Wall Street Book

Embellished with quotes and historical asides, Cowboys and Coffin-Makers does a superb job of capturing the 19th-century work world. Some of the jobs included are exactly what you'd expect to find---frontier farmer, coal miner, robber baron---but Coulter covers several lesser known occupations as well---hokey pokey seller, breaker boy, sandhog---and presents all of them with fresh facts and a good dose of humor. Personally, I've come to the conclusion that salt maker might have been just the job for me in 19th-century America...and maybe I'd have written a dime novel or two on the side.