University of Virginia Library

10. OF THE CAPITAL AND INCOME OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF EATABLES
AND DRINKABLES.

I now give a summary of the Capital and Income
of the street-sellers of eatables and drinkables.
But, first, I will endeavour to arrive at an esti-
mate of the total number of people belonging to
the class.

The street-sellers engaged in the sale of
eatables and drinkables, are, summing the se-
veral items before given, altogether 6,347: of
whom 300 sell pea-soup and hot eels; 150,
pickled whelks; 300, fried fish; 300, sheeps
trotters; 60, ham-sandwiches; 200, baked 'tatoes;
4, hot green peas; 150, meat; 25, bread; 1,000,
cat and dogs' meat; 300, coffee and tea; 1,700,
ginger-beer, lemonade, sherbet, &c.; 50, elder-
wine; 4, peppermint-water; 28, milk; 100,
curds and whey and rice-milk; 60, water; 50,
pies; 6, boiled pudding; 6, plum "duff"; 150,
cakes and tarts; 4, plum-cakes; 30, other cheaper
cakes; 150, gingerbread-nuts; 500, cross-buns;
500, muffins and crumpets; 200, sweet stuff;
6, cough-drops; 20, ice-creams. But many of
the above are only temporary trades. The street-
sale of hot cross-buns, for instance, lasts only
for a day; that of muffins and crumpets, baked
potatoes, plum-"duff," cough-drops, elder-wine,
and rice-milk, are all purely winter trades, while
the sale of ginger-beer, lemonade, ice-creams,
and curds and whey, is carried on solely in the
summer. By this means the number of the
street-sellers of eatables and drinkables, never
at any one time reaches the amount before
stated. In summer there are, in addition to the
10,000 costers before mentioned, about 3,000
people, and in winter between 4,000 and 5,000,
engaged in the eatable and drinkable branch of
the street-traffic.

As regards the Capital and Income, many
minute accounts have been prepared.

To show the care, as well as the fulness with
which these returns have been made, I give one
of the Tables in its integrity, merely remarking,
that similar tables relative to all the other
articles have been made; but I condense the
details, lest a repetition, however curious in its
statistics, should prove wearisome:

CAPITAL, OR STOCK IN TRADE, OF THE STREET-
SELLERS OF EATABLES AND DRINKABLES.

                                       

Street-sellers of Hot Eels.	\cp\	s.	d
200 stalls, at 6s.	60	0	0
100 baskets, at 1s.	5	0	0
200 eel-kettles, at 3s. 6d.	35	0	0
100 jars for itinerants, at 6d.	2	10	0
300 stew-pans, at 2s.	30	0	0
300 strainers, at 1s.	15	0	0
300 ladles, at 4d.	5	0	0
2,400 cups, at 1d.	10	0	0
2,400 spoons, at 1d.	10	0	0
200 chafing-dishes, at 6d.	5	0	0
200 glasses for candles, at 3d.	2	10	0
240 vendors' stock-money, at 5s.
each	60	0	0
60 ditto, at 25s. each.	75	0	0
100 itinerants' ditto, at 2s. each	10	0	0
300 cloths, at 4d. each	5	0	0
300 pairs of sleeves, at 4d. per pair	5	0	0
300 aprons at 4d. each	5	0	0
	\cp\339	10	0

Street-sellers of Pea Soup.

150 soup-kettles, 4s. each; 150
ladles, 6d. each; 150 pepper-boxes,
1d. each; 150 mint-boxes, 3d. each;
150 chafing-dishes, 6d. each; 1,800
basons, 1d. each; 1,800 spoons, 1d. each; stock-money, 3s. 6d. each*. 81 5 0

Street-sellers of Pickled Whelks.

100 stalls, 4s. each; 150 baskets,
2s. 6d. each; 150 tin boilers, 2s. 6d. each; 75 pans, 9d. each; 150 jars,
6d. each; 150 flour-dredgers, 4d. each; 1,800 saucers, ½d. each; 150
table-spoons, 2d. each; 150 knives,
2d. each; 150 vinegar-bottles, 1d. each; 150 serge aprons, 2s. each;
stock-money, for 150 vendors, 5s. each... 125 18 9

Street-sellers of Fried Fish.

