Rag and Bone Man

[paul mann]

Wee can mind the rag and bone man that used to come roond the hooses wi's horse drawn cart? The wimmin would give him some rags and get claes pegs back. And there were knife sharpeners and onion johnnies on bikes. The onion johnnies were supposed to come from France an' ah remember thinkin' that was an awful lang way to come wi' a few strings of onions hangin' from ya handlebars.

[Maggie/915]

Good memories Paul.

Seems a long time ago.

Scrap metal collectors still trail the doors.

Not as frequently as charity collectors !

[Symptoms]

I watched a telly documentary donkeys years ago about the Frog onion sellers flogging their stuff around Blighty.  They had depots dotted around the country containing piles and piles of onions and they would operate out of these places.  I recall them sitting around the onion piles fashioning them into strings and loading them onto their bikes (which were shown being delivered from Frogland in the back of the onion truck along with the onions).  The truck made regular trips back home to collect fresh supplies whilst the sellers dossed in the onion depots.

 

I remember the knife grinders calling at our house - one guy had a pedal operated grinder - he stood on a baseplate with one foot and with the other foot 'pumped' a pedal which was connected to the grindstone via a cranked rod.  The other knife grinder had a rig on his push bike - the grindstone was powered by the pedals. 

[Brian Cross]

That brought back memories i had long ago put at the back of my brain ..........who was it that swapped stuff for gold fish ?

[mercuryg]

Knife grinder still calls here, on his bike!

[Canny lass]

The knife grinder was called the "tinker" in Netherton. He also mended holes in pots and pans . Not really sure how he did it. The repair looked something like a washer had been used but I don't remember any screws being involved.

[Symptoms]

Hhe would have used rivets.

[John White]

On a good day the kids (me) might get a balloon! If the R&B men were caught in the act of nicking stuff out the back yard!!

[Maggie/915]

In Lancashire it seems the shout was

' rags for donkey stones'

[Canny lass]

On the subject of names - anybody know why it's a rag and 'bone' man. The rag bit is self explanatory but where did bones come into the Picture?

[Maggie/915]

Could old animal bones after cooking and stock making be ground down to make 'Bonemeal' for the gardens.

'Waste not want not'

[Canny lass]

Good thinking, Maggie!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Canny lass - Animal bones were collected and sold on  - extract from Wikipedia :- In the UK, 19th-century rag-and-bone men scavenged unwanted rags, bones, metal and other waste, from the towns and cities where they lived. Henry Mayhew's 1851 report, London Labour and the London Poor, estimates that in London, between 800 and 1,000 "bone-grubbers and rag-gatherers" lived in lodging houses, garrets and "ill-furnished rooms in the lowest neighbourhoods."

The bone-picker and rag-gatherer may be known at once by the greasy bag which he carries on his back. Usually he has a stick in his hand, and this is armed with a spike or hook, for the purpose of more easily turning over the heaps of ashes or dirt that are thrown out of the houses, and discovering whether they contain anything that is saleable at the rag-and-bottle or marine-store shop.

These bone-grubbers, as they were sometimes known, would typically spend nine or ten hours searching the streets of London for anything of value, before returning to their lodgings to sort whatever they had found.^[4] In rural areas where no rag merchants were present, rag-and-bone men often dealt directly with rag paper makers,^[5] but in London they sold rag to the local trader. White rag could fetch 2–3 pence per pound, depending on condition (all rag had to be dry before it could be sold). Coloured rag was worth about two pence per pound. Bones, worth about the same,^[4] could be used as knife handles, toys and ornaments, and when treated, for chemistry. The grease extracted from them was also useful for soap-making. Metal was more valuable; an 1836 edition of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal describes how "street-grubber" could be seen scraping away the dirt between the paving stones of non-macadamised roads, searching for horseshoe nails.^[6] Brass, copper and pewter was valued at about 4–5 pence per pound. In a typical day, a rag-and-bone man might expect to earn about six pence.^[4]

[Canny lass]

What a grim Picture of Life and poverty. We've come a long way. Thanks Eggy

[Symptoms]

Just wait until all the wicked Tory cut bite deep and those protecting the 'working poor' have been properly gelded ...

[paul mann]

Well done, Canny Lass. We lived through so much history now gone forever.

[Maggie/915]

Aye 'we were poor but we were happy'

As Monty Python might say!

What comedy programme gave us the line 'I love scrap me'

Now it is the scrap van recycling our old washers etc

No rags or bones.

The rags need to go to charity or 'Cash for Clothes'

Then there is the Vintage shop next to The Red Lion.

Such choice .

Cash for a Clothes could do with a new vintage window if anyone has a spare..

One window fell out and has been replaced .