second-hand book-stall, in a sort of arched passage in the New Cut,
Lambeth, sold manuscript-music, and was often “sadly bothered,” he
said, at one time by the musical propensities of a man who looked
like a journeyman tailor. This man, whenever he had laid out a trifle
at the book-stall, looked over the music, and often pulled a small
flute from his pocket, and began to play a few bars from one of the
manuscripts, and this he continued doing, to the displeasure of the
stall-keeper, until a crowd began to assemble, thinking, perhaps,
that the flute-player was a street-musician; he was then obliged to
desist. Of the kind of music he sold, or of its mode of production,
this street-bookseller knew nothing. He purchased it of a man who
carried it to his stall, and as he found it sell tolerably well, he
gave himself no further trouble concerning it. The supplier of the
manuscript pencilled on each sheet the price it was to be offered at,
allowing the stall-keeper from 50 to 150 per cent. profit, if the
price marked was obtained. “I haven’t seen anything of him, sir,” said
the street-bookseller, “for a long while. I dare say he was some poor
musicianer, or singer, or a reduced gentleman, perhaps, for he always
came after dusk, or else on bad dark days.”
Although but partially connected with street-art, I may mention
as a sample of the music sometimes offered in street-sale, that a
book-stall keeper, three weeks ago showed me a pile of music which he
had purchased from a “waste collector,” about eight months before,
at 2-1/2_d._ the pound. Among this was some MS. music, which I
specify below, and which the book-stall keeper was confident, on very
insufficient grounds, I think, had been done for street-sale.
The music had, as regards three-fourths of it, evidently been bound,
and had been torn from the boards of the book, as only the paper
portion is purchased for “waste.” Some, however, were loose sheets,
which had evidently never been subjected to the process of stitching.
I now cite some of the titles of this street-sale: “Le Petit Tambour.
Sujet d’un Grand Rondeau pour le Piano Forte. Composé par L. Zerbini,”
(MS.) “Di Tanti Palpiti. The Celebrated Cavatina, by Rossini, &c.”
“Twenty Short Lessons, or Preludes in the most Convenient Keys for the
Harp. Composed and Respectfully Dedicated to Lady Ann Collins. By John
Baptist Meyer. Price 5_s._” “An Cota Caol (given in the ancient Irish
character.) The Slender Coat,” (MS.) “Cailin beog chruite na mbo (also
in Irish). The Pretty Girl Milking the Cow,” (MS.)
There are now no persons regularly employed in preparing MS. music for
the streets. But occasionally a person skilled in music writing will,
when he or she, I was told, had nothing better in hand, do a little
for the street sale, disposing of the MSS. to any street-stationer or
bookseller. If four persons are this way employed, receiving 4_s._ a
week each, the year through--which I am assured is the extent--we find
upwards of 40_l._ thus earned, and about twice that sum taken by the
street retailers.
OF THE CAPITAL AND INCOME OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF STATIONERY,
LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS.
I now proceed to give a summary of the capital, and income of the above
classes. I will first however, endeavour to give a summary of the
number of individuals belonging to the class.
This appears to be made up (so far as I am able to ascertain) of the
following items:--120 sellers of stationery; 20 sellers of pocket-books
and diaries; 50 sellers of almanacks and memorandum-books; 12 sellers
of account-books; 31 card-sellers; 6 secret papers-sellers; 250 sellers
of songs and ballads; 90 running patterers; 20 standing patterers; 8
sellers of “cocks” (principally elopements); 15 selling conundrums,
“comic exhibitions,” &c.; 200 selling play-bills and books for the
play; 40 back-number-sellers; 4 waste paper-sellers at Billingsgate;
40 sellers of tracts and pamphlets; 12 newsvenders, &c., at steam-boat
piers; 2 book auctioneers; 70 book-stall keepers and book barrow-men;
16 sellers of guide-books; 30 sellers of song-books and children’s
books; 40 dealers in pictures in frames; 30 vendors of engravings in
umbrellas, and 4 sellers of manuscript music--making altogether a total
of 1,110. Many of the above street-trades are, however, only temporary.