300 trays, 1s. 6d. each; 300 fry-
ing-pans, 1s. 6d. each; 300 salt-
dredgers, 3d. each; 300 knives, 2d. each; 300 earthenware pans, 1s. each; 300 shallows, 1s. each; stock-
money, for 150 vendors, 5s. each. 156 5 0

Street-sellers of Sheeps' Trotters.

300 baskets, 1s. 4d. each; 300 £ s. d. cotton cloths, 4d. each; 300 forks,
2d. each; 300 knives, 3d. each; 300
pepper-boxes, 1d. each; 300 salt-
cellars, 1d. each; stock-money, for
300 sellers, 1s. each... 48 15 0

Street-sellers of Ham Sandwiches.

60 baskets, 2s. each; 60 tin boilers,
2s. each; 60 knives and forks, 6d. per pair; 60 mustard-pots, 1d. each;
60 spoons, 1d. each; 60 cloths, 5d. each; 60 aprons, 4d. each; 60 pairs
of sleeves, 4d. per pair; stock-money
for 60 vendors, 7s. 2d. weekly.. 38 15 0

Street-sellers of Baked' Tatoes.

300 cans, 2l. each; 300 knives,
3d. each; 300 pepper-boxes, 1d. each; stock-money for 300 vendors,
10s. each... 755 0 0

Street-sellers of Hot Green Peas.

4 cans, 2s. 6d. each; 4 vinegar-
bottles, 1d. each: 4 pepper-boxes,
3d. each; 12 saucers, 1d. each; 12
spoons, 1d. each; 4 cloths, 4d. each;
stock-money for 4 vendors, 2s. each 1 2 8

Street-sellers of Meat ("Hawking Butchers.")

150 baskets, 4s. 6d. each; 150
saws, 2s. each; 150 cleavers, 1s. 6d. each; 150 steels, 1s. 6d. each; 150
belts for baskets, 1s. each; 150 do.
for waist, 6d. each; 150 cloths, 6d. each; 150 aprons, 6d. each; 150
pairs of sleeves, 4d. per pair; 150
vendors' stock-money, 6s each per
day... 138 5 0

Street-sellers of Bread.

12 baskets, 4s. 6d. each; 12 bar-
rows, 40s. each; 1 long bread-basket,
40s.; 1 barrow, 30s.; 13 sacks, 1s. each; stock-money for 25 vendors,
at 1l. each... 55 17 0

Street-sellers of Cats' and Dogs'-meat.

500 barrows, 18s. each; 1,000
baskets, 1s. 6d. each; 500 sets of
weights and scales, 4s. each; 1,000
knives, 8d. each; 1,000 steels, 1s. each; stock-money of 1,500 ven-
dors, 7s. 6d. per head... 1,083 6 8

Street-sellers of Coffee and Tea.

150 tables, 2s. 6d. each; 75 stalls,
6s. each; 75 coffee-barrows, 1l. each;
400 coffee-cans (100 vendors having
two cans, and 200 only one), 8s. each;
1,200 half-pint cups and saucers, 3d. each, and 900 pints, 6d. each; 2,100
spoons, 1d. each; 900 plates, 1½d. each; 300 knives, 2d. each; 300
pans, 9d. each; 600 canisters, 5d. each; 50 screens, 2s. 6d. each; stock-
money of 300 vendors, 5s. each. 435 12 0

Street-sellers of Ginger-beer.

300 barrows, 1l. each; 1,000 stalls, £ s. d. 5s. each; 175 fountains, 7l. each; 20
ditto, 20l. each; 3 ditto, 100l. each;
9,000 glasses, 5d. each; 1,500 tanks,
1s. each; 3,000 towels, 6d. each;
500 sets of brewing utensils, corks,
&c., 5s. each; 500 gross of bottles,
10s. per gross, and stock-money for
1,500 vendors, 5s. each... 3,562 10 0

Street-sellers of Lemonade, Nectar, Sherbet, &c.*

200 stalls, 6s. each; 500 stone
barrels, 5s. 6d. each; 1,200 glasses,
4½d. each; 400 towels, 6d. each; 200
jars, 2s. each; 2,400 glass bottles,
3d. each; stock-money for 200 ven-
dors, 2s. 6d. each... 305 0 0

Street-sellers of Elder-wine.

