Imperial Valley press., 1919-05-23
PETTICOAT LANE
AWAkENS FROM
WAR LETHARGY

London, April - (By maiD-Petti-
|. coat Lane has awakened from its
|, long sleep, imposed by the war and
/ the rgors of an unusually wet winter
and with the coming of spring fairly
I huns with life, trade and dirt
Pettlcoat Lane is more Of dis
! trlct than a street ior there are Il
number of streets, and each one car
/ RES the same curb markets and the
same motley crowd of traders and
slEhtseers. 1t is within five minutes
walk of some of the most important
financial institutions in the world,
and on the edge of that interesting
/ section known as the East End where
/ royalty and others have recently dis
covered there are slums which are a
/ disgrace to England and, in fact, to
all civilization.
Pettticcat Lane is lined with stalls,
some of them covered, some of them
open TO the elements, and all of them
mounted on wheels. Here may be
found for sale almost everything the
purchasing public may uesl.e; any
thing, in fact, which might be in
cluded in a list which stretched from
second hand underwear to cheap Jew
elry.
TIE old clothes man occupies the
commanding position almost directly
opposite the great Liverpool Street
passenger station, and some of his
prices would do Justice to some 0t
the mart West End shops. but price
and sales are not the same think III
Petticoat Lane. If tine seller cannot
get his price he is always willing
to come down, and ii trade happens
to be slow he will mount box and
offer his stock to tie highest bidder.
Then comes out all the wit and hu-
nor of the throng, with the auction
err usually. leading III sarcastic sal
lies.
"Art china" fearfully ard wonder
fully made; mems and women $ neck
wear in all the cC.ors of the rainbow;
fried fish fresh from the skillet; pic
lures. framed and unframed, and
prized because OF their high color,
ice cream and shaving powder with
q liberal assortment of hair brushes
and suspendars; money belts. mems
ribbons and the insignia of every reg
iment in the British amy. These and
thousand and one ccner things line
the street on each size, their leather
lunged sellers paUsIng only IN their
appeals for trade to make the neCcs-
SarY change.
One section of the lane i given
over to the man who IS there 70 heal
the sick and afflicted. He usually
specializes in some particular disease.
His appeals are supported BY - open
bottle of his particular medicine, and
for a penny one may sample the rem
edy and know for himself whethar.
he wants bottle. And it Is surprjs-
ing how many bottles are sold from
the sample. en- which the thrifty
doctor" makes much more profit than
he does on the larger amount.
Not far from the Lane proper is
the livestock market as they ell it.
in Club Row. Here one can buy some
of the best dogs that have mysteri-
cusly disappeared from the fashion
able sections of the city during the
previous week.
Sunday morning is the great day
in Petticoat Lane and its environs,
for. while all commodity stores in
London are closed on that day, the
Lane is allowed to operate freely with
cut interference from the police. II
serves its purpose in that it afford
a cheap. convenient market for the
teemirg thousands of the East End,
and gives them a promenade, a lit
tie crowded to be sure, but all the
more popular in consequence.