In 18th century England, large industrial houses, such as Wedgewood, began mass-producing certain goods such as pottery and ceramics and needed a form of mass distribution for their products. Some peddlers were employed by these industrial producers to act as a type of travelling sales representative, calling on retail and wholesale outlets in order to make a sale. In England, these peddlers were known as "Manchester men" because of the prevalence of the practice in the sale of cotton cloth manufactured in Manchester. Employed by a factory or entrepreneur, they sold goods from shop to shop rather than door to door and were thus operating as a type of wholesaler or distribution intermediary. They were the precursors to the field sales representative.