Twenty Years of Hus’ling by J. P. Johnston

J. P. Johnston’s Twenty Years of Hus’ling is a thrilling, often comical, and utterly relentless memoir detailing the author’s relentless pursuit of independence and financial success. Far from a dry business manual, Johnston crafts his life story as a series of improbable ventures, spectacular collapses, and humorous incidents—all fueled by an almost pathological dedication to “hus’ling” (hustling). From failing livestock dealer and accidental telegraph operator to inventive auctioneer and eventually a wealthy wholesale jeweler, Johnston’s journey vividly portrays the idea that raw energy, coupled with honesty and accumulated experience, is the true capital of the ambitious entrepreneur. Dedicated to inspiring those struggling against the current of failure, this book serves as an exuberant testament to American pluck and persistence.

Who May Benefit from the Book

• Entrepreneurs and aspiring business founders
• Individuals determined to achieve independence
• Anyone experiencing repeated professional failures
• Salesmen seeking motivation and unorthodox tactics
• Readers interested in historical American enterprise

Top 3 Key Insights

1. Experience is capital: Johnston constantly affirms that his decades of varied failures and unusual ventures constituted an invaluable stock of experience necessary for eventual large-scale success.
2. Persistence guarantees victory: The core secret of his success was sheer energy and the refusal to quit, believing that honesty and determination would inevitably lead to a win.
3. Integrity secures long-term credit: Johnston’s habit of paying old, even outlawed, debts plus 8% interest ensured creditors retained implicit faith in him when massive credit extensions were needed later in his career.

4 More Lessons and Takeaways

1. Never be satisfied with merely making a “comfortable living”; the ambition of a true “hus’ler” should always aim for the best and most lucrative position.
2. Avoid co-partnerships unless necessary, as independence of thought and action often leads to greater success than joint dependency.
3. Be judiciously aggressive; the individual who looks out for their own welfare and refuses imposition will be better taken care of than the passive man.
4. Steer completely clear of the patent-right business; investing in territorial rights is generally equivalent to acquiring “so much blue sky” with little value.

The Book in 1 Sentence

J. P. Johnston chronicles his two decades of relentless effort, humorous failures, and unusual hustles, proving that energy and persistence ultimately secure success.

The Book Summary in 1 Minute

Twenty Years of Hus’ling is the incredible autobiography of J. P. Johnston, dedicated to proving that raw energy and persistence overcome constant failure. Raised hating farm life, Johnston left home to pursue business, supported by his trusting stepfather, Mr. Keefer. His early attempts—from dealing wet chickens and shattered eggs to launching collapsing soap factories and losing all his money gambling—ended in disaster, leaving him “broke” dozens of times. Johnston never quit, famously declaring he would “rather live from hand to mouth” than accept a stable salary. He constantly pivoted, finding success first in aggressive auctioneering, performing a double role in disguise, and then inventing and selling his own furniture polish. Key to his eventual triumph as a Chicago wholesale jeweler was accumulated “experience” and his steadfast commitment to settling every debt, even those outlawed. He finally succeeds on an immense scale, earning the ultimate praise from Mr. Keefer: “Well, it does beat the devil”.

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Chapter-wise Book Summary

CHAPTER I.

“Had my own father lived he could not possibly have been more generous, affectionate, kind-hearted and indulgent than this step-father.”

J. P. Johnston, born in 1852, begins his story describing his early life on an Ohio farm, defined by his deep aversion to manual labor and his fortunate relationship with his loving stepfather, Mr. Keefer, who always believed in him. Johnston was branded the “laziest boy” in the county, yet simultaneously exhibited fierce energy in non-farm pursuits, like amassing a flock of over a hundred sheep from a pet lamb. His high-tempered mother frequently punished him until a visiting phrenologist advised her against chastisement, predicting that under the current management, he would eventually run away and never be heard from again. Taking this prediction to heart, Johnston soon fled to his uncle in New York City. However, the city life, with its demands for meticulous etiquette and the grim prospect of becoming a preacher, proved overwhelming. Johnston returned home in less than three weeks, bringing with him only a fiddle to torment Mr. Keefer.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Felt intense aversion to farm labor.
  • Mr. Keefer provided unconditional, consistent financial and moral support.
  • New York attempt failed due to homesickness and fear of refinement.

CHAPTER II.

“This desire no doubt had grown upon me through having been frequently employed by an old friend of the family, Lucius Smith, who was in that business.”

Despite his mother’s wishes for him to learn a trade, Johnston harbored a “burning desire” to become an independent live-stock dealer. This desire was nurtured while working for Lucius Smith, an honorable but extremely profane drover who required an interpreter because he was profoundly deaf. Johnston exploited Smith’s disability for amusement, routinely fabricating conversations with farmers, once claiming a man owned sheep weighing “Six hundred pounds each”. This malicious mischief usually resulted in the farmers becoming “disgusted and fighting mad”. Although this work solidified his passion for livestock dealing, he recognized the immediate barrier of insufficient capital.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Worked interpreting for a deaf live-stock drover.
  • Amused himself by misinterpreting conversations, causing chaos.
  • Realized his ambition was thwarted by lack of capital.

CHAPTER III.