As, for instance, the street-sale of playing-cards, continues only
fourteen days in the year; pocket-books and diaries, four weeks;
others, again, are not regularly pursued from day to day, as the sale
of prints and engravings in umbrellas, which affords employment for but
twelve weeks out of the fifty-two, and conundrums for two months. One
trade, however, (namely, that of “Comic Exhibition Papers,” gelatine
and engraved cards of the Exhibition) is entirely now in the streets.
In the broad-sheet trade, again, the “running patterers” work what are
called “cocks,” when there are no incidents happening to incite the
public mind. Hence, making due allowances for such variations, we may
fairly assume that the street-sellers belonging to this class number
at least 1,000. The following statistics will show the whole amount of
capital, and the gross income of this branch of street traffic.
CAPITAL OR VALUE OF THE STOCK-IN-TRADE OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF
STATIONERY, LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
_Street-sellers of Stationery._
£ _s._ _d._
40 stalls, 4_s._ each; 80 boxes,
3_s._ 6_d._ each; and stock-money for
120 sellers, 10_s._ each 82 0 0
_Street-sellers of Pocket-books and Diaries._
Stock-money for 20 vendors, 10_s._ each 10 0 0
_Street-sellers of Almanacks and Memorandum-books._
Stock-money for 50 vendors, 1_s._ per head 2 10 0
_Street-sellers of Account-books._
12 baskets, 3_s._ each; 12 waterproof
bags, 2_s._ 6_d._ each; stock-money for
12 sellers, 15_s._ each 12 6 0
_Street-sellers of Cards._
Stock-money for 20 sellers, 1_s._ 6_d._ each 2 5 0
_Street-seller of Stenographic-cards._
Stock-money for 1 seller 0 1 6
_Street-sellers of Long-songs._
20 poles to which songs are attached,
2_d._ each; stock-money for
20 sellers, 1_s._ each 1 3 4
_Street-sellers of Wall-songs (“Pinners-up.”)_
30 canvass frames, to which songs
are hung, 2_s._ each; stock-money for
30 sellers, 1_s._ each 4 10 0
_Street-sellers of Ballads (“Chaunters.”)_
2 fiddles, 7_s._ each; stock-money
for 200 chaunters, 1_s._ each 10 14 0
_Street-sellers of “Dialogues,” “Litanies,” &c.
(“Standing Patterers.”)_
20 boards with appendages “for
pictures,” 5_s._ 6_d._ each; 20 paintings
for boards, 3_s._ 6_d._ each; stock-money
for 20 vendors, 1_s._ each 10 0 0
_Street-sellers of Executions, &c. (“Running
Patterers.”)_
Stock-money for 90 sellers, 1_s._
each 4 10 0
_Street-sellers of “Cocks.”_
Stock-money for 8 sellers, 1_s._ each 0 8 0
_Street-sellers of Conundrums and Nuts to Crack._
Stock-money for 15 sellers, 1_s._ each 0 15 0
_Street-sellers of Exhibition Papers, Magical
Delusions, &c._
Stock-money for 15 sellers, 1_s._ each 0 15 0
_Street-sellers of Secret Papers._
Stock-money for 6 vendors, 1_s._ each 0 6 0
_Street-sellers of Play-bills and Books of the Play._
Stock-money for 200 vendors, 2_s._ each 20 0 0
_Street-sellers of Back Numbers._
Stock-money for 40 sellers, 5_s._ each 10 0 0
_Street-sellers of Waste-paper at Billingsgate._
Stock-money for 4 sellers, 5_s._ each 1 0 0
_Street-sellers of Tracts and Pamphlets._
Stock-money for 40 sellers, 6_d._ each 1 0 0
_Street-sellers of Newspapers (Second Edition)._
Stock-money for 20 sellers, 2_s._ 6_d._ each 2 10 0
_Street-sellers of Newspapers, &c., on board
Steam-boats._
Stock-money for 12 sellers, 5_s._ each 3 0 0
_Street-sellers of Books by Auction._
Stock-money for 2 sellers, 2_l._
each; 2 barrows, 1_l._ each; 2 boards,
for barrows, 3_s._ each 6 6 0
_Street-sellers of Books on Stalls and Barrows._
20 stalls, 4_s._ each; 50 barrows,
1_l._ each; 50 boards, for barrows, 3_s._
