![Peddler,行商人、PB300529](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Peddler%2C%E8%A1%8C%E5%95%86%E4%BA%BA%E3%80%81PB300529.JPG)
A peddler, in
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling
vendor
In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these terms ...
of
goods
In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants
and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not t ...
.
In England, the term was mostly used for travellers
hawking
Hawking may refer to:
People
* Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist
* Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name)
Film
* ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Ha ...
goods in the countryside to small towns and villages. In London, more specific terms were used, such as
costermonger
A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...
.
From antiquity, peddlers filled the gaps in the formal market economy by providing consumers with the convenience of door-to-door service. They operated alongside town markets and fairs where they often purchased surplus stocks which were subsequently resold to consumers. Peddlers were able to distribute goods to the more geographically-isolated communities such as those who lived in mountainous regions of Europe. They also called on consumers who, for whatever reason, found it difficult to attend town markets. Thus, peddlers played an important role in linking these consumers and regions to wider trade routes. Some peddlers worked as agents or travelling salesmen for larger manufacturers and so were the precursor to the modern travelling salesman.
Images of peddlers feature in literature and art from as early as the 12th century. Such images were very popular with the genre and
Orientalist painters and photographers of the 18th and the 19th centuries. Some imagery depicts peddlers in a pejorative manner, and others portray idealised romantic visions of peddlers at work.
Etymology and definitions
![Kiestinki ”laukkuryssä” peddlers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Kiestinki_%E2%80%9Dlaukkuryss%C3%A4%E2%80%9D_peddlers.jpg)
The origin of the word, known in English since 1225, is uncertain, but is possibly an Anglicised version of the French ''pied'', Latin ''pes, pedis'' "foot", referring to a petty trader travelling on foot.
A peddler, under English law, is defined as: “any hawker, pedlar, petty chapman, tinker, caster of metals, mender of chairs, or other person who, without any horse or other beast bearing or drawing burden, travels and trades on foot and goes from town to town or to other men’s houses, carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise immediately to be delivered, or selling or offering for sale his skill in handicraft." The main distinction between peddlers and other types of street vendor is that peddlers travel as they trade, rather than travel to a fixed place of trade. Peddlers travel around and approach potential customers directly whereas street traders set up a pitch or a stall and wait for customers to approach them. When not actually engaged in selling, peddlers are required to keep moving. Although peddlers may stop to make a sale, they are precluded from setting up a pitch or remaining in the same place for lengthy periods. Although peddlers normally travel by foot, there is no reason why they cannot use some means of assistance, such as a cart or a trolley, to assist in the transportation of goods.
History
Peddlers have been known since antiquity. They were known by a variety of names throughout the ages, including
Arabber,
hawker
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to:
Places
* Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Hawker, South Australia, a town
* Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia
* Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...
,
costermonger
A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...
(English), chapman (medieval English), huckster, itinerant vendor or street vendor. According to marketing historian, Eric Shaw, the peddler is "perhaps the only substantiated type of retail marketing practice that evolved from Neolithic times to the present." The political philosopher
John Stuart Mill wrote that "even before the resources of society permitted the establishment of shops, the supply of
onsumerwants fell universally into the hands of itinerant dealers, the ''pedlars'' who might appear once a month, being preferred to the fair, which only returned once a year."
Typically, peddlers operated
door-to-door
Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pro ...
, plied the streets or stationed themselves at the fringes of formal trade venues such as open air markets or
fairs. In the Greco-Roman world, open-air markets served urban customers, while peddlers filled in the gaps in distribution by selling to rural or geographically distant customers.
![Fair at Khan al-Tujjar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Fair_at_Khan_al-Tujjar.jpg)
In the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
the term 'peddler' was used to describe those who spread the word of God for profit. The book of Corinthians has the following phrase, "For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God" (Corinthians 2:17). The Greek term translated "peddling" referred to small-scale merchant who profited from acting as a middleman between others. The
Apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
has the following, "A merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong; and an huckster shall not be freed from sin" (Ecclesiasticus 26:29).
In some economies the work of itinerant selling was left to nomadic minorities, such as
gypsies
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
,
travellers, or
Yeniche who offered a varied assortment of goods and services, both evergreens and (notoriously suspicious) novelties. In 19th century USA, peddling was often the occupation of immigrant communities including Italians, Greeks and Jews. The more colourful peddlers were those that doubled as
performers
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...