“I felt that my last and only hopes were blasted as I gazed on that mixture of bran and eggs.”

Johnston converts his assets, selling his sheep for $75 cash and trading 35 head for a horse and wagon, ready to enter the trading business. His first short-lived co-partnership results in a meager 18-cent profit, convincing his partner the business held no money. He specializes in chickens, but tragedy strikes when he neglects proper drainage, resulting in his entire wagon load of chickens suffocating or drowning during a severe rainstorm. Undeterred, he pivots to eggs, buying 100 dozen, only to see them destroyed in a wagon mishap, leaving a mess of “bran and eggs”. Completely broke, he is arrested and fined his last dollars for illegally feeding his team on city streets. He arrives home cleaned out, forcing his immediate return to the potato patch.

• Chapter Key Points
  • First partnership yielded almost no profit.
  • Chicken business collapsed due to weather and neglect.
  • Lost his final money to an egg disaster and a city ordinance fine.

CHAPTER IV.

“My mother still insisted that I should learn a trade or get steady employment somewhere. I told her there was nothing in it.”

Mr. Keefer listens sympathetically to Johnston’s latest misfortunes and loans him $15, allowing him to successfully buy and sell sheep pelts (“which could neither drown, suffocate nor break”). Next, he enters the restaurant business, but struggles under the debt incurred from feeding friends who promised to pay but never did. He sells his remaining sheep and relies on Mr. Keefer to endorse a note to cover the $250 liability. Using a $50 note given by Keefer, he begins trading in patent rights. He cleverly trades up, eventually converting various obscure items (knitting machine, shot-gun, dulcimer) into a horse and watch, initiating a profitable new trading business, despite his mother declaring it a “starved-to-death business”.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Successful sheep pelt dealing was enabled by Keefer’s loan.
  • Restaurant failed due to uncollected debts from acquaintances.
  • Pivoted into profitable trading of horses and watches via patent rights.

CHAPTER V.

“O, no,” said I, “I guess I must not. This last note was not given for a patent right. It was given for the old note, the same as if you had discounted it.”

Johnston is initially swindled when he trades his fine horse and watch for a brass watch from a farmer. After borrowing another $15 from Keefer, Johnston regains his lost capital by selling the worthless watch to a rat trap agent for $62.50 cash and territory rights, leaving the agent “crest-fallen”. He then travels to Michigan and Indiana to sell his patent pruning shears territory, taking many orders and successfully trading his Michigan rights for another horse. His biggest score comes when an Indiana man, attempting to use the law requiring notes given for patent rights to be labeled (making them harder to collect), buys his territory. Johnston tricks the man into signing a new note, claiming it was given not for the patent right, but for the old note, thus making it negotiable, and walks away with $265 cash.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Swindled but recovered capital through clever trading.
  • Took immense orders for pruning shears, selling territory for cash and horses.
  • Outsmarted a buyer by legal maneuvering of a patent right note, securing full payment.

CHAPTER VI.

“This satisfied me that there was absolutely no money in the soap business.”

Johnston uses his newfound capital to partner with Fleming in Toledo, manufacturing a “Fine Toilet Soap”. Despite quickly accumulating massive orders, the firm collapses within weeks. Customers report the soap dried up, shriveled, and evaporated, with one druggist claiming it was made of “wind and water” and smelled like a “glue factory”. Johnston borrows money again from Keefer and travels to Indiana, where he and a friend pivot to selling cheap laundry soap repackaged as “prize packages” offering concealed cash prizes (a gift enterprise) near a circus. They profit handsomely until Johnston is arrested and fined $32.50 for violating a new law against gift enterprises, leaving him entirely broke again.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Soap manufacturing venture failed catastrophically as the product disintegrated.
  • Pivoted to profitable, though illegal, prize package soap sales.
  • Venture ended when arrested and fined for running a gift enterprise.

CHAPTER VII.

“Well, if they are both satisfied I suppose you ought to be.”

Broke and stranded, Johnston takes temporary work on a farm in Michigan for $1 per day, working 11 days for $11, hiding his ignorance of “back furrowing”. He goes to Chicago, where his uncle has acquired a fruit stand. This “too slow” business quickly collapses after three months due to losses from fruit decay and being constantly raided by relatives and friends. Returning home penniless, his mother scolds him, but Mr. Keefer defends him, noting that his consistent, honest energy must eventually lead to success. Johnston makes a crucial $10 “lucky trade” by acting as an invisible middleman in a watch exchange, receiving $5 profit from each party. He argues that if he can pull off such deals while young, he can manage larger deals later.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Briefly worked on a farm and then ran a failed Chicago fruit stand.
  • Fruit stand collapsed due to decayed stock and friends helping themselves.
  • Made $10 profit as a middleman in a clever watch trade.

CHAPTER VIII.

“Yes,” my mother said, “he will come out in the poorhouse, and drag you and me with him.”

