The Rag And Bone Man
A horse, a cart, and an unintelligible shout.
Scrap metal and old clothes collected door to door, in exchange for a few coppers or a goldfish in a bag.
Nobody could ever make out what he was shouting, and everybody knew exactly what it meant. Children were sent out with whatever the house had finished with.
The goldfish thing was real. A live fish in a plastic bag in exchange for a bag of rags is an extraordinary trade when you write it down.
Cost back then
A few pence, or a goldfish
Goes for now
Gone, though scrap men still do the rounds in vans