,
healers
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...
, or
fortune-tellers
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
.
Historically, peddlers used a variety of different transport modes: they travelled by foot, carrying their wares; by means of a person or animal-drawn
cart or
wagon
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
or used improvised carrying devices. Abram Goodman, who took to peddling in the US in the 1840s, reports that he travelled by foot, used a sleigh when roads were snowbound and also travelled, with his pack, by boat when traversing longer distances.
As market towns flourished in medieval Europe, peddlers found a role operating on the fringes of the formal economy. During this time it was common to see long-distance peddler's, who sold remedies,
potions and
elixirs. They called directly on homes, delivering produce to the door thereby saving customers time travelling to markets or fairs. However, customers paid a higher price for this convenience. Some peddlers operated out of inns or taverns, where they often acted as an agent rather than a reseller.
Peddlers played an important role providing services to geographically isolated districts, such as in the mountainous regions of Europe, thereby linking these districts with wider trading routes.
A 16th-century commentator wrote of the:
:: “many pedlars and chapmen, that from fair to fair, from markett to markett, carieth it to sell in horspakks and fote pakks, in basketts and budgelts, sitting on holydays and sondais in chirche porchis and abbeys dayly to sell all such trifells.”
By the 18th-century, some peddlers worked for industrial producers, where they acted as a type of travelling sales representative. In England, these peddlers were known as “Manchester men.” Employed by a factory or entrepreneur, they sold goods from shop to shop rather than door to door and were thus operating as a type of wholesaler or distribution intermediary. They were the precursors to the modern sales representative.
![Drawing of a country store by Marguerite Martyn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Drawing_of_a_country_store_by_Marguerite_Martyn.jpg)
In the United States, there was an upsurge in the number of peddlers in the late 18th century and this may have peaked in the decades just before the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. However, their numbers began to decline by the 19th century. Advances in industrial mass production and freight transportation as a result of the war laid the groundwork for the beginnings of modern retail and distribution networks, which gradually eroded much of the need for travelling salesmen. The rise of popular
mail order catalogues (e.g.
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...
began in 1872) offered another way for people in rural or other remote areas to obtain items not readily available in local stores or markets. A relatively short-lived upsurge in the number of peddlers was witnessed in the period following the second World War, when the wartime manufacturing boom came to an abrupt end, and returning soldiers finding themselves unable to secure suitable work, turned to peddling which generally offered a decent income.
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, the travelling salesman became a stock character in countless jokes. Such jokes are typically bawdy, and usually feature small town rubes, farmers and other country folk, and frequently another stock character, the
farmer's daughter A farmer's daughter is a stock character who is a desirable and naive young woman.
The Farmer's Daughter or Farmer's Daughter may also refer to:
Movies
* ''The Farmer's Daughter'' (1928 film), by scriptwriter Frederica Sagor Maas
* ''The Far ...
.
Throughout much of Europe, suspicions of dishonest or petty criminal activity was long associated with peddlers and travellers. Regulations to discourage small-scale retailing by hawkers and peddlers, promulgated by English authorities in the 15th and 16th centuries and reinforced by the Church, did much to encourage stereotypical and negative attitudes towards peddlers. From the 16th century, peddlers were often associated with pejorative perceptions, many of which persisted until well into the 19th and 20th centuries.
In the modern economy a new breed of peddler, generally encouraged to dress respectably to inspire confidence with the general public, has been sent into the field as an aggressive form of
direct marketing
Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. By ...
by companies pushing their specific products, sometimes to help launch novelties, sometimes on a permanent basis. In a few cases this has even been used as the core of a business.
Life of a peddler
![Dogcart3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Dogcart3.jpg)
Very few peddlers left written records. Many were illiterate and diaries are rare. Most peddlers handled cash transactions leaving behind few or no accounting records such as receipts, invoices or day- books. However, a very small number of peddlers kept diaries and these can be used to provide an insight into the daily life of a peddler.
Ephraim Lisitzky (1885-1962), an immigrant from Russia, arrived in the US in 1900 and took up peddling for a brief period following his arrival. His autobiography, published in 1959 under the title, ''In the Grip of the Cross-Currents,'' describes his various encounters with householders and the difficulties he experienced making a sale as door after door was slammed in his face.