Johnston successfully parlays a $3 watch purchase into significant assets, including sheep, pigs, a violin, and cash. He then dedicates himself to learning telegraphy, paying $15 for lessons and mastering the alphabet in three months, securing a night operator position in Whiting, Indiana, for $40 per month. Despite gaining significant debt from buying clothes, he supplements his low salary by organizing the local settlers to consign ducks and frogs to him for sale in Chicago. He resigns this work, finding it “too slow”. He forms a jewelry and spectacle partnership, initially succeeding, but his partner’s impatience forces a dissolution. Johnston realizes he must pursue opportunities that offer faster movement and higher stakes.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Successfully leveraged small capital to buy trading stock.
  • Became a functioning telegraph operator within three months.
  • Developed a profitable side business trafficking ducks and frogs to Chicago.

CHAPTER IX.

“My best deals were always made with professional horse-men, who generally seemed to think they had a ‘soft snap,’ and I never attempted to convince them differently…”

Working alone, Johnston successfully peddles jewelry and spectacles, traveling on horseback. He cleverly tricks a neighbor who had hoped to swindle him, trading a $10-per-dozen watch chain for a valuable mare. A subsequent sale to a country merchant turns Johnston into an accidental wholesaler—a field requiring large capital, which he lacked. Although unsuited for large-scale wholesale without funds, his ego makes him unwilling to return to peddling. He sells his entire stock to a young man for a secured promissory note worth $250, uses this to settle some debts, and gives new notes for the balance, thus officially retiring from the jewelry business for the time being.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Used cunning to successfully trade jewelry for assets like horses and buggies.
  • First large wholesale sale “turned his head,” making him unfit for peddling.
  • Sold off all jewelry stock to pay existing creditors.

CHAPTER X.

“Go for them, Johnston, you have sent in more applications under one date, and made a larger thirty days’ average, than has ever been made by any agent of our company…”

Johnston enters the insurance business and finds “great success,” rapidly becoming one of his company’s top agents, even for firms charging double the standard rate. He quickly decides to quit, arguing that if he excels so greatly yet only makes a living, he will “never get rich working at the insurance business”. He sells his business and assets, arriving in Chicago with over $1,000 cash. Johnston next uses Mr. Keefer’s signature to secure a $2,500 bond, enabling him to buy surplus government goods. With his success, he adopts extravagant and “dissipated habits,” including billiards and constant lavish expenditure. The venture rapidly runs behind, leaving him $75 short on settlement with Colonel Lippencott. Broke, he makes a temporary $20 raise by quickly buying and reselling a lot of nutmeg-graters to a merchant.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Excelled as an insurance agent but quit, believing it offered no path to wealth.
  • Used Mr. Keefer’s signature to bond a purchase of government surplus goods.
  • Acquired dissipated habits (billiards, spending) resulting in major debt.

CHAPTER XI.

“I admitted that there were no rows, and said to him in a confidential way: ‘My dear sir, I supposed you understood that this machine was intended to sow broadcast.'”

Johnston returns home, borrows more money from Mr. Keefer to cover his shortage, and rushes off to see his girl in Michigan. Without any capital, he secures an agency for McCormick reapers and mowers, quickly acquiring thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment on consignment, freight prepaid. He gets a carriage on credit but nearly loses a lawsuit after a farmer mistakenly sows his corn field “broadcast” instead of checked-row, following Johnston’s confusing demonstration. He marries but quickly invests his money into his father-in-law’s grocery business, which “collapsed” due to creditors. He then salvages a billiard table to run a hall, which is closed in three weeks by a city ordinance. Broke, he finds work as a newspaper reporter covering a mysterious murder case, sustaining his family until they return to Ohio.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Secured large volumes of agricultural machinery solely on consignment.
  • Failing demonstration led to a corn-planter disaster and near litigation.
  • Subsequent grocery and billiard hall businesses both collapsed quickly.

CHAPTER XII.

“The old adage, ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’ is ably illustrated here.”

Despite Mr. Keefer facing his own financial embarrassment, he secures a loan to send Johnston off to Springfield, Ohio. Johnston partners with “Prof. De Voe,” a horse-trainer, using a system of training horses without reins, relying on the whip’s motion. After six weeks of modest success, the partnership dissolves in Kentucky. Johnston makes a quick $25 patent-right sale and heads home. In Cincinnati, he unexpectedly meets his former partner and discovers that “Prof. De Voe” was actually a young lady in disguise. Johnston had traveled six weeks with her without realizing her true identity, attributing his blindness to how perfect her disguise was. He arrives home and two days later becomes the father of a bouncing baby boy.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Received a crucial loan from Mr. Keefer despite Keefer’s financial struggles.
  • Partnered with “Prof. De Voe,” a horse-trainer.
  • Discovered his partner was a woman in disguise after six weeks.

CHAPTER XIII.

“The landlord proved himself the ‘sort of mettle’ for our business; and at last one day I stepped up to him, reached out my hand, and said: ‘Well, landlord, I guess we’ll have to leave you for good.'”