each; stock-money, for 70 sellers, 2_l._ each 201 10 0
_Street-sellers of Guide-books._
Stock-money, for 16 sellers, 5_s._ each 4 0 0
_Street-sellers of Song Books and Children’s Books._
Stock-money, for 30 vendors, 1_s._ each 1 10 0
_Street-sellers of Pictures in Frames._
40 stalls, 2_s._ 6_d._ each; stock-money,
for 40 sellers, 5_s._ each 15 0 0
_Street-sellers of Engravings in Umbrellas._
Umbrellas, 2_s._ 6_d._ each; stock-money
for 30 sellers, 2_s._ each 3 0 0
_Street-sellers of Manuscript-music._
Stock-money, for 4 sellers, 1_s._ 6_d._ each 0 6 0
----------------
TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTED IN
THE STREET-SALE OF STATIONERY,
LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS 411 5 10
----------------
INCOME, OR AVERAGE ANNUAL “TAKINGS,” OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF
STATIONERY, LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS.
_Street-sellers of Stationery._
There are 120 vendors of stationery,
who sell altogether during the year,
224,640 quires of writing paper at 3_d._
per quire; 149,760 doz. envelopes, at
1-1/2_d._ per doz.; 37,440 doz. pens, at 3_d._
per doz.; 24,960 bottles of ink, at 1_d._
each; 112,320 black lead pencils, at
1_d._ each; 24,960 pennyworths of
wafers, and 49,920 sticks of sealing-wax,
at 1/2_d._ per stick; amounting altogether
to £4,992
_Street-sellers of Pocket-books and Diaries._
During the year 1,440 pocket-books,
at 6_d._ each, and 960 diaries, at 6_d._
each, are sold in the streets by 20
vendors; amounting to £60
_Street-sellers of Almanacks and Memorandum-books._
There are sold during the year, in
the streets of London, 280,800 memorandum-books,
at 1_d._ each, and 4,800
almanacks at 1_d._ each, among 50 vendors,
altogether amounting to £1,190
_Street-sellers of Account-books._
There are now 12 itinerants vending
account-books in various parts of the
metropolis, each of whom sells daily,
upon an average, 4 account-books, at
1_s._ 9_d._ each; the number sold during
the year is therefore 14,976, and the
sum expended thereon amounts to £1,310
_Street-sellers of “Gelatine,” “Engraved,” and
“Playing-cards.”_
There are 20 street-sellers vending
gelatine and engraved cards during the
day, and 30 selling playing-cards (for
14 days) at night. These vendors get
rid of, among them, in the course of the
year, 43,200 gelatine, and 14,400 engraved
cards, at 1_d._ each, and 3,360
packs of playing-cards, at 3_d._ per
pack; so that the money spent in the
streets on the sale of engraved, gelatine,
and playing-cards, during the
year, amounts to £282
_Street-seller of Stenographic Cards._
There is only 1 individual “working”
stenographic cards in the streets
of London, and the number he sells in
the course of the year is 7,448 cards,
at 1_d._ each, amounting to £31 4
_Street-sellers of Long Songs._
I am assured, that if 20 persons were
selling long songs in the street last
summer (during a period of 12 weeks),
it was “the outside;” as long songs
are now “for fairs and races, and
country work.” Calculating that each
cleared 9_s._ in a week, and to clear that
took 15_s._, we find there is expended in
long songs in the streets annually £180
_Street-sellers of Wall Songs (“Pinners-up.”)_
On fine summer days, the wall song-sellers
(of whom there are 30) take 2_s._
on an average. On short wintry days
they may not take half so much, and
on very foggy or rainy days they take
nothing at all. Reckoning that each
wall song-man now takes 10_s._ 6_d._
weekly (7_s._ being the profit), we find
there is expended yearly in London
streets, in the ballads of the pinners-up £810
_Street-sellers of Ballads (“Chaunters.”)_