After arriving in America in 1842, Abram Vossen Goodman also maintained a diary of his experiences and that diary has been published by the
American Jewish Archives
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, founded in 1947, is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry. It has be ...
. Extracts from the diary detail his experiences and thoughts about the life of a peddler. When, Goodman's initial attempts to find employment as a clerk were unsuccessful, on September 29, he wrote, "I had to do as all the others; with a bundle on my back I had to go out into the country, peddling various articles." (p. 95) In the first few weeks, he found the lifestyle onerous, uncertain and solitary.
:: "Can a man, in fact, be said to be "living" as he plods through the vast, remote country, uncertain even as to which farmer will provide him shelter for the coming night? In such an existence the single man gets along far better than the father of a family. Such fools as are married not only suffer themselves, but bring suffering to their women. How must an educated woman feel when, after a brief stay at home, her supporter and shelterer leaves with his pack on his back, not knowing where he will find lodging on the next night or the night after?" (p.96)
:: "Last week in the vicinity of Plymouth I met two peddlers, Lehman and Marx. Marx knew me from Furth, and that night we stayed together at a farmer's house. After supper we started singing, and I sat at the fireplace, thinking of all my past and of my family." (p.100)
::
y October,1842 Goodman is travelling with a brother"Not far from
unenburgwe were forced to stop on Wednesday because of the heavy snow. We sought to spend the night with a cooper, a Mr. Spaulding, but his wife did not wish to take us in. She was afraid of strangers, she might not sleep well; we should go our way. And outside there raged the worst blizzard I have ever seen... After we had talked to this woman for half an hour, after repeatedly pointing out that to turn us forth into the blizzard would be sinful, we were allowed to stay." (p.101)
:: "On Monday morning, December 5th, we set out for Groton in a sleigh and at night stayed with an old farmer, about two miles from that place. It was a very satisfactory business day, and we took in about fifteen dollars... After spending Wednesday in Milford, we traveled beyond on Thursday and Friday, spending Saturday at Amherst and Sunday at the home of Mr. Kendall in Mount Vernon. Business, thanks be to God, is satisfactory, and this week we took in more than forty-five dollars. (p. 103)
:: "It is hard, very hard indeed, to make a living this way. Sweat runs down my body in great drops and my back seems to be breaking, but I cannot stop; I must go on and on, however far my way lies...Times are bad; everywhere there is no money. This increases the hardship of life so that I am sometimes tempted to return to New York and to start all over again. (pp 107-108)
Modes of transport
Today, peddlers continue to travel by foot, but also use bicycle, hand-held carts, horse-drawn carts or drays and motorized vehicles such as motor-bikes as transport modes. To carry their wares, peddlers use purpose-built back-packs, barrows, hand-carts or improvised carrying baskets. Rickshaw peddlers are a relatively common sight across Asia.
File:Peddler-amsterdam.jpg, Modern day peddler in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, c. 2020
File:Vegetable peddler Kusakabe Kimbei.jpg, Vegetable peddler, Japan, 19th-century
File:Onion seller in Heath Street - geograph.org.uk - 1072379.jpg, Cycle-mounted Breton onion salesmen are a familiar sight across southern England and Wales
File:"Mush-Fakers" and Ginger-Beer Makers (6795271398).jpg, "Mush-Fakers" and Ginger-Beer Makers, London, circa 1877
File:Woman selling fruit from small barrow Sydney, ca. 1885-1890 - photographed by Arthur K. Syer (5775144516).jpg, Fruit peddler and barrow, Sydney, circa 1885
File:Продавец- разносчик, 1900-е.jpg, Peddler from Russia, circa 1900s
File:Schaeffer-Holzwarenhaendler-1905.jpg, A door-to-door peddler, 1905
File:David and Harry Silverman in their fruit peddling cart, St. Paul (4418714855).jpg, David and Harry Silverman in their fruit peddling cart, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...
