OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF FRENCH POLISH.
The greater part of the French polish vended in
the streets is bought at oil and varnish-shops in
Bethnal-green and Whitechapel, the wholesale
price being 1s. a pint. The street-vendors add
turpentine to the polish, put it into small bottles,
and retail it at 1d. a bottle. They thus contrive
to clear 5d. on each shilling they take.
There are now five and sometimes six men
selling French polish in the streets and public-
houses. "But the trade's getting stale," I was
told; "there was twice as many in it three or
four years back, and there'll be fewer still next
year." When French polish first became famous
there were, I was informed, several cabinet-makers
who hawked it — some having prepared it them-
selves — and they would occasionally clear 5s. in a
day. Of these street-traders there are now none,
the present vendors having been in no way con-
nected with the manufacture of furniture. These
men generally carry with them pieces of "fancy
wood," such as rose, or sandal wood, which they
polish up in the streets to show the excellence of
the varnish. The chief purchasers are working
people and small tradespeople, or their wives, who
require trifling quantities of such a composition
when they re-polish any small article of furniture.
The French polish-sellers, I am assured by a
man familiar with the business, take 2s. a day
each, or rather in an evening, for the sales are
then the most frequent: the 2s. leaves a profit of
10d. The street expenditure is, therefore (reckon-
ing five regular sellers), 156l. yearly. None of
the French polish-sellers confine themselves en-
tirely to the sale of it.
