 | OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF EATABLES AND DRINKABLES. London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1 |  |
OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF PEA-SOUP AND
Hot Eels.
Two of the condiments greatly relished by the
chilled labourers and others who regale them-
selves on street luxuries, are "pea-soup" and
"hot eels." Of these tradesmen there may be
500 now in the streets on a Saturday. As the
two trades are frequently carried on by the
same party, I shall treat of them together. The
greatest number of these stands is in Old-street,
St. Luke's, about twenty. In warm weather
these street-cooks deal only in "hot eels" and
whelks; as the whelk trade is sometimes an ac-
companiment of the others, for then the soup will
not sell. These dealers are stationary, having
stalls or stands in the street, and the savoury
odour from them attracts more hungry-looking
gazers and longers than does a cook-shop window.
They seldom move about, but generally frequent
the same place. A celebrated dealer of this class
has a stand in Clare-street, Clare-market, op-
posite a cat's-meat shop; he has been heard to
boast, that he wouldn't soil his hands at the busi-
ness if he didn't get his 30s. a day, and his 2l. 10s.
on a Saturday. Half this amount is considered to
be about the truth. This person has mostly all
the trade for hot eels in the Clare-market dis-
trict. There is another "hot eel purveyor" at
the end of Windmill-street, Tottenham-court-
road, that does a very good trade. It is thought
that he makes about 5s. a day at the business,
and about 10s. on Saturday. There was, before
the removals, a man who came out about five
every afternoon, standing in the New-cut, nearly
opposite the Victoria Theatre, his "girl" always
attending to the stall. He had two or three
lamps with "hot eels" painted upon them, and
a handsome stall. He was considered to make
about 7s. a day by the sale of eels alone, but he
dealt in fried fish and pickled whelks as well, and
often had a pile of fried fish a foot high. Near the
[Description: 915EAF. Page 161.]
New Kent-roads, a hot-eel man dispenses what
a juvenile customer assured me was "as spicy
as any in London, as if there was gin in it."
But the dealer in Clare-market does the largest
trade of all in the hot-eel line. He is "the
head man." On one Saturday he was known
to sell 100lbs. of eels, and on most Saturdays
he will get rid of his four "draughts" of eels
(a draught being 20lbs.) He and his son are
dressed in Jenny Lind hats, bound with blue
velvet, and both dispense the provisions, while
the daughter attends to wash the cups. "On a
Sunday, anybody," said my informant, "would
think him the first nobleman or squire in the
land, to see him dressed in his white hat, with
black crape round it, and his drab paletot and
mother-o'-pearl buttons, and black kid gloves,
with the fingers too long for him."
I may add, that even the very poorest, who
have only a halfpenny to spend, as well as
those with better means, resort to the stylish
stalls in preference to the others. The eels
are all purchased at Billingsgate early in the
morning. The parties themselves, or their sons
or daughters, go to Billingsgate, and the water-
men row them to the Dutch eel vessels moored
off the market. The fare paid to the watermen
is 1d. for every 10lbs. purchased and brought
back in the boat, the passenger being gratis.
These dealers generally trade on their own
capital; but when some have been having "a
flare up," and have "broke down for stock,"
to use the words of my informant, they borrow
1l., and pay it back in a week or a fortnight at
the outside, and give 2s. for the loan of it. The
money is usually borrowed of the barrow, truck,
and basket-lenders. The amount of capital re-
quired for carrying on the business of course
depends on the trade done; but even in a small
way, the utensils cost 1l. They consist of one
fish-kettle and one soup-kettle, holding upon an
average three gallons each; besides these, five
basins and five cups and ten spoons are re-
quired, also a washhand basin to wash the cups,
basins, and spoons in, and a board and tressel
on which the whole stand. In a large way, it re-
quires from 3l. to 4l. to fit up a handsome stall.
For this the party would have "two fine kettles,"
holding about four gallons each, and two patent
cast-iron fireplaces (the 1l. outfit only admits of
the bottoms of two tin saucepans being used as
fireplaces, in which charcoal is always burning
to keep the eels and soup hot; the whelks are
always eaten cold). The crockery and spoons
would be in no way superior. A small dealer
requires, over and above this sum, 10s. to go to
market with and purchase stock, and the large
dealer about 30s. The Class of persons belong-
ing to the business have either been bred to it,
or taken to it through being out of work. Some
have been disabled during their work, and have
resorted to it to save themselves from the work-
house. The price of the hot eels is a halfpenny
for five or seven pieces of fish, and three-parts
of a cupfull of liquor. The charge for a half-
pint of pea-soup is a halfpenny, and the whelks
are sold, according to the size, from a halfpenny
each to three or four for the same sum. These
are put out in saucers.
The eels are Dutch, and are cleaned and
washed, and cut in small pieces of from a half
to an inch each. [The daughter of one of my
informants was busily engaged, as I derived this
information, in the cutting of the fish. She
worked at a blood-stained board, with a pile of
pieces on one side and a heap of entrails on the
other.] The portions so cut are then boiled, and
the liquor is thickened with flour and flavoured
with chopped parsley and mixed spices. It is
kept hot in the streets, and served out, as I have
stated, in halfpenny cupfulls, with a small quan-
tity of vinegar and pepper. The best purveyors
add a little butter. The street-boys are extra-
vagant in their use of vinegar.