, c. 1920
File:Mandalay trishaw peddler.jpg, Mandalay rickshaw peddler
File:The Produce Peddler.jpg, The Produce Peddler, Fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
, Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
File:Vendedor ambulante o buhonero del centro de Maracaibo 2.jpg, Street vendor in Maracaibo with improvised carry container
File:Banana Vendor, Uganda (15166221095).jpg, Banana vendor, Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
File:Balloon Salesman (6337601226).jpg, Balloon Salesman
File:Floating market Thailand.jpg, Food peddlers are the mainstay of the floating markets in Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
File:Ice cream seller in Paris, France 2010.jpg, Ice cream seller in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France 2010
File:Goat wagon peddler LCCN2001705689.jpg, Goat wagon peddler, late 19th century
Legislation and regulation
A number of countries have enacted laws to protect the rights of peddlers, and also to protect the public from the sale of inferior goods. In many states of the US, peddlers are required to apply for a license. India has special laws enacted, by the efforts of planners which give mongers higher rights as compared to other businessmen. For example, mongers have a right of way over motorized vehicles.
In Britain, peddling is still governed by the ''
Pedlars Act 1871'', which provides for a "pedlar's certificate". Application is usually made to the police. In the late 20th century, the use of such certificates became rare as other civic legislation including the ''
Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which makes provision for a wide range of civic government matters.
Effects of the Act
Parts I and II of the Act deal with licensing by local authorities of a r ...
'' and the ''Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act,'' 1982 for England & Wales introduced a street trader's licence. As of 2008 the pedlar's certificates remain legal and in use, although several local councils have sought to eradicate peddlers by way of local bylaws or enforcement mechanisms such as making them apply for a street trader's licence.
Types and names
![Peddler woman in Nishapur](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Peddler_woman_in_Nishapur.jpg)
Literal compounds formed from these synonyms are:
*
Cheesemonger (cheese)
*
Costermonger
A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...
(apples)
*
Fishmonger
A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, m ...
(seafood)
*
Ironmonger
Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...
(iron wares)
*
Upholsterer monger
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...
(a peddler of
fabrics
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
and
stitching)
Metaphoric compounds, since the 16th century mostly pejorative, formed from these synonyms are:
*
Disease mongering
Disease mongering is a pejorative term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses and aggressively promoting their public awareness in order to expand the markets for treatment.
Among the entities benefiting from selling a ...
*
Flesh monger, procurer for prostitution
*
Gossip monger
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling.
Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
(a quidnunc)
*
Merit-monger, in the 18th century a "do-gooder"
*
Power monger
*
Rumor monger
*
Scandal monger
*
Scare monger
*
Warmonger
A warmonger is someone who instigates war, or advocates war over peaceful solutions.
Warmonger may also refer to:
* ''Warmonger'' (novel), a 2002 novel based on the ''Doctor Who'' television series
* '' Warmonger: Operation Downtown Destruction' ...
, recorded since 1590 (Spenser's "Faerie Queene"), likely more widespread than any of the literal uses
Names, most archaic, of product- or industry-specific types of peddlers include:
*
Chandler (ship's stores)
*
Collier (coal)
*
Milliner
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...
(hats)
*
Lanier (now only a surname, formerly a peddler of
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
)
*
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
(barrels)
Names, some pejorative, of other sub- or supertypes or close relatives of peddlers include:
*
Arabber
*
Costermonger
A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...
*
Door-to-door salesman
Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a ...
*
Haberdasher
*
Hawker
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to:
Places
* Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Hawker, South Australia, a town
* Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia
* Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...
*
Huckster
A huckster is anyone who sells something or serves biased interests, using pushy or showy tactics. Historically, the term meant any type of peddler or vendor, but over time it has assumed pejorative connotations.
Etymology
The original meanin ...
*
Pusher
*
Merchant
*
Seller
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
*
Tout
A tout is any person who solicits business or employment in a persistent and annoying manner (generally equivalent to a ''solicitor'' or '' barker'' in American English, or a ''spruiker'' in Australian English).
An example would be a person who ...
*
Travelling salesman
*
Rag-and-bone man
A rag-and-bone man or ragpicker (UK English) or ragman, old-clothesman, junkman, or junk dealer (US English), also called a bone-grubber, bone-picker, chiffonnier, rag-gatherer, bag board, or totter, collects unwanted household items and sells t ...
*
Street vendor
Individual peddlers (of myth and history)
*
Pedlar of Swaffham 1699
*
James Macfarlan (1832-1862) Scottish poet and peddler
Although there are basic similarities between the activities in the
Old World and the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
there are also significant differences. In Britain the word was more specific to an individual selling small items of household goods from door to door. It was not usually applied to
Gypsies
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
.
* Food traders were normally
badgers
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...
* Sellers of
chapbooks
A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch.
