University of Virginia Library

OF "DRY" FRUIT SELLING IN THE STREETS

The sellers of "dry fruit" cannot be described
as a class, for, with the exception of one old
couple, none that I know of confine themselves
to its sale, but resort to it merely when the
season prevents their dealing in "green fruit"
or vegetables. I have already specified what in
commerce is distinguished as "dry fruit," but
its classification among the costers is somewhat
narrowed.

The dry-fruit sellers derive their supplies
partly from Duke's-place, partly from Pudding-
lane, but perhaps principally from the costers
concerning whom I have spoken, who buy whole-
sale at the markets and elsewhere, and who will
"clear out a grocer," or buy such figs, &c. as a
leading tradesman will not allow to be sent, or
offered, to his regular customers, although, per-
haps, some of the articles are tolerably good. Or
else the dry-fruit men buy a damaged lot of a
broker or grocer, and pick out all that is eatable,
or rather saleable.

The sale of dry fruit is unpopular among the
costermongers. Despite their utmost pains, they
cannot give to figs, or raisins, or currants, which
may be old and stale, anything of the bloom and

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plumpness of good fruit, and the price of good
fruit is too high for them. Moreover, if the
fruit be a "damaged lot," it is almost always
discoloured, and the blemish cannot be re-
moved.

It is impossible to give the average price of
dry fruit to the costermonger. The quality
and the "harvest" affect the price materially
in the regular trade.

The rule which I am informed the coster-
monger, who sometimes "works" a barrow of
dried fruit, observes, is this: he will aim at cent.
per cent., and, to accomplish it, "slang" weights
are not unfrequently used. The stale fruit is
sold by the grocers, and the damaged fruit by
the warehouses to the costers, at from a half, but
much more frequently a fourth to a twentieth of
its prime cost. The principal street-purchasers
are boys.

A dry-fruit seller gave me the following
account: — By "half profits" he meant cent. per
cent., or, in other words, that the money he re-
ceived for his stock was half of it cost price and
half profit.

"I sell dry fruit, sir, in February and
March, because I must be doing something,
and green fruit's not my money then. It's
a poor trade. I've sold figs at 1d. a pound,
— no, sir, not slang the time I mean — and I
could hardly make 1s. a day at it, though
it was half profits. Our customers look at
them quite particler. `Let's see the other
side of them figs,' the boys'll say, and then
they'll out with — `I say, master, d'you see any
green about me?' Dates I can hardly get off
at all, no! — not if they was as cheap as potatoes,
or cheaper. I've been asked by women if dates
was good in dumplings? I've sometimes said
`yes,' though I knew nothing at all about them.
They're foreign. I can't say where they're
grown. Almonds and raisins goes off best with
us. I don't sell them by weight, but makes
them up in ha'penny or penny lots. There's
two things, you see, and one helps off the other.
Raisins is dry grapes, I've heard. I've sold
grapes before they was dried, at 1d. and 2d. the
pound. I didn't do no good in any of 'em;
1s. a day on 'em was the topper, for all the half
profits. I'll not touch 'em again if I aint
forced."

There are a few costers who sell tolerable
dry fruit, but not to any extent.

The old couple I have alluded to stand all
the year round at the corner of a street running
into a great city thoroughfare. They are sup-
plied with their fruit, I am told, through the
friendliness of a grocer who charges no profit,
and sometimes makes a sacrifice for their benefit.
As I was told that this old couple would not
like inquiries to be made of them, I at once
desisted.

There are sometimes twenty costermongers
selling nothing but dry fruit, but more fre-
quently only ten, and sometimes only five;
while, perhaps, from 300 to 400 sell a few
figs, &c., with other things, such as late apples,
the dry fruit being then used "just as a fill
up."

According to the returns before given, the
gross quantity of dry fruit disposed of yearly in
the streets of London may be stated as follows:

• 7,000 lbs. of shell almonds,

• 37,800 " raisins,

• 24,300 " figs,

• 4,200 " prunes.