To dress a draught of eels takes three hours —
to clean, cut them up, and cook them sufficiently;
and the cost is now 5s. 2d. (much lower in the
summer) for the draught (the 2d. being the ex-
pense of "shoring"), 8d. for 4 lb. of flour to
thicken the liquor, 2d. for the parsley to flavour
it, and 1s. 6d. for the vinegar, spices, and pepper
(about three quarts of vinegar and two ounces
of pepper). This quantity, when dressed and
seasoned, will fetch in halfpennyworths from
15s. to 18s. The profit upon this would be
from 7s. to 9s. 6d.; but the cost of the charcoal
has to be deducted, as well as the salt used while
cooking. These two items amount to about 5d.
The pea-soup consists of split peas, celery,
and beef bones. Five pints, at 3½d. a quart, are
used to every three gallons; the bones cost 2d.,
carrots 1d., and celery ½d. — these cost 1s. 0¼d.;
and the pepper, salt, and mint, to season it,
about 2d. This, when served in halfpenny basin-
fulls, will fetch from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 4d., leaving
1s. 1d. profit. But from this the expenses of
cooking must be taken; so that the clear gain
upon three gallons comes to about 11d. In a
large trade, three kettles, or twelve gallons, of
pea-soup will be disposed of in the day, and
about four draughts, or 80 lbs., of hot eels on
every day but Saturday, — when the quantity of
eels disposed of would be about five draughts, or
100 lbs. weight, and about 15 gallons of pea-
soup. Hence the profits of a good business in
the hot-eel and pea-soup line united will be from
7l. to 7l. 10s. per week, or more. But there is
only one man in London does this amount of
business, or rather makes this amount of money.
A small business will do about 15 lbs. of eels in
the week, including Saturday, and about 12 gal-
lons of soup. Sometimes credit is given for a
halfpennyworth, or a pennyworth, at the out-
side; but very little is lost from bad debts.
Boys who are partaking of the articles will occa-
sionally say to the proprietor of the stall, "Well,
master, they are nice; trust us another ha'-
p'orth, and I'll pay you when I comes again;"
but they are seldom credited, for the stall-keepers
know well they would never see them again.
Very often the stock cooked is not disposed of,
[Description: 915EAF. Page 162.]
family. The pea-soup will seldom keep a night,
but what is left the family generally use for
supper.
The dealers go out about half-past ten in the
morning, and remain out till about ten at night.
Monday is the next best day to Saturday. The
generality of the customers are boys from 12 to
16 years of age. Newsboys are very partial
to hot eels — women prefer the pea-soup. Some
of the boys will have as many as six halfpenny
cupfulls consecutively on a Saturday night; and
some women will have three halfpenny basins-
full of soup. Many persons in the cold weather
prefer the hot soup to beer. On wet, raw, chilly
days, the soup goes off better than usual, and
in fine weather there is a greater demand for the
hot eels. One dealer assured me that he once
did serve two gentlemen's servants with twenty-
eight halfpenny cupfulls of hot eels one after
another. One servant had sixteen, and the other
twelve cupfulls, which they ate all at one stand-
ing; and one of these customers was so partial
to hot eels, that he used to come twice a day
every day for six months after that, and have
eight cupfulls each day, four at noon and four
in the evening. These two persons were the best
customers my informant ever had. Servants,
however, are not generally partial to the com-
modity. Hot eels are not usually taken for
dinner, nor is pea-soup, but throughout the
whole day, and just at the fancy of the passers-
by. There are no shops for the sale of these
articles. The dealers keep no accounts of what
their receipts and expenditure are.
The best time of the year for the hot eels is
from the middle of June to the end of August.
On some days during that time a person in a
small way of business will clear upon an average
1s. 6d. a day, on other days 1s.; on some days,
during the month of August, as much as 2s. 6d.
a day. Some cry out "Nice hot eels — nice hot
eels!" or "Warm your hands and fill your
bellies for a halfpenny." One man used to give
his surplus eels, when he considered his sale
completed on a night, to the poor creatures
refused admission into a workhouse, lending
them his charcoal fire for warmth, which was
always returned to him. The poor creatures
begged cinders, and carried the fire under a
railway arch. The general rule, however, is for
the dealer to be silent, and merely expose the
articles for sale. "I likes better," said one man
to me, "to touch up people's noses than their
heyes or their hears." There are now in the
trade almost more than can get a living at it,
and their earnings are less than they were
formerly. One party attributed this to the
opening of a couple of penny-pie shops in his
neighbourhood. Before then he could get 2s. 6d.
a day clear, take one day with another; but
since the establishment of the business in the
penny-pie line he cannot take above 1s. 6d. a
day clear. On the day the first of these pie-
shops opened, it made as much as 10 lbs., or half
a draught of eels, difference to him. There was
a band of music and an illumination at the pie-
shop, and it was impossible to stand against
that. The fashionable dress of the trade is the
"Jenny Lind" or "wide-awake" hat, with a
broad black ribbon tied round it, and a white
apron and sleeves. The dealers usually go to
Hampton-court or Greenwich on a fine Sunday.
They are partial to the pit of Astley's. One of
them told his waterman at Billingsgate the other
morning that "he and his good lady had been
werry amused with the osses at Hashley's last
night."
| OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF EATABLES AND DRINKABLES. London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1 | |