In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered booklet ...
were
chapmen A chapman (plural ''chapmen'') was an itinerant dealer or hawker in early modern Britain.
Etymology
Old English ''céapmann'' was the regular term for "dealer, seller", cognate with the Dutch ''koopman'' with the same meaning.
Old English ''céap ...
; compare the term
stationer
Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) ...
which described a bookseller (usually near a university) whose shop was fixed and permanent.
* In Russia a ''Khodebshchik'' (russian: ходебщик) was a person carrying a
billboard advertising a product or service, a street hawker or peddler of wares, or house-to-house salesman in the 16th–19th centuries.
In literature and art
![Jheronimus Bosch 112](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Jheronimus_Bosch_112.jpg)
Peddlers have been the subject of numerous paintings, sketches and watercolours in both Western art and in the Orient, where they depict familiar scenes of every day life. Some of the earliest paintings of peddlers were made in China. The 12th century Chinese artist, Su Hanchen made several paintings of peddlers as did one of his contemporaries,
Li Song, both of whom painted ''The Knick knack Peddler.''
''The Peddlar'' by Hieronymous Bosch is perhaps the most icononic image of a peddler. Painted in about 1500, the peddler in this painting wears a costume almost identical to thieves in other Bosch paintings. From the 18th-century, engravings featuring peddlers and street vendors featured in numerous volumes dedicated to representations of street life. One of the first of such publications was a French publication, ''Etudes Prises Dans let Bas Peuple, Ou Les Cris de Paris'' (1737) (roughly translated as ''Studies Taken of the Lower People, Or The Cries of Paris''). In 1757, the first English publication in this genre was ''The Cries of London Calculated to Entertain the Minds of Old and Young; illustrated in variety of copper plates neatly engrav'd with an emblematical description of each subject'', was published. and followed by ''Cries of London'' (1775) These were followed by numerous illustrated works which continued into the twentieth century.
Bonnie Young has pointed out that the theme of the ''monkey and the peddler'' was relatively common in Medieval art across Europe. These scenes, which appear in books and on silverware, often depict bands of monkeys robbing the peddler while he sleeps. Such images may have been popular in medieval society, because the peddler shared many of the same vices as a monkey; he was seen as "a showman, a bit of a trickster and not always acquiring his wares by honest means and plying them without too much regard for the quality of the merchandise."
The ''Cheap Jack'' stereotype appears often in 19th century literature. The most famous example is probably Charles Dickens' ‟Doctor Marigold‟. A short story it was originally written for one of his Christmas editions of
All the Year Round. In collected editions of Dickens' works, it appears in the volume ''Christmas Stories.''
Russian
lubok
A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki'', Cyrillic: russian: лубо́к, лубо́чная картинка) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. Lubki ...
prints (popular prints) also feature peddlers along with other popular stereotypes. Some scholars suggest that the origin of the term, ''lubok'', may have come from the word ''lubki'' - a type of basket typically carried by peddlers as they carried a myriad of different wares into villages in old Russia. ''
Korobeiniki
"Korobeiniki" () is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song that tells the story of a meeting between a peddler and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for courtship.
Outside Russia, "Korobeiniki" is widely known as the ' ...
'' is a Russian folk song that describes a meeting between a peddler and a girl. Their haggling is a metaphor for their courtship.
''The Lady and the Peddler,'' (1947) is an American play by Yosefa Even Shoshan and adapted from a story by
S.Y. Agnon. The plot concerns a Jewish peddler who takes up residence with a mysterious gentile woman. Residing in a forest setting, the situation is idyllic for the travelling salesman, as the woman provides for all his needs and never asks for anything in return. Soon, however, he comes to realise that the woman is an evil spirit in disguise. The story is thought to be a metaphor for the dislocation and destruction of European Jews.
''St Patrick and the Peddler'' by Margaret Hodges is a novel about a peddler who is visited by St Patrick in his dreams and through a circuitous route uncovers great riches.
''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
and the Peddler'' is a ballad that now forms part of the collection at the
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife". The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the library in 1928 as a repo ...
,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
.
''
The Merchant of Four Seasons
''The Merchant of Four Seasons'' (german: Händler der vier Jahreszeiten) is a 1971 West German film written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring and Irm Hermann. The plot follows the life of a fruit-peddler, living in 1950s Munich, ...
'' (1972) is a critically acclaimed film about a German fruit-peddler, directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement.
