University of Virginia Library

OF THE CHARACTER OF THE STREET-STALLS.

The stalls occupied by costermongers for the
sale of fish, fruit, vegetables, &c., are chiefly
constructed of a double cross-trestle or moveable
frame, or else of two trestles, each with three
legs, upon which is laid a long deal board, or tray.
Some of the stalls consist merely of a few boards
resting upon two baskets, or upon two herring-
barrels. The fish-stalls are mostly covered with
paper — generally old newspapers or periodicals —
but some of the street-fishmongers, instead of
using paper to display their fish upon, have intro-
duced a thin marble slab, which gives the stall
a cleaner, and, what they consider a high attri-
bute, a "respectable" appearance.

Most of the fruit-stalls are, in the winter
time, fitted up with an apparatus for roasting
apples and chestnuts; this generally consists of
an old saucepan with a fire inside; and the
woman who vends them, huddled up in her old
faded shawl or cloak, often presents a picturesque
appearance, in the early evening, or in a fog,
with the gleam of the fire lighting up her half
somnolent figure. Within the last two or three
years, however, there has been so large a business
carried on in roasted chestnuts, that it has
become a distinct street-trade, and the vendors
have provided themselves with an iron apparatus,
large enough to roast nearly half a bushel at a
time. At the present time, however, the larger
apparatus is less common in the streets, and
more frequent in the shops, than in the previous
winter.

There are, moreover, peculiar kinds of stalls —
such as the hot eels and hot peas-soup stalls,
having tin oval pots, with a small chafing-dish
containing a charcoal fire underneath each, to
keep the eels or soup hot. The early breakfast
stall has two capacious tin cans filled with tea or
coffee, kept hot by the means before described,
and some are lighted up by two or three large
oil-lamps; the majority of these stalls, in the
winter time, are sheltered from the wind by a
screen made out of an old clothes horse covered
with tarpaulin. The cough-drop stand, with its
distilling apparatus, the tin worm curling nearly
the whole length of the tray, has but lately been
introduced. The nut-stall is fitted up with a
target at the back of it. The ginger-beer stand
may be seen in almost every street, with its
French-polished mahogany frame and bright
polished taps, and its foot-bath-shaped reservoir
of water, to cleanse the glasses. The hot elder
wine stand, with its bright brass urns, is equally
popular.

The sellers of plum-pudding, "cake, a penny
a slice," sweetmeats, cough-drops, pin-cushions,
jewellery, chimney ornaments, tea and table-
spoons, make use of a table covered over, some
with old newspapers, or a piece of oil-cloth,
upon which are exposed their articles for sale.

Such is the usual character of the street-
stalls. There are, however, "stands" or "cans"
peculiar to certain branches of the street-trade.
The most important of these, such as the baked-
potatoe can, and the meat-pie stand, I have
before described, p. 27.

The other means adopted by the street-sellers
for the exhibition of their various goods at
certain "pitches" or fixed localities are as
follows. Straw bonnets, boys' caps, women's
caps, and prints, are generally arranged for sale
in large umbrellas, placed "upside down."
Haberdashery, with rolls of ribbons, edgings,
and lace, some street-sellers display on a stall;
whilst others have a board at the edge of the
pavement, and expose their wares upon it as
tastefully as they can. Old shoes, patched up
and well blacked, ready for the purchaser's feet,
and tin ware, are often ranged upon the ground, or,
where the stock is small, a stall or table is used.

Many stationary street-sellers use merely
baskets, or trays, either supported in their hand,
or on their arm, or else they are strapped round
their loins, or suspended round their necks.
These are mostly fruit-women, watercress, black-
ing, congreves, sheep's-trotters, and ham-sand-
wich sellers.

Many stationary street-sellers stand on or near
the bridges; others near the steam-packet wharfs
or the railway terminuses; a great number of
them take their pitch at the entrance to a court,
or at the corners of streets; and stall-keepers
with oysters stand opposite the doors of public-
houses.

It is customary for a street-seller who wants
to "pitch" in a new locality to solicit the leave
of the housekeeper, opposite whose premises he
desires to place his stall. Such leave obtained,
no other course is necessary.