Johnston returns to patent-right selling, trading rights for a reaping-machine dropper. He exploits the piety of “Brother Long,” a church deacon, to trade four counties for a pair of handsome horses. When the deacon wants to trade back, Johnston demands compensation, telling him, “The fools are not all dead yet, are they, Johnston?” to which he replies, “No, Brother Long… and there is no fool like an old fool”. He tricks another agent-hating deacon into dealing by pretending to be deaf and then shaming him for trying to save four cents on a toll gate. Partnering with Frank, they embark on a highly successful patent-right “campaign” but rely on managing their first-class hotel bills through aggressive courtesy. They successfully stave off their landlord’s requests for payment by offering lavish praise for his sought-after “cream biscuits”.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Successfully manipulated two pious deacons using patent right deeds.
  • Managed to force the landlord to accept their credit by being overly flattering.
  • Solved the balky horse problem using a fishing rod and an ear of corn.

CHAPTER XIV.

“He then returned to the patient and said: ‘Now, madam, your principal trouble lies in the fact that you have chronic trouble with the lower portion of your left limb….'” This quote is mistakenly placed in the source excerpts for Chapter XIV, but is relevant to the general tone of Johnston’s schemes.

Johnston and Frank travel through Indiana, achieving little success. Johnston tricks a telegraph operator into sending a message requesting cream biscuits from their former landlord for free. The landlord, unable to send biscuits, instead mails them the recipe. Losing their valise containing all their clean clothes, they are left broke in Fort Wayne. To retrieve their laundry, they recruit a boot-black (“the kid”) to attempt a complicated “exchange act” using their dirty shirts as collateral for the clean ones. The washerwoman keeps both lots of shirts, leaving them essentially shirtless. Johnston then cleverly talks the landlord (who had tried to borrow money from him) into loaning them $15 to pay the washerwoman.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Tricked a telegraph operator into sending a free message.
  • Lost all clean clothing in a disastrous mix-up involving a washerwoman and a “kid”.
  • Successfully convinced their concerned creditor (the landlord) to lend them money.

CHAPTER XV.

“The dickens he is!” shrieked the officer. “This is the man who sent me up there, and—”

The partners trade for a horse, but are pursued by an officer with a writ of replevin. Johnston uses stratagem to send the “wily detective” (a man with a wooden leg) on a false chase to a distant address, where the detective is evidently roughed up. Despite this delay, the horse is captured at the hotel. Broke again, Johnston seeks a raise by selling lemon extract and then selling a patent flour-sifter agency. He convinces a gentleman to pay the retail price ($100) for the agency, getting a cut-back from the actual agent, securing a $25 profit. Johnston notes that this successful hustle made him thirty-five dollars for his day’s work, convincing him that there was more money in that business than in patent rights.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Traded for a horse that was quickly seized via a writ of replevin.
  • Johnston misled an officer on a long, humiliating wild goose chase.
  • Made a quick profit by selling an agency at a massively inflated retail price.

CHAPTER XVI.

“We were at a loss to understand the meaning of all this, and called on one of the best lawyers in Cleveland and paid him ten dollars to examine our Power of Attorney.”

Johnston meets his wife and child in Elmore. He makes a huge sale of patent rights, netting $1,300 cash and a fine horse/carriage. They discover they are being hunted, described in papers as criminals selling “worthless deeds”. After a lawyer confirms their patent papers are valid, they resolve to “give them a good chase”. They lose almost all their cash speculating in wheat, leaving them nearly broke but still possessing the horse and carriage. Later, during a chase with pursuing officers, they drive down an embankment and under a bridge, where Johnston successfully disguises the horse’s pawing noise by imitating the bellowing of a “critter”. They eventually hide their entire rig in a farmer’s cellar to escape capture.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Acquired significant capital ($1,300 cash) from a large patent-right sale.
  • Lost the bulk of their money through disastrous speculation in wheat.
  • Evaded officers during a prolonged chase, hiding their rig in a cellar.

CHAPTER XVII.

“I had now become more interested in my new business than in the sale of my horse…”

Johnston visits his family, who are staying in Elmore, and successfully fools a detective by having his wife mail a letter with confusing forwarding addresses. He then makes a profitable, though small, raise by peddling furniture varnish, claiming his product was special because he did not apply it with a brush. He trades polish for empty bottles and eggs, prioritizing the polish business over selling his horse. To avoid the law, he has his dapple gray horse painted dark to disguise him, but a rainstorm washes the paint off. In Toledo, he is stopped by a policeman and recognized by a detective (a friend of his wife). He sells the horse to the proprietor of the stable and uses the money to buy an exclusive recipe for a superior furniture polish, which he considers a “good investment”. He returns to Clyde “broke,” but with a promising new product.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Fooled a detective by using a stratagem involving mail forwarding.
  • Successfully sold his own unique furniture polish, trading for essentials.
  • Horse disguise failed, but he sold the horse and acquired a highly valuable polish recipe.

CHAPTER XVIII.

“Well, she exclaimed, ‘you have always been determined to ‘hus’le,’ so now keep ‘hus’ling.'”

With Mr. Keefer away, Johnston’s mother denies him a loan, declaring, “If five cents would take you to California, you should walk it”. He borrows $3 from a friend to start making his new furniture polish and retrieves the old carpet-bag he used for his New York trip. An old lady tells his fortune for a bottle of polish, predicting he will be rich and never perform manual labor. He begins selling door-to-door, securing meals and lodging by sheer nerve. He makes an important declaration that selling patent rights is a foolish venture, asserting that legitimate inventions find capital easily, and those who sell territory sell only “blue sky”. Arrested in Adrian for selling without a license, he pays his fine with all his cash. Immediately after, he loses his entire stock by falling through an unfinished floor into a cellar. He remains undaunted, immediately ordering new stock.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Forced to begin polish business with only $3, denied help by mother.
  • Advocated publicly against investing in patent rights.
  • Arrested and lost all stock due to a physical collapse (falling into a cellar).