Fassbinder's main ...
.
The ''
Tin Men
''Tin Men'' is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, and Barbara Hershey.
It is the second of Levinson's tetralogy "Baltimore Films", set in h ...
'' (1987), a feature film directed by
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...
and starring
Richard Dreyfuss and
Danny De Vito, is a comedy set in 1963, concerning two aluminium salesmen and the ''dirty tricks'' they use to make a sale as they try to out-compete each other.
File:The Knickknack Peddler.jpg, The Knick-knack Peddler by Su Hanchen, 12th Century
File:Hans Holbein 1538 Pedlar.jpg, The Pedlar by Hans Holbein 1538 Pedlar
File:Rembrandt van Rijn, The spectacle-pedlar, circa 1624–1625, Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden.jpg, The spectacle-pedlar, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1624–1625
File:CoffeePeddler.jpg, Coffee Peddler, engraving from ''Etudes Prises Dans let Bas Peuple, Ou Les Cris de Paris'', 1737
File:Broom Peddler MET DP817836.jpg, Broom Peddler, by François Joullain, Etching, 1737
File:Preziosi_-_Cherry_peddler,_1869.jpg, Cherry peddler in Bucharest, painting by Amadeo Preziosi, c. 1869
File:William Hogarth - The Shrimp Girl - WGA11467.jpg, The Shrimp Girl by William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...
, 1740
File:Costume of Portugal by Henry L'Evêque 148.jpg, Portuguese peddler by Henry L'Evêque, 1814
File:Wageman - Fawcett as Autolycus.jpg, Fawcett as Autolycus by Thomas Wageman, 1828
File:"Marchande de poulets, a Vitoria" (19910720436).jpg, Poultry seller by Jean Davillier, 1874
File:Adner Spitzweg Ganzfigur.jpg, Pedlar by Carl Spitzweg
Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era.
Life and career
Spitzweg was born in U ...
, 1875
File:Doré, Gustave - Three London pedlars - tall man.jpg, London Pedlar by Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravin ...
, late 19th century
File:Emile Francois Dessain Russischer Kwas-Verkäufer.jpg, Russian peddler by Emile Francois Dessain, 1882
File:FOURNEL(1887) p079 Fig.43.jpg, Basket Pedlar by Victor Fournel, 1887
File:Antonin Hölperl Slovakischer Glasverkäufer.jpg, Slovak peddler by Antonin Hölper, 1888
File:Muffin man - Project Gutenberg eText 20338.png, Punch, 1892
File:BrandyPeddler.jpg, Brandy Peddler from Paul Clacquesin, ''Histoire de la Communauté des Distillateurs,'' 1900
File:Sbitenshchik and Khodebshchik.jpg, '' Sbitenshchik and Khodebshchik'', a "lubok
A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki'', Cyrillic: russian: лубо́к, лубо́чная картинка) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. Lubki ...
print," 19th century
File:Drawing, The Peddler, 1903 (CH 18401069).jpg, The Peddler, US, 1903, chalk drawing, unknown artist
File:Giuseppe Barison Venezianischer Fischverkäufer.jpg, Venetian fish seller by Giuseppe Barison, 1906
See also
*
Joan Dant
Joan Dant (1631–1715) was an English pedlar. Born in Spitalfields, in the East End of London, she married a weaver. Upon her husband's premature death, she was forced to become a pedlar, selling goods to fellow Quakers in the environs of Lond ...
*
Quackery
Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...
*
Charlatan
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Synonyms for ''charlatan'' include '' ...
Citations
References
* Dolan, J.R. (1964), ''Yankee Peddlers of Early America''.
* Spufford, M. (1981), ''Small Books and Pleasant Histories: Popular Fiction and its Readership in seventeenth Century England''.
* Spufford, M. (1984), ''The Great Reclothing of Rural England: Petty Chapmen and their Wares in the Seventeenth Century''.
* Wright, R.L. (1927), ''Hawkers and Walkers in Early America''.
Station Chiefat Etymonline.com
Peddlerat Etymonline.com
Further reading
* Brown, D., ''The Autobiography of a Pedlar: John Lomas of Hollinsclough, Staffordshire (1747-1823),'' Midland History, 1996
{{Authority control
Sales occupations
Street culture
People in retailing
Obsolete occupations
Economic history of Russia