back in, saying that I wasn't allowed to keep current licenses, if they weren't specifically meant for my usage. When I explained what I do, how I found it, and the approximate age, she said that the recorder's office had only been issuing licenses for ten years or so.
Got really frustrating trying to explain to her, finally gave up. Was on a Friday, think she just wanted to go home. Need to go down there and check the records, in person. Thanks mucho,
Curb

 

[DCMatt]

Remember that in the days before home appliances, street peddlers sold anything and everything. There were LOTS of them and each had his own niche. Think about what you buy or any service you need today and there was probably a street peddler for it @ 1900.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, many local government wrote laws and issued licenses or badges to regulate the peddlers and get revenue from the license fees (just like today). It's not surprising that Denver had at least 5 classes.

Cool dig!

DCMatt