3 elder-wine carriages and appa-
ratus, 7l. each; 47 ditto ditto, 3l. 10s. each; 300 small wine-glasses, 2d. each; stock-money, 3s. per head. 195 10 0

Street-sellers of Peppermint-water.

2 kegs, 3s. 6d. each; 2 jars, 2s. each; 16 glasses, 3d. each; 4 cloths,
4d. each; stock-money, for four
vendors, 1s. each... 1 0 4

Milk-sellers in the Park.

16 cows, 20l. each; 8 lockers, 3l. each; 32 fixed seats, 3s. each; 48
forms, 3s. each; 48 glasses, 4½d. each; 96 cups, 1d. each; 8 halters,
for cows, 6d. each; 8 pans, 1s. each;
16 towels, 6d. each... 358 6 0

Milk-sellers in Markets, &c.

20 yokes and pairs of cans, 15s. each; 20 sets of measures, 2s. per
set; stock-money for 20 vendors, 3s. each... 20 0 0

Street-sellers of Curds and Whey.

100 stalls, 5s. each; 100 sauce-
pans, to scald the milk in, 2s. each;
300 cups, 1d. each; 300 glasses, 5d. each; 600 spoons, ½d. each; 100
tin kettles, for stalls, at 3s. 6d. each;
100 small tubs, 1s each; 100 cloths,
3d. each; stock-money for 100 ven-
dors, at 2s. each... 77 10 0

Street-sellers of Rice-milk.†

50 kettles and braziers, for stall,
4s. the two; 300 spice or peppermint-
boxes, 1d. each; stock-money for
fifty vendors, 1s. 3d. each... 14 7 6

Water-carriers.

120 pails, 2s. each; 60 yokes, 5s. each... 27 0 0

StreetPiemen.

50 pie-cans, 1l. each; 25 turn £ s. d. halfpenny boards, to gamble with,
2s. 6d. each; 50 gross of tin pie-
dishes, 12s. per gross; 50 aprons,
8d. each; 100 tins, 1s. each (for
baking pies upon), stock-money, for
50 vendors, 6s. 6d. each... 106 0 10

Street-sellers of Boiled Puddings.

6 stands, 6s. each; 6 cans, 2s. 6d. each; 6 pots (tin), 2s. each; 6
chafing-dishes and stands, 5d. each;
6 forks, 2d. each; 6 cloths, 6d. each;
stock-money, for 6 vendors, 2s. 6d. each... 4 4 6

Street-sellers of Plum-duff.

6 baskets, 1s. 9d. each; 6 sauce-
pans, 2s. each; 6 cloths, 6d. each;
6 knives, 2d. each; stock-money, for
6 vendors, 2s. each... 1 18 6

Street-sellers of Cakes, Tarts, &c.

150 trays, 1s. 9d. each; 150 cloths,
1s. 3d. each; 150 straps, 6d. each;
stock-money, 16s. 6d. each... 150 0 0

Other and inferior Cake-sellers.

30 trays, 1s. 9d. each; 30 straps,
6d. each; stock-money, 2s. 6d. each 7 2 6

Street-sellers of Plum-cake.

4 trays, 1s. 9d. each; 4 baskets,
1s. 6d. each; 4 cloths (oil-cloth
covers for baskets), 1s. each; 4
knives, 2d. each; stock-money, for
4 sellers, 4s. each... 1 18 8

Gingerbread-nut Makers and Sellers.

50 ovens, 5l. each; 50 peels and
rakes, 3s. the two; 750 tins, 1s. each;
50 lamps, for fairs, 6s. each; 50
stalls, 6s. each; 50 sets of scales and
100 sets of weights, half of them
false, 7s. 6d. each; 100 canisters, 2s. each; 50 barrows, 30s. each; 50
baskets, 6s. each; 50 baizes, 1s. each;
50 cloths to cover stall, 1s. each;
stock-money, for 50 makers and
sellers, 14s. each... 483 15 0

Gingerbread-nut Sellers (not Makers.)

150 trays, 1s. 9d. each; 150 straps,
6d. each; stock-money, for 150
sellers, 1s. 6d. each... 28 5 6

Street-sellers of Hot cross Buns.

