The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-04-19 00:00:00

CURIOSITIES OF RAG FAIR, LONDON.

It seems difficult to discover the climax of London
poverty and destitution. In every depth there is a deeper
still. The prices of various kinds of provisions in these
neighbourhoods give a forcible notion of the condition of
their swarming population. In most of these neighbour-
hoods you can purchase a halfpenny worth of fish or a
halfpennyworth of soup, and other matters in proportion.
The luxuries are singular in their price and character, a
farthing's worth of damaged oranges, for example, being
hawked about the streets and sold in the shops. " Rag-
fair," that well-known mart for every description of
second-hand clothing, will supply good habits at any
price. If some of our readers wish to judge for them-
selves, Cutler-street, a turning in Hounaditch, will lead
them to the district. It is a curious scene : hundreds of
people are assembled in the streets, which are so thickly
covered with merchandise that it is difficult to step along
without treading on heaps of gowns, shawls, bonnets,
shoes, and articles of men's attire. " Here Greek meets
Greek," and not without " the tug of war." No person
can form an idea of this anomalous multitude but by a
visit : all poor and squalid ; the children pinched and
bleached, not " brought up," but, as Lamb says,
" dragged up." Here may be seen in one of the markets,
formed by some of the pillars and covering of the Hyde-
park Exhibition, the great dealer, standing in his well-
known place, and purchasing perhaps many cartloads of
clothing for exportation to the colonies, Ireland, and
elsewhere; and other dealers of various grades, until we
reach the merchant whose capital is less than a shilling,
and who daily gets a living by the purchase of shoes, hats,
and other matters, the uses of which, looki▪
ng at their
condition, it would be difficult to guess.
The following is a bill delivered by the dealer to one of the
missionaries, who was requested to supply a sui▪ t of clothes
for a man and woman whom he had persuaded to get mar-
ried several years after the right time : s. d.
A full linen-fronted shirt, very elegant 0 6
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0 6
0 3
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black cloth
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I,NoyV light-coloured
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0 1
A pair of low shoes 0 1
A black silk velvet stock
A black beaver,fly-fronted, double-breasted
paletot coat, lined with silk, a very
superior article 1 6
A cloth cap, bound with a figured band 0 1
A pair of black cloth gloves, 0 1-3 3
The man had been educated, and could speak no fewer
than five languages ; by profession he was, however,
nothing but a dust-hill raker. The bill delivered for the
bride's.c2stame is as follows : s. d.

A shift .........
0 1
A pair of stays
A flannel petticoat
A black Orleans ditto 0 4
A pair of white cotton stockings
A very good light-coloured cotton gown 0 10
A pair of single-soled slippers, spring heels 0 2
A doubled-dyed bonnet, including neat cap 0 2
A pair of white cotton gloves
A lady's green silk paletot, crimson-lined 0 10-3 1
The goods were selected by the missionary, and at the
bottom of the bills the merchant marked :—" P.S. Will
be very happy to supply as many as you can find at the
same pricea."..eThe Builder.