University of Virginia Library

THE LONDON FLOWER GIRLS.

It is not easy to arrive at any accurate estimate
of the number of flower-sellers in the streets of
London. The cause of the difficulty lies in the
fact that none can be said to devote themselves
entirely to the sale of flowers in the street, for
the flower-sellers, when oranges are cheap and
good, find their sale of the fruit more certain
and profitable than that of flowers, and resort
to it accordingly. Another reason is, that a
poor costermonger will on a fine summer's day
send out his children to sell flowers, while
on other days they may be selling water-
cresses or, perhaps, onions. Sunday is the best
day for flower-selling, and one experienced man
computed, that in the height and pride of the
summer 400 children were selling flowers, on
the Sundays, in the streets. Another man
thought that number too low an estimate, and
contended that it was nearer 800. I found
more of the opinion of my last mentioned in-
formant than of the other, but I myself am
disposed to think the smaller number nearer the
truth. On week days it is computed there are
about half the number of flower-sellers that there
are on the Sundays. The trade is almost en-
tirely in the hands of children, the girls out-
numbering the boys by more than eight to one.
The ages of the girls vary from six to twenty;
few of the boys are older than twelve, and most
of them are under ten.

Of flower-girls there are two classes. Some
girls, and they are certainly the smaller class
of the two, avail themselves of the sale of flowers
in the streets for immoral purposes, or rather,
they seek to eke out the small gains of their
trade by such practises. They frequent the great
thoroughfares, and offer their bouquets to gen-
tlemen, whom on an evening they pursue for
a hundred yards or two in such places as the
Strand, mixing up a leer with their whine for
custom or for charity. Their ages are from
fourteen to nineteen or twenty, and sometimes
they remain out offering their flowers — or dried
lavender when no fresh flowers are to be had —
until late at night. They do not care, to make
their appearance in the streets until towards
evening, and though they solicit the custom of
ladies, they rarely follow or importune them.
Of this class I shall treat more fully under ano-
ther head.

The other class of flower-girls is composed of
the girls who, wholly or partially, depend upon
the sale of flowers for their own support or as
an assistance to their parents. Some of them
are the children of street-sellers, some are
orphans, and some are the daughters of me-
chanics who are out of employment, and who
prefer any course rather than an application to
the parish. These girls offer their flowers in
the principal streets at the West End, and
resort greatly to the suburbs; there are a few,
also, in the business thoroughfares. They
walk up and down in front of the houses, offer-
ing their flowers to any one looking out of the
windows, or they stand at any likely place.
They are generally very persevering, more espe-
cially the younger children, who will run along,
barefooted, with their "Please, gentleman, do
buy my flowers. Poor little girl!" — "Please,
kind lady, buy my violets. O, do! please! Poor
little girl! Do buy a bunch, please, kind lady!"

The statement I give, "of two orphan flower-

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sellers" furnishes another proof, in addition to
the many I have already given, of the heroic
struggles of the poor, and of the truth of the
saying, "What would the poor do without the
poor?"

The better class of flower-girls reside in
Lisson-grove, in the streets off Drury-lane,
in St. Giles's, and in other parts inhabited by
the very poor. Some of them live in lodging-
houses, the stench and squalor of which are in
remarkable contrast to the beauty and fragrance
of the flowers they sometimes have to carry
thither with them unsold.