500 baskets, 2s. 6d. each; 500
flannels and cloths, 2s. the two;
stock-money, for 500 sellers, 2s. 6d. each... 175 0 0

Street-sellers of Muffins and Crumpets.

500 baskets, 2s. 6d. each; 500
cloths, 1s. each; stock-money, for
500 sellers, 5s. each... 212 10 0

Street-sellers of Sweet-stuff.

6 barrows, 1l. 10s. each; 150 £ s. d. trays, 1s. 9d. each; 50 saucepans,
2s. each; 18 canisters (long tin), 2s. each; 44 stalls, at 4s. each; 50 sets
of weights and scales, at 4s. each;
stock-money, for 150 vendors, 3s. each... 70 4 6

Street-sellers of Cough Drops.

2 stills and barrows, 3l. 10s. each;
4 stalls, 7s. each; 6 weights and
scales, 3s. 6d. each; stock-money,
for 6 sellers, 2s. 6d. each... 10 4 0

Street-sellers of Ices.

20 jars, 1s. each; 20 coolers, 2s. each; 30 cups, 1d. each, and 30
glasses, 4d. each; 60 spoons, 1d. each; stock-money, for 20 vendors,
2s. per head... 5 17 6

Total Capital invested in
the Street Sale of Eatables
and Drinkables... 9,077 12 5

* The hot-eel trade being in conjunction with the
pea-soup, the same stall, candles, towels, sleeves, and
aprons do for both.

* There are altogether 500 vendors of emonade in
the streets, but 300 of these sell also ginger-beer, and
consequently do not have separate stalls, &c.

† The street-sellers of rice-milk are included in the
street-sellers of curds and whey; hence the stalls,
saucepans, cups, &c., of the two classes are the same.

INCOME, OR "TAKINGS," OF STREET-SELLERS
OF EATABLES AND DRINKABLES.

Street-sellers of Hot Eels.

There are upwards of 1,000,000 lbs.
weight of hot eels sold yearly in the
streets of London. 140 vendors each
sell 6 lbs. of eels daily at their stands;
60 sell 40 lbs. daily; and 100 itinerant
sell 5 lbs. nightly at the public-houses.
The first mentioned take on an average
2s. daily; the second 16s.; and the third
1s. 8d. This gives a yearly street expen-
diture in the trade in hot eels amount-
ing to... £19,448

Street-sellers of Pea-soup.

The annual street consumption of
pea-soup amounts to 1,680 gallons. 100
vendors sell each 4 gallons daily; and
50 vendors, each sell upon an average
10 gallons daily. The first mentioned
take 3s. a day; and the last, 7s. 6d.
This gives a street expenditure during
the winter season of five months, of... £4,050

Street-sellers of Pickled Whelks.

According to the Billingsgate returns,
there are nearly 5,000,000 of whelks sold
yearly in the streets of London. These
are retailed in a boiled state, and
flavoured with vinegar, at four a penny.
150 vendors take on an average 13s. weekly. This gives an annual street
expenditure, of... £5,000

Street-sellers of Fried Fish.

150 sellers make 10s. 6d. weekly, or
yearly 27l. 6s.; and 150 sellers make
half that amount, 13l. 13s. per annum.
Reckoning 20l. a year as a medium
earning, and adding 90 per cent. for

[Description: 915EAF. Page 211.]

profit, the annual consumption of fried
fish supplied by London street-sellers
amounts to 684,000 lbs., and the sum
expended thereupon to... £11,400

Street-sellers of Sheep's Trotters.

In the wholesale "trotter" establish-
ment there are prepared, weekly, 20,000
sets, or 80,000 feet; giving a yearly
average of 4,160,000 trotters, or the
feet of 1,040,000 sheep. Of this quan-
tity the street-folk buy seven-eighths, or
3,640,000 trotters yearly. The number
of sheep trotter-sellers may be taken at
300; which gives an average of nearly
60 sets a week per individual. There
is then expended yearly in London
streets on trotters, calculating their
sale, retail, at ½d. each, 6,500l.; but
though the regular price is ½d., some
trotters are sold at four for 1½d., very
few higher than ½d., and some are kept
until they are unsaleable, so that the
amount thus expended may be esti-
mated at... £6,000

Street-sellers of Ham-sandwiches.

