Traditional English rag 'n' bone salesman
Apr 09, 2023, 09:00 AM
"A long time ago, when I were a wee lad, recycling was done by independent collectors, scrap merchants and rag-and-bone men, rather than by local government.
"The rag-and-bone man in particular would ride the streets, usually in a horse and cart, shouting for people to bring out unwanted goods.
"This is an almost extinct occupation but recently two men with a van have started travelling Sussex collecting mainly unwanted furniture and electrical or "white" goods, thereby saving the erstwhile owners the expense of having them taken away by the official refuse collectors.
"This is a recording of their street cry."
Recorded by Allan Brewster in Worthing, England.
Image: By Eugène Atget - kunstmagazinberlin.de/0711/art_fotomalerei.shtml, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4164658
"The rag-and-bone man in particular would ride the streets, usually in a horse and cart, shouting for people to bring out unwanted goods.
"This is an almost extinct occupation but recently two men with a van have started travelling Sussex collecting mainly unwanted furniture and electrical or "white" goods, thereby saving the erstwhile owners the expense of having them taken away by the official refuse collectors.
"This is a recording of their street cry."
Recorded by Allan Brewster in Worthing, England.
Image: By Eugène Atget - kunstmagazinberlin.de/0711/art_fotomalerei.shtml, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4164658