Once upon a time, before the internet, before satellite, before cable and even before color television, three or maybe even four black and white channels that went off the air at 10:00pm, were the most that anyone had. For those who liked to read, this was the heyday of the dime store novel, but people were still bored out of their minds.
A knock at your door was a welcome diversion, as it could be a neighbor who was as bored as you were, or perhaps actually needed to borrow something. It could be the mailman, who could opt to put the mail directly in your hand and share news of the neighborhood if he had time. It could be a Fuller Brush man, selling high quality brushes you could not find in stores.
It could be an Electrolux, Kirby, Hoover or Eureka representative, selling a new appliance called a vacuum cleaner, which not only eliminated the drudgery of beating carpets, but kept your house cleaner and healthier for crawling babies as well.
It could be a Britannica, Americana or Funk & Wagnalls representative who could sell you your very own set of encyclopedias. If you didn't own a set or know someone who did, your children would have to go to the public library for school assignments, which was not always practical if it wasn't within walking distance.
It was during this era that door to door evangelism was born. And it worked for the same reasons. Women (Because they were left home alone to raise the children) and to a lesser degree, men, were starving for social interaction.
Today, a knock on your door generally means something is wrong and not surprisingly, it instantly puts people on the defensive. Door to door evangelism is not nearly as effective as it once was, if it's even effective at all anymore.
JW's have their traditions, but like any successful movement, they will have to adapt.