60 vendors, take 8s. a week, and sell
annually 486,800 sandwiches, at a cost
of... £1,800

Street-sellers of Baked 'Tatoes.

300 vendors, sell upon an average
¾ cwt. of baked potatoes daily, or 1,755
tons in the season. The average takings
of each vendor amount to 6s. a day; and
the receipts of the whole number through-
out the season (which lasts from the
latter end of September till March in-
clusive), a period of 6 months, are.. £14,000

The Street-sellers of Hot Green Peas.

The chief man of business sells 3 gal-
lons a day (which, at 1d. the quarter-
pint, would be 8s., my informant said
7s.), the other three together sell the
same quantity; hence there is an annual
street consumption of 1,870 gallons, and
a street expenditure on "hot green peas"
of... £250

Street-sellers of Meat.

The hawking butchers, taking their
number at 150, sell 747,000 lbs. of meat,
and take annually... £12,450

Street-sellers of Bread.

25 men take 45s. a day for five
months in the summer, and 12 regular
traders take 1l. 12s. per day; this gives
an annual street consumption of 700,000
quartern loaves of bread, and a street
expenditure of... £9,000

Street-sellers of Cats and Dogs' Meat.

There are 300,000 cats in the metro-
polis, and from 900 to 1,000 horses,
averaging 2 cwt. of meat each, boiled
down every week; the quantity of cats'
and dogs' meat used throughout Lon-
don is about 200,000 lbs. per week,
and this, sold at the rate of 2½d. per lb.,
gives 2,000l. a week for the money spent
in cats' and dogs' meat, or per year,
upwards of... £100,000

Street-sellers of Coffee, Tea, &c.

Each coffee-stall keeper on an average
clears 1l. a week, and his takings may
be said to be at least double that sum;
hence the quantity of coffee sold annu-
ally in the streets, is about 550,000 gal-
lons, while the yearly street expenditure
for tea, coffee, &c., amounts to... £31,200

Street-sellers of Ginger-beer.

The bottles of ginger-beer sold yearly
in the streets number about 4,798,000,
and the total street consumption of the
same beverage may be said to be about
250,000 gallons per annum. 200 street-
sellers of ginger-beer in the bottle trade
of the penny class take 30s. a week each
(thus allowing for inferior receipts in
bad weather); 300 take 20s. each, selling
their "beer" for the most part at ½d. the
bottle, while the remaining 400 "in a
small way" take 6s. each; hence there
is expended in the bottled ginger-beer
of the streets 11,480l. Adding the re-
ceipts from the fountains and the barrels,
the barrel season continuing only ten
weeks, the total sum expended annually
in street ginger-beer amounts altogether
to... £14,660

Street-sellers of Lemonade, Sherbet,
Nectar, &c.

There are 200 persons, chiefly men,
selling solely lemonade, &c., and an
additional 300 uniting the sale with that
of ginger-beer. Their average receipts
on fine days are 3s. 6d. a day, or, allowing
for wet weather and diminished receipts,
10s. a week. The receipts, then, for this
street luxury, show a street expenditure
in such a summer as the last, of 2,800l., among those who do not unite ginger-
beer with the trade. Calculating that
those who do unite ginger-beer with it
sell only one-half as much as the others,
we find a total outlay of... £4,900

Street-sellers of Elder-wine.

50 vendors clear 5s. a week for 16
weeks by the sale of elder-wine in the
streets, their profit being at least cent.
per cent.; hence the street consumption
of this beverage in the course of the year
is 1,500 gallons, and the outlay... £200

Street-sellers of Peppermint-water.

Calculating that 4 "Pepperminters"
take 2s. a day the year round, Sundays
excepted, we find that 900 gallons of
peppermint-water are consumed every
year in the streets of London, while the
sum expended in it amounts annually to £125

Street-sellers of Milk in the Markets, Parks, &c.

The vendors in the markets clear
about 1s. 6d. a day each, for three
months; and as the profit is rather
more than cent. per cent., there are
about 4,000 gallons of milk thus sold
yearly. The quantity sold in the park
averages 20 quarts a day for a period of
nine months, or 1,170 gallons in the
year. This is retailed at 4d. per quart;
hence the annual expenditure is... £344

Street-sellers of Curds and Whey.