CHAPTER XIX.

“May the divil transmogrify you into a less pretentious individual, wid more brains and a domm sight less impecuniosity!”

Johnston partners with a flamboyant, distinguished-looking “Colonel Sellers” type Clairvoyant Doctor who rejects Johnston’s polish as beneath his dignity. The Doctor’s clairvoyance is abysmal, leading to constant failures, including a public, venomous verbal assault from an Irish patient after the Doctor misdiagnoses her rheumatism as a stomach cancer. Their travels are chaotic and marked by the Doctor’s nervous rages. Johnston secretly uses his limited medical terminology knowledge to diagnose a deaf woman and sells her a cheap remedy for $5. The Doctor is enraged by Johnston’s superior hustling, resulting in a breakdown of their partnership and mounting board debt.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Entered a disastrous partnership with an incompetent Clairvoyant Doctor.
  • The Doctor’s poor skills and high dignity ruined their attempts at success.
  • Johnston’s clever diagnosis of a deaf woman showed his superior hustling ability.

CHAPTER XX.

“The Doctor was elated with the prospects, and fairly danced with delight.”

Johnston secures the management of the fourth-class hotel they were staying at, using the well-regarded Doctor’s influence. His first actions are to discharge and then re-hire the staff at lower wages. During a busy dinner service, he forces the insulted Doctor (who had objected to being called a table waiter) to help serve. The Doctor causes chaos, colliding with the landlady and screaming after a guest requests “another bean”. Johnston manages two arriving “hus’lers” by demanding immediate advance payment, insisting he won’t be like the landlords he used to cheat. While the landlady is gone, Johnston spends $1,500 remodeling the entire hotel, terrifying her upon her return. He hires a Teutonic man (“Dutchy”) as a chambermaid after the previous one elopes, fooling the Doctor by concealing the man’s identity.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Secured hotel management position via Doctor’s unwitting help.
  • Humiliated the Doctor by forcing him to wait tables with chaotic results.
  • Enforced strict advance payment rules on new guests.
  • Invested $1,500 to remodel the hotel, nearly giving the landlady a “swoon”.

CHAPTER XXI.

“I certainly had every reason to regret that things had turned out as they had, for the seventeen miles of travel in taking the girl home and returning to town proved too much for the old nag…”

The Doctor is swindled in a watch trade (brass for gold). Johnston helps him “get even” by staging a loud argument over cheap jewelry to trick Sam, a horse-trader, into exchanging a horse and buggy for the nearly worthless stock. Later, they discover the note Sam gave was highly valuable. The Doctor fails spectacularly trying to sell wire stove-pipe brackets to his washerwoman for a bet, suffering a mop-stick blow and falling down stairs into a slop bucket. At a country dance, Johnston foils the Doctor’s attempt to court a cross-eyed girl by faking a fit, leading the host to send Johnston to drive the girl home instead. Johnston also convinces the new dining hall staff that the Doctor is crazy and must be denied pie and coffee, causing the Doctor to chase a server into the cellar while demanding an explanation.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Helped the Doctor take revenge on a horse-trader with cheap jewelry.
  • The Doctor experienced a painful collapse attempting to peddle brackets.
  • Johnston ruined the Doctor’s courtship by faking a seizure.

CHAPTER XXII.

“He argued that I would be sure of a comfortable living, anyhow. I agreed with him, but declared that I would never be sure of anything beyond that; and I would rather live from hand to mouth till such time as I could better my condition and possibly make money rapidly.”

After the landlady leases the renovated hotel, Johnston, broke, moves his family to Ann Arbor in winter. He makes his initial “raise” by successfully selling polish to a butcher for cash and steak, using a clever lie about being the “red-headed brother” of a regular customer. He closes a major trade for the Washtenaw County agency in polish for $10 cash and a large volume of winter vegetables. Johnston notes that the $50 sale was cheap for the amount of “experience” he imparted. He endures a rough Michigan winter without proper clothing, but fiercely clings to his ambition, rejecting a stable $15-per-week office job, believing that working on a salary would forever limit him. He establishes an “enforced credit” with a butcher and grocer. He is hired as an auctioneer in Toledo, choosing to work on a commission basis rather than salary.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Made his first sales by aggressive canvassing and clever lies.
  • Traded polish agency for winter vegetables and $10 cash.
  • Refused salary work, preferring the high-risk, high-reward life of “hus’ling”.

CHAPTER XXIII.