There are now 200 chaunters, who
also sell the ballads they sing; the
average takings of each are 3_s._ per
day; altogether amounting to £4,680
_Street-sellers of Executions, &c. (“Running Patterers.”)_
Some represent their average weekly
earnings at 12_s._ 6_d._ the year through;
some at 10_s._ 6_d._; and others at less
than half of 12_s._ 6_d._ Reckoning, however,
that only 9_s._ weekly is an average
profit per individual, and that 14_s._ be
taken to realise that profit, we find
there is expended yearly, on executions,
fires, deaths, &c., in London £3,276
_Street-sellers of Dialogues, Litanies, &c. (Standing
Patterers.)_
If 20 standing patterers clear 10_s._
weekly, each, the year through, and
take 15_s._ weekly, we find there is
yearly expended in the standing patter
of London streets £780
_Street-sellers of “Cocks” (Elopements, Love
Letters, &c.)_
There are now 8 men who sell
nothing but “Cocks,” each of whom
dispose daily of 6 dozen copies at 1/2_d._
per copy, or altogether, during the
year, 179,712 copies, amounting to £374 8_s._
_Street-sellers of Conundrums--“Nuts to Crack,”
&c._
From the best information I could
acquire, it appears that fifteen men
may be computed as working conundrums
for two months throughout the
twelve, and clearing 10_s._ 6_d._ weekly,
per individual. The cost of the “Nuts
to Crack” (when new) is 5_d._ a dozen
to the seller; but old “Nuts” often
answer the purpose of the street-seller,
and may be had for about half the
price; the cost of the “Nut-crackers”
is 2_s._ to 2_s._ 6_d._ It may be calculated,
then, that to realize the
10_s._ 6_d._ above-mentioned 15_s._ must
be taken. This shows the street expenditure
in “Nuts to Crack” and
“Nut-crackers” to be yearly £90
_Street-sellers of Exhibition Papers, Magical
Delusions, &c._
This trade is carried on only for a
short time in the winter, as regards the
magical portion; and I am informed
that, including the “Comic Exhibitions,”
it extends to about half of
the sum taken for conundrums; or to about £45
_Street-sellers of Secret Papers._
Supposing that 6 men last year
each cleared 6_s._ weekly, we find expended
yearly in the streets on this
rubbish £93
_Street-sellers of Play-bills and Books._
Taking the profits at 3_s._ a week,
at cent. per cent. on the outlay, and
reckoning 200 sellers, including those
at the saloons, concert-rooms, &c.,
there is expended yearly on the sale
of play-bills purchased in the streets
of London £3,120
_Street-sellers of Back Numbers._
There are now 40 vendors in the
streets of London, each selling upon
an average 3 dozen copies daily, at 1/2_d._
each, or during the year 336,960 odd
numbers. Hence, the sum expended
annually in the streets for back numbers
of periodicals amounts to upwards of £700
_Street-sellers of Waste-paper at Billingsgate._
There are 4 individuals selling
waste-paper at Billingsgate, one of
whom informed me that from 70 to
100 pounds weight of “waste”--about
three-fourths being newspapers--is
supplied to Billingsgate market
and its visitants. The average
price is not less than 2-1/2_d._ a pound,
or from that to 3_d._ A single paper is
1_d._ Reckoning that 85 pounds of
waste-paper are sold a day, at 2-1/2_d._
per pound, we find that the annual
expenditure in waste-paper at Billingsgate
is upwards of £275
_Street-sellers of Tracts and Pamphlets._
From the information I obtained
from one of this class of street-sellers,
I find there are 40 individuals gaining
a livelihood in selling tracts and pamphlets
in the streets, full one half are
men of colour, the other half consists
of old and infirm men, and young
boys, the average takings of each is
