Alfred Fuller

Alfred Fuller

Alfred Carl Fuller (January 13, 1885 – December 4, 1973) was a Canadian-born American businessman. He was the original "Fuller Brush Man."

Fuller was born on an Annapolis Valley farm in Welsford, Kings County, Nova Scotia. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1903 at the age of 18 to live with his sister. A few years later, in 1906, with a $75.00 investment, he started the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, Connecticut, selling brushes door to door. By 1919, the company had achieved sales of more than $1 million per year.

Fuller Brush went on to be recognized throughout North America, even inspiring two comedy films, The Fuller Brush Man (1948) and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950). In 1961 Fuller recorded the secrets to his success on Folkways Records on an album entitled, Careers in Selling: An Interview with Alfred C. Fuller. The company remained in the Fuller family’s hands until 1968, when it was acquired by Sara Lee Corporation.