50 sellers dispose of 12½ gallons in 3
weeks; the other 50 sell only half as
much. Taking the season at 3 months,
the annual consumption of curds and
whey in the streets is 2,812 double gal-
lons (as regards the ingredients of milk),
which is retailed at a cost to the pur-
chasers of... £412

Street-sellers of Rice-milk.

Calculating that 50 sellers dispose of
24 quarts weekly, while one-half of the
remaining 25 sell 12 quarts each per
week at 1d. the half-pint, and the other
half vend 24 quarts at ½d. the half-
pint, there are about 3,000 gallons of
rice-milk yearly consumed in the streets
of London, while the expenditure
amounts to... £320

Water-carriers.

The number of water-carriers are
sixty, and their average earnings through
the year 5s. a week; hence the sum an-
nually expended in water thus obtained
amounts to... £780

Street Piemen.

There are fifty street piemen plying
their trade in London, the year through,
their average takings are one guinea a
week; hence there is an annual street
consumption of pies of nearly to three-
quarters of a million, and a street ex-
penditure amounting to... £3,000

Street-sellers of Meat and Currant Puddings.

Each street-seller gets rid of, on an
average, 85 dozen, or 1,020 puddings;
there are now but six street-sellers (re-
gularly) of these comestibles; hence the
weekly aggregate would be — allowing
for bad weather — 5,400, and the total
129,600 meat and currant puddings sold
in the streets, in a season of 24 weeks.
This gives an annual expenditure on
the part of the street boys and girls
(who are the principal purchasers), and
of the poor persons who patronise the
street-trade, of about... £270

Street-sellers of Plum "duff."

Calculating 42s. a week as the takings
of six persons, for five months, we find
there is yearly expended in the street
purchase of plum dough upwards of. £250

Street-sellers of Cakes, Tarts, &c.

Reckoning 150 cake-sellers, each
taking 6s. a week — a sufficiently low
average — the street consumption of
cakes, tarts, &c., will be 1,123,200 every
year, and the street outlay about.. £2,350

Street-sellers of other and inferior Cakes.

The sale of the inferior street cakes
realises about a fifth of that taken by
the other cake-sellers; hence it may be
estimated yearly at.. £450

Street-sellers of Gingerbread-nuts.

150 gingerbread-nut-sellers take 17s. each weekly (clearing 9s.); at this rate
the sum spent yearly in "spice" nuts
in the streets of London amounts to. £6,630

Street-sellers of Hot-cross Buns.

There are nearly 100,000 hot-cross
buns sold every Good Friday in the
streets of London; hence there is ex-
pended in one day, upon the buns thus
bought about... £300

Street-sellers of Muffins and Crumpets.

There are 500 muffin-sellers, each
clearing 4s. and taking 12s. a week on
an average; hence the metropolitan
street sale of muffins and crumpets will
be in 20 weeks about 120,000 dozen,
and the sum expended thereon... £6,000

Street-sellers of Sweet-stuff.

The number of sweet-stuff sellers in
London amounts to 200, each of whom,
on an average, clears 10s., and takes 20s. weekly; the yearly consumption, there-
fore, of rocks, candies, hard-bakes, &c.,
purchased in the streets is nearly two
and a half millions of halfpenny-worths,
or (at the rate of ½d. an ounce) about
70 tons weight per annum, costing the
consumers about... £10,000

Street-sellers of Cough-drops.

The earnings of the principal man in
the "cough-drop" street trade may be
taken at 30s. a week for twenty weeks;
that of another at 15s. for the same
period; and those of the remaining four
street-sellers of the same compound at
5s. each, weekly; allowing the usual
cent. per cent., we find there is annually
expended by street-buyers on cough-
drops... £130

Street-sellers of Ice Creams.

The sale of street ices may be calcu-
lated at twenty persons, taking 1s. 6d. daily for four weeks. This gives a street
consumption of 10,000 penny ices, and
an annual expenditure thereon of £42

Total Sum expended Yearly
on Street Eatables and Drink-
ables... £203,115