“I would first describe the quality of the article for sale, and after placing its price as high as it usually sold at, would then run it down to our lowest bottom price, and as soon as a sale was made, proceed to duplicate and sell off as many of them as possible in a single run…”

Johnston’s first auction sale at Blissfield, Michigan, is a resounding success, establishing his aptitude. To protect his auction reputation from the perception of peddling, he adopts a highly effective “double role,” using a blonde wig, flashy suit, and silk hat for evening auction sales, while continuing to peddle polish during the day with his normal appearance. He makes auctioneering his “constant study,” compiling an arsenal of comical descriptive talk and jokes. He employs the “down-hill plan,” or “Dutch Auction,” where he dramatically lowers the price until a bidder commits. His highly exaggerated sales talk, like the one for soap (“it will remove stains from your conscience, pimples from your face, dandruff from your head…”), keeps the audience entertained and buying incessantly.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Proved immediately successful as a street auctioneer.
  • Employed disguise (wig/clothing) to maintain a highly effective “double role”.
  • Developed the “Dutch Auction” style characterized by fast, flamboyant descriptions.

CHAPTER XXIV.

“Oh, tidy be ——! Cuss your nice old lady, and her good conversation, and all the —— well-bred kids.”

After his employer leaves, Johnston partners with Johnny, a wealthy but extravagant friend, who provides the capital. Johnston subjects Johnny to a “practical joke,” tricking him into staying at a cheap, uncomfortable Kansas City boarding house, all the while describing it glowingly as “neat and clean and nice and tidy” and “home-like”. Johnny eventually explodes in rage, accusing Johnston of nearly starving him and slipping off to a good hotel nightly, leading them to move to a respectable establishment. Later, Johnston develops a strategy of auctioneering for local country merchants, clearing out their old, hard stock for a commission. He also tries his hand at political speaking, delivering a rousing but eventually confused speech by accidentally blending his Republican and Democratic arguments mid-stream.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Taught his partner austerity via an unpleasant boarding house joke.
  • Established a new business model auctioneering for country merchants.
  • Accidentally confused his Republican and Democratic stump speeches publicly.

CHAPTER XXV.

“Well, Frank, misery likes company. Get in here and we’ll travel together.”

Johnston ensures his family is comfortable during winter while he continues auctioneering for merchants and peddling polish. He trades a shot-gun for a bony horse, harness, and wagon, fixing the horse’s teeth to enable it to eat. He starts his own proprietorship with $17 worth of notions. When Mr. Keefer requests financial help, Johnston secures a large auction job and sends Keefer $120 cash, demonstrating his loyalty. Later, he reunites with his old partner, Frank, telling him “misery likes company,” and they hustle polish together. Frank performs a surgical operation (setting an old lady’s ankle) in a small town, earning the title “Doctor Frank” and collecting a $10 fee. Johnston and Frank use pugilism and intimidation to handle aggressive locals who mocked them. Broke again, they trick a hard customer into trading a chicken and fifty cents for the polish recipe.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Began his own auction business with minimal starting capital.
  • Rallied successfully to financially aid Mr. Keefer.
  • Partner Frank earned the title “Doctor Frank” after setting an ankle.
  • Used aggressive force and lies to maintain their reputation against troublemakers.

CHAPTER XXVI.

“Mary, give him fifty-five dollars, and let him go.”

Johnston and Frank share their last dollars with a tramp, but chase him down to the saloon and force him to eat the meal they paid for, rather than spend the money on liquor. Frank dissolves the partnership and heads north. Johnston conducts a major farm auction, earning $55 commission. When the farmer refuses to pay, Johnston threatens to spoil all the sales by declaring he is an unlicensed auctioneer, forcing the farmer’s wife to pay the full amount. Johnston orders new goods and resumes his own auction business, trading his current bad horse for a better mare and starting toward Michigan for the County Fairs.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Forced a tramp to use his given charity money for food.
  • Enforced a large commission payment by threatening to invalidate the entire auction due to being unlicensed.
  • Secured a better horse through clever trading for the next stage of his travels.

CHAPTER XXVII.

“The fact had been fairly demonstrated that a yoke of trained oxen and cart paid better than a five-hundred-dollar team of horses with a carriage;”

Johnston arrives at the Michigan State Fair and begins auctioneering. He enters a three-day, $600-profit partnership with a stranded showman whose “side-show” consists only of his family—his wife as the Fat Woman, his daughter as the Circassian Girl, etc.. Johnston’s energetic “blower” routine convinces crowds to buy tickets to see the showman’s family, whom he describes as the “Greatest of living curiosities”. Later, needing to send money to Keefer, Johnston trades his fine horse and carriage for a yoke of oxen and a two-wheeled cart, securing a $350 difference. The novel sight of Johnston selling from an ox-cart becomes a great attraction, boosting sales immensely. He later encounters the Clairvoyant Doctor and plays two tricks on him: yelling “Change cars for Pocahontas,” and convincing him that the price of quail at a lunch counter is $12 per dozen, making the Doctor lose his appetite and threaten a lawsuit.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Co-partnered in a highly profitable, deceptive side-show featuring a family exhibition.
  • Traded his horse and buggy for oxen and a cart, finding the “novel turn-out” attracted huge crowds and increased sales.
  • Played malicious pranks on the Clairvoyant Doctor, ruining his meal.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

“You bet it’ll talk!”