about 1_s._ a day, the year through; the
annual street expenditure in the sale
of tracts and pamphlets is thus upwards of £620
_Street-sellers of Newspapers (Second Edition.)_
There are 20 who are engaged in
the street sale of newspapers, second
edition, each of whom take weekly
(for a period of 6 weeks in the year)
1_l._ 5_s._; so that, adopting the calculation
of my informant, and giving a
profit of 150 per cent., the yearly
expenditure in the streets, in second
editions, amounts to £150
_Street-sellers of Newspapers, &c., at Steam-Boat
Piers._
I am informed that the average
earnings of these traders, altogether,
may be taken at 15_s._ weekly; calculating
that twelve carry on the trade
the year through, we find that (assuming
each man to sell at thirty-three
per cent. profit--though in the case
of old works it will be often cent. per
cent.), the sum expended annually
in steam-boat papers is upwards of £1,500
_Street-sellers of Books (by Auction)._
There are at present only 2 street-sellers
of books by auction in London,
whose clear weekly earnings are 10_s._ 6_d._
each. Calculating their profits at 250_l._
per cent., their weekly receipts will
amount to 35_s._ each per week; giving
a yearly expenditure of £91
_Street-sellers of Books on Stalls and Barrows._
The number of book-stalls and barrows
in the streets of the metropolis is
70. The proprietors of these sell weekly
upon an average 42 volumes each. The
number of volumes annually sold in
the streets is thus 1,375,920, and reckoning
each volume sold to average 9_d._,
we find that the yearly expenditure in
the sale of books in the street amounts to £5,733
_Street-sellers of Guide-books._
The street-sellers of guide-books to
public places of amusement, are 16 in
number, the profit of each is 4_s._ weekly,
at 25 per cent., hence the takings must
be 20_s._; thus making the annual expenditure
in the street-sale of such books amount to £832
_Street-sale of Song-books and Children’s books._
There are 30 street-sellers who vend
children’s books and song-books, and
dispose of, among them, 2 dozen each
daily, or during the year 224,640 books,
at 1_d._ each; hence the sum yearly expended
in the street-sale of children’s
books and song-books is £936
_Street-sellers of Pictures in Frames._
If we calculate 40 persons selling pictures
in frames, and each taking 10_s._
weekly; we find the annual amount
spent in the streets in the sale of these
articles is £1,040
_Street-sellers of Prints and Engravings in
Umbrellas._
The street-sale of prints and engravings
in umbrellas lasts only 12 weeks.
There are 30 individuals who gain a
livelihood in the sale of these articles
during that period. The average takings
of each seller is 12_s._ weekly; so that
the annual street-expenditure upon
prints and engravings is £216
_Street-sellers of Manuscript Music._
There are only 4 sellers of manuscript
music in the streets, who take on an
average 4_s._ each weekly; hence we find
the annual expenditure in this article
amounts in round numbers to £40
------------------
TOTAL SUM EXPENDED YEARLY
IN THE STREETS ON STATIONERY,
LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS £33,446 12_s._
------------------
AN EPITOME OF THE PATTERING CLASS.
I wish, before passing to the next subject--the street-sellers of
manufactured articles (of one of whom the engraving here given
furnishes a well-known specimen)--I wish, I say, as I find some
mistakes have occurred on the subject, to give the public a general
view of the patterers, as well as to offer some few observations
concerning the means of improving the habits of street-people in
general.
