Italian Street Musicians
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. Then there is something irresistible in the bright glitter of his eyes, in. his cheerful gait, and his fascinating manners; While English... More
Recruiting Sergeants
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith.."Recruiting in London is almost exclusively circumscribed to the district stretching between the St. George's Barracks, Trafalgar Square, a... More
"Tickets" the Card-Dealer
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith. This chapter tells of the life of a man nicknamed "Tickets":.."About this time "Tickets" made the acquaintance of a Frenchman who possessed... More
Street Advertising
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..'There is a certain knack required in pasting a bill on a rough board, so that it shall spread out smoothly, and be easily read by every p... More
“Strawberries. All ripe! All ripe!” - The Street Fruit Trade
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. The season for strawberries, the most delicious of English fruits, has ended. This delicacy was brought in numberless barrow- loads to th... More
The Street Locksmith
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“The owner of the stall in the accompanying photograph had, however, a different story to tell concerning keys. He possessed some keys whi... More
The Dramatic Shoe-Black
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith... Jacobus Parker, Dramatic Reader, Shoe-Black, and Peddler, is represented in the accompanying photograph standing at his accustomed pitch.... More
Caney the Clown
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..'After playing in many provincial theatres, Caney finally made his debut in London on the boards of the old Garrick, the Britannia, and th... More
Workers on the "Silent Highway"
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. There are, undoubtedly, many most honest, hard-working, and in every sense worthy men, who hold licences from the Watermen's Company, or ... More
Clapham Common Industries
Photography on the Common / Waiting for a Hire..From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thompson and Adolphe Smith:..'I know of one photographer, who obtained on Clapham Common no less than thirty-six shill... More
The Wall Worker
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith...“…The wall working or fence working, described by Parker as a " fine property," is a system of cheap advertising. Where a portion of a wa... More
Street Doctor
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith..The subject of the accompanying illustration is a vendor of cough lozenges and healing ointment. He was originally a car-driver employed by... More
November Effigies
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..The accompanying photograph is that of a nondescript guy, somewhat clumsily built up by a costermonger who lives in the south-east of Lond... More
The Independent Shoe-Black
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“The independent boot-black whose photograph is before the reader, found by experience that the system instituted was not altogether pleas... More
The Cheap Fish of St-Giles
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. Awaiting the moment when the costermonger is able to procure a barrow of his own he must pay eighteen pence per week for the cost of hiri... More
London Boardmen
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“I had, for instance, an occasion of discussing with two boardmen who seemed worthy of a better position. The first had been trained as a ... More
Dealers in Fancy-Ware
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..'The accompanying photograph represents a street group gathered round a dealer whose barrow is one of the most attractive I have seen duri... More
The Temperance Sweep
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith. This chapter recounts the life story of John Day, which begins:..'Born in Lambeth, the son of a road-mender, John Day was sent out to work ... More
Black Jack
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. Jack stood charged with cutting and wounding the donkeys with a heavy flail-like instrument. At the request of the magistrate the instrum... More
"Mush-Fakers" and Ginger-Beer Makers
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“At Clapham Common - where the accompanying photograph was taken - Hampstead, Greenwich, Battersea Park, etc etc, on a broiling summer's d... More
Flying Dustmen
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:. The removal of dust and refuse from the houses of the metropolis is a task which devolves on the officers of the various parishes. Althoug... More
Covent Garden Labourers
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith...“…the accompanying photograph represents a group of labourers who are in the service of Mr. Dickson, the well-known florist. Their busines... More
The Sellers of Shell-fish
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..‘“But it's hard to pick up money on the streets; there is so many at the same game now, that it's about all we can do to get food. Fridays... More
London Nomades
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith..The class of Nomades with which I propose to deal makes some show of industry. These people attend fairs, markets, and hawk cheap ornaments... More
Cast-Iron Billy
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. ““Forty-three years on the road, and more," said Cast-iron Billy; “and, but for my ‘rheumatics’ I feel almost as 'ale and 'earty as any g... More
Old Furniture coat of arms
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:.. At the corner of Church Lane, Holborn, there was a second-hand furniture dealer, whose business was a cross between that of a shop and a ... More
The Crawlers
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“But old age, and want of proper food and rest, reduces them to a lethargic condition which can scarcely be preferable to death itself. It... More
London Cabmen
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith..…Despite the traditional hoarse voice, rough appearance, and quarrelsome tone, cab-drivers are as a rule reliable and honest men, who can b... More
An Old Clothes Shop, Seven Dials
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith..."The accompanying photograph represents a second-hand clothes shop in a narrow thoroughfare of St. Giles, appropriately called Lumber Cour... More
Halfpenny Ices
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith... Italian ice men constitute a distinct feature of London life, which, however, IS generally Ignored by the public at large, so far as It’s... More
The Water-Cart
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“The men employed on the water carts work according to the state of the weather. Thus, in summer under a hot dry wind, they emerge at earl... More
Public Disinfectors
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith.....While reducing the general death-rate, our recent sanitary legislation has called into existence a class of men who must of necessity be... More
"Hookey Alf" of Whitechapel
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith:..“Thus in the photograph before us we have the calm undisturbed face of the skilled artisan, who has spent a life of tranquil, useful labou... More
Covent Garden Flower Women
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith..…How different is the Covent Garden of to-day, with its bustle and din, its wealth and pauperism, its artifices, its hot-house flowers and ... More
A Convicts Home
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith... In Drury Lane there is a house which has been celebrated for more than a century. It was a "cook-shop" in Jack Sheppard’s time. This noto... More