C&A’s very first balance sheet is preserved in this book. Debtors and creditors are listed with meticulous care. The company is rooted in the tradition of the Tüötten, itinerant traders from northern Westphalia, who since no later than the 17th century had concentrated among other things on selling textiles to farming households in the Dutch province of Frisia. In the first years after C&A’s foundation in 1841, too, business is still largely conducted door to door. Sales are usually made on credit. Keeping accurate accounts with debtors’ names and addresses is therefore particularly important. As they make their rounds, the merchants call in on as many debtors as possible, in order to collect the money still owing. In 1860 C&A opens its first retail store with regular opening hours. Around 1900 the company ceases to offer credit sales.