The patterers consist of three distinct classes; viz., those who sell
something, and patter to help off their goods; those who exhibit
something, and patter to help off the show; and those who do nothing
but patter, with a view to elicit alms. Under the head of “Patterers
who sell” may be classed
Paper Workers,
Quack Doctors,
Cheap Jacks,
Grease Removers,
Wager Patterers,
Ring Sellers,
Dealers in Corn Salve,
„ Razor Paste,
„ French Polish,
„ Plating Balls,
„ Candle Shades,
„ Rat Poisons, &
„ Blacking,
Book Auctioneers.
The second class of patterers includes jugglers, showmen, clowns, and
fortune-tellers; beside several exhibitors who invite public notice to
the wonders of the telescope or microscope.
The third and last class of patterers are those who neither sell nor
amuse, but only victimise those who get into their clutches. These (to
use their own words) “do it on the bounce.” Their general resort is an
inferior public-house, sometimes a brothel, or a coffee-shop. One of
the tricks of these worthies is to group together at a window, and if
a well-dressed person pass by, to salute him with the contents of a
flour-bag. One of their pals--better dressed than the rest--immediately
walks out, declares it was purely accidental, and invites the gentleman
in “to be brushed.” Probably he consents, and still more probably, if
he be “good-natured,” he is plied with liquor, drugged with snuff for
the occasion, and left in some obscure court, utterly stupified. When
he awakes, he finds that his watch, purse, &c., are gone.
“A casual observer, or even a stranger, may be induced to contract
a wayside acquaintance with the parties to whom I allude,” says one
of the pattering class, from whom I have received much valuable
information; “and if he be a visitor of fairs and races, that
acquaintance, though slight, may sometimes prove expensive. But casual
observers cannot, from the complexity and varied circumstances of the
characters now under notice, form anything like a correct view of them.
I am convinced that no one can, but those who have visited their haunts
and indeed lived among them for months together. They are not to be
known, any more than the great city was to be built, in a day. This
advantage--if so it may be called--has fallen to my lot.”
The three classes of patterers above enumerated must not be confounded.
The two first are essentially distinct from the last--at least
they do _something_ for their living; and though the pattering
street-tradesmen may generally overstep the bounds of truth in their
glowing descriptions of the virtues of the goods they sell, still it
should be remembered they are no more dishonest in their dealings than
the “enterprising” class of shopkeepers, who resort to the _printed_
mode of puffing off their wares,--indeed the street-sellers are far
less reprehensible than their more wealthy brother puffers of the
shops, who cannot plead want as an excuse for their dishonesty. The
recent revelations made by the _Lancet_, as to the adulteration of the
articles of diet sold by the London grocers, show that the patterers
who sell, practise far less imposition than some of our “merchant
princes.”
“A tradesman in Tottenham-court Road, whose address the _Lancet_
advertises gratis, thus proclaims the superior qualities of his
‘_Finest_ WHITE PEPPER. One package of this article, which is the
interior part of the kernel of the finest pepper, being equal in
strength to nearly three times the quantity of black pepper (which
is the inferior, small, shrivelled berries, and often little more
than husks), it will be not only the best but the cheapest for every
purpose.’ This super-excellent pepper, ‘sold in packages, price
1_d._,’ was found on analysis to consist of finely-ground _black
pepper, and a very large quantity of wheat-flour_.”
Indeed the _Lancet_ has demonstrated that as regards tea, coffee,
arrow-root, sugar, and pepper sold by “pattering” shopkeepers, the
rule invariably is that those are articles which are the most puffed,
and “warranted free from adulteration,” and “to which the attention
of families and _invalids_ is particularly directed as being of the
finest quality ever imported into this country,” are uniformly the most
scandalously adulterated of all.
We should, therefore, remember while venting our indignation against
pattering street-sellers, that they are not the only puffers in the
world, and that they, at least, can plead poverty in extenuation of
their offence; whereas, it must be confessed, that shopkeepers can have
no other cause for their acts but their own brutalizing greed of gain.