Johnston’s next auction partnership proves a disaster, losing money all winter due to poor weather and lack of demand. He closes the business with only $4 cash. Stranded, he meets Dr. S. W. Ingraham, a Chicago surgeon, and impresses him with his varied, hard-luck background (including his mixed political speech). Dr. Ingraham loans Johnston $50 to buy a new stock, stating he likes a good “hus’ler”. While awaiting his goods, Johnston partners with a man exhibiting a broken Edison phonograph. When the machine fails to speak, Johnston prevents the audience from demanding refunds by claiming the machine has a severe cold. He substitutes himself as the entertainment, performing his entire, rapid-fire Yankee peddler auction routine and a short display of phony phrenology.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Received a crucial $50 loan from a Chicago surgeon who respected his energy.
  • Exhibited a broken phonograph, using fast talk to invent excuses and stall.
  • Saved the show by performing his auction routine and feigning phrenological knowledge.

CHAPTER XXIX.

“This was one of the very best advertisements for me, as it convinced the people that I would do by them as I agreed…”

Johnston creates a portable, two-wheeled cart conveyance to avoid livery fees while traveling through the northern lumber regions. He quickly repays Dr. Ingraham. He supplements his auction income by hiring boys to peddle needles, covering his travel expenses. At Sault St. Marie, he successfully thwarts an officer attempting to enforce a State license fee by using legal jargon and then tricking the officer into climbing into the cart and acting as an auctioneer himself. He buys a fire-damaged stock of goods. He makes an immense profit selling bundles of variegated paper cambric (damaged fabric) for $2 apiece. He generates massive goodwill and advertising by allowing every dissatisfied female customer to trade the fabric back for $2 worth of other goods. He returns to Chicago “flush and flying high,” with over $3,000.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Invented a portable, cost-saving auction conveyance.
  • Used cunning and risk to beat an officer attempting to enforce licensing laws.
  • Generated huge profit and excellent advertising by honoring a trade-back offer on damaged goods.

CHAPTER XXX.

“I mean that experience should be invoiced as stock in trade; and as I have had lots of it since my first experiment, I am going to fill up two trays in my sample case with jewelry, and in each one of the empty trays I’ll put a card with the word ‘experience’ written on it;…”

With his $3,000, Johnston attempts to become a wholesale merchant, buying a large stock of merchandise for $750. This venture fails due to bad roads and poor trade; he liquidates everything to save his credit, ending up broke but honest. He re-enters the jewelry business with less than $50 in stock. He tells his wife he considers his stock 50 times larger than before because “experience” is now his main asset, filling empty trays with cards reading “experience”. He begins an aggressive wholesaling strategy, showing goods everywhere—from hotel porters to merchants. When a wholesale firm offers him a salaried position, he refuses, valuing his independence and experience too highly to work for a “sure thing” or for anyone but himself. His dedication sees him clear over $600 in profit in his first month.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Failed in a large venture but protected his crucial business credit.
  • Declared “experience” to be his greatest capital, listing it as stock in trade.
  • Refused a salaried position, believing independence was essential for wealth.

CHAPTER XXXI.

“I told them I didn’t believe in doing things by halves.”

While traveling, Johnston is robbed of his main stock trunk. A few days later, his remaining small stock is completely destroyed when his sample case flies open on a railroad track and is obliterated by a fast express train, leaving him “totally collapsed”. He collapses entirely but immediately returns to selling polish to survive. In a moment of impulsive generosity, he throws his last $20 gold piece onto the stage for a struggling actress, leaving him penniless again. He reunites with his old partner Johnny, who is now a conductor and has also lost his money. Using his wholesaler credit, Johnston secures new stock and makes a stunning $600 profit in a single day by exploiting a telegram that signaled an advance in the price of shears. Soon after, his health fails due to the sheer intensity of his “hus’ling,” forcing him home.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Lost his entire stock in two catastrophic incidents: robbery and train destruction.
  • Impulsively lost his last dollar giving a $20 gold piece as a tip.
  • Made a rapid $600 profit by cornering the market on shears.

CHAPTER XXXII.

“I will here relate a little incident that occurred on the day of Albert’s arrival in the city. It only goes to show how the average young man will wriggle and tax his brain in order to get out of a tight box.”

After months of recovery, Johnston borrows $25 from his friend Albert, an act he later regards as the single “turning point in a man’s life”. He returns to Chicago and secures a small credit of $40 for jewelry stock. He tricks a difficult merchant into looking at his goods by orchestrating an “accident” where his case falls open, scattering jewelry on the floor; this stratagem earns him a massive order. He then forces an aggressive credit extension from his Chicago wholesaler (about $1,000 worth of goods) by physical intimidation and demanding they bill the goods before he leaves the store. He begins his successful ascent, first stopping to pay off all his old debts in Ohio and Michigan, even those outlawed, plus 8% interest, asserting his hard-earned reputation. He starts buying directly from manufacturers in New York and begins to experience “immense success,” selling goods rapidly.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Received a $25 loan considered the major turning point to success.
  • Used stratagem to secure a massive order from a difficult customer.
  • Forced his wholesaler to grant a substantial line of credit.
  • Paid all old debts plus interest to solidify his business integrity.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

“I then closed my letter by saying that in the future, if he entertained an idea that I had got to fail in business, I wished he would kindly keep it to himself, as there would be time enough for me to consider the matter after my creditors had become dissatisfied…”

Johnston expands his burgeoning wholesale empire by hiring several traveling agents, instructing his first salesman (Bert) on strict principles of low expenses and business-only interactions. He marries his second wife, Anna, who immediately begins managing his finances with expertise. A sudden collapse in fall trade leaves Johnston $26,000 in debt. His book-keeper urges him to make an assignment (bankruptcy), but Johnston furiously rejects the notion, declaring his intent to pay “one hundred cents on the dollar” and stick to the “wreck”. He begins traveling with his wife by team for her health, using the trip to sell off excess stock and aggressively collect old debts, using strong threats and force to collect from deadbeats (including a woman who was committing bigamy).

• Chapter Key Points
  • Married his second wife, Anna, who provided invaluable financial management.
  • Rejected book-keeper’s call for bankruptcy, resolving to pay 100 cents on the dollar.
  • Traveled by team and employed aggressive, forceful tactics to collect hard debts.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

“On their arrival, I escorted them to my store, when, after looking over the several clerks and book-keepers, Mr. Keefer asked: ‘Who are all these people working for?'”

Johnston continues his aggressive debt collection, and also successfully plays detective to recover over thirteen hundred dollars’ worth of watches and jewelry after a customer fails, obtaining information by feigning love to the “beastly homely” sister of the ex-manager. He calls in all his agents and shifts his business focus to a new, highly successful advertising scheme. Mr. Keefer, Johnston’s mother, and his son visit the massive Chicago wholesale operation. Mr. Keefer is utterly stunned by the scale, repeatedly concluding, “Well, it does beat the devil”. Johnston details other late ventures, including purchasing a half interest in a livery stable (which also perplexed Keefer). Finally, after a tragic horse death and barn fire, Johnston sells his home at auction and details his last wild experience as a temporary barber who “only lathered”. He concludes by asserting that the foundational secret to all his success was unwavering energy and the refusal to ever be satisfied with his lot.

• Chapter Key Points
  • Played detective, using psychological manipulation to recover stolen jewelry.
  • Successfully shifted business to a winning advertising model, eliminating traveling agents.
  • Mr. Keefer, astonished by the magnitude of the Chicago success, pronounced his famous verdict: “it does beat the devil”.

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Notable Quotes from the Book

1. “The sketch when prepared proved of such magnitude that it was deemed advisable to make it a separate volume. Hence, the ‘Twenty Years of Hus’ling.'”
2. “I cannot remember ever having done an hour’s work in this capacity except under protest.”
3. “I had been taught that economy was wealth, and the only road to success.”
4. “The man that is here to-night is bound to be a winner.”
5. “I was unable to do anything at Brainerd, and concluded to visit smaller towns, where my little stock would look larger.”
6. “Experience? Do you claim that as capital?”
7. “I’d pay one hundred cents on the dollar if I had to collect my bills at the muzzle of a shot-gun.”
8. “No man can make a greater mistake than to adopt these old-fogy ideas. The idea of being satisfied with their lot, I believe has kept many men from progressing…”
9. “If a man has but a dollar to spend, I believe he should spend it in as princely a style as though he had a million left.”
10. “And without giving value received, under all circumstances, (whether in Patent Rights or any other business), no man need look for or expect success.”

About the Author

J. P. Johnston was born near Ottawa, Illinois, on January 6, 1852, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He is known as the author of Twenty Years of Hus’ling, an autobiography released in 1902 (first copyrighted in 1887), which recounts his tumultuous path from a “lazy” farm boy to a successful Chicago wholesaler. Johnston also authored The Auctioneer’s Guide, intending initially to include his life story within that volume to inspire others struggling against adversity.

His biography, illustrated by W. W. Denslow, is dedicated to American “Hus’lers”—those determined to gain independence and success through Energy, Persistency, and Honesty of Purpose. His later ventures, demonstrating his continued commitment to hustling, included connection with the Johnston Car-seat Company, manufacturing the Emmert Coach and Reclining Car-seat. He was married twice; his second wife, Anna H. Emmert, was a crucial partner in managing his expanding wholesale jewelry business.

How to Get the Most from the Books

Focus on the author’s relentless energy and persistence, even after repeated “collapses”. Study his unique strategies for raising money, recovering from failure, and capitalizing on experience.

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Conclusion

Twenty Years of Hus’ling is far more than an autobiography; it is J. P. Johnston’s philosophical manifesto on the essential role of uncompromising energy in achieving the American dream. The sheer volume of Johnston’s failures—from spoiled eggs and evaporating soap to gift enterprise arrests and repeated bankruptcies—serves only to amplify his ultimate triumph. He methodically documents his progression from being a master of stratagem (duping detectives, tricking landlords, exploiting the deaf) to becoming a legitimate businessman, one whose reputation for integrity was so strong he paid off outlawed debts with interest. The ultimate lesson Johnston imparts is that all failures are merely assets to be invoiced as “experience”. Supported steadfastly by Mr. Keefer, who always knew “that boy” would win, Johnston’s relentless pursuit of high-risk ventures eventually paid off on an immense scale, confirming his belief that anything less than phenomenal success was a disgrace to the profession.