Who will buy? Anyone who has seen the movie Oliver will surely remember the scene in which the various street sellers emerge and begin hawking their wares. In reality, the cries of London's "costermongers" were probably far less melodious or harmonious. Several little volumes were written in the 17th to 19th centuries on London street cries, from "knives to grind" to "strawberries ripe." (I recommend Old London Street Cries, available on Archive.org.) Though the word "costermonger" originally referred to a seller of apples, it came to apply to nearly anyone selling fruits and vegetables from a barrow. London's streets were also the workplace for many of London's children, from boot-blacks to flower-sellers.

Christmas Day on the Pavement (Illustrated London Almanack, 1855)

Christmas day amongst the street vendors of London.

Business Hours in London Streets (Leisure Hour, 1868)

The street-vendors, hawkers, costermongers and barrow-traders of London.

Street Tumblers (Leisure Hour, 1868)

Small Traders, by William Gilbert (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1876)

A look at street-traders and vendors in London.

Only One Penny (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Animated beetles, dolls, tiny parasols, squeaking birds, and a host of other marvelous items -- all to be had on the streets of London for "only one penny"!

The Way Some Folks Live: The London Organ-Grinder (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

Pavement Artists (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

A look at London chalk art and artists.

Peddlers and Hawkers (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Street Entertainments (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Street-Corner Men (The Strand, 1891B)

"Perhaps none are more interesting than the irregular individuals who may be seen at various street corners... cajoling, lecturing, flattering, preaching, and dogmatically declaring the advantages of their particular kind of goods or entertainment."

Street Musicians, by Gilbert Guerdon (The Strand, 1892A)

How the Other Half Lives: The Book-Barrow Man, by J.D. Symon (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

How the Other Half Lives: The Fruit-Barrow Man, by J.D. Symon (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

How the Other Half Lives: The Policeman, by Wilfred Wemley (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

How the Other Half Lives: "Fine Oysters!" by James D. Symon (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895B)

The life of the oyster-barrow-man.

Street Toys, by Ernest Fincham (The Strand, 1895B)

• See also London's Outdoor Markets

Child Workers of the London Streets

Throughout most of the Victorian era, the questions that arose about child workers was not whether children should be required to work, but at what ages and for how long. During the 19th century a number of acts were passed to address both those concerns - for example, an act was passed to raise the minimum age of chimney sweeps to eight (prior to which sweeps employed children as young as four). Hours were slowly decreased, until finally a maximum of ten hours a day was imposed on all workers, children included. To the authors of the articles below, child workers are a part of normal Victorian life, something one sees every day. For an eye-opening look at the evolution of children's rights, take a look at Timeline of young people's rights in the United Kingdom on Wikipedia!

Chimney Sweepers (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

Shoeblacks (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

Some Little Ones of the Street, by Thomas Archer (Little Folks, 1883)

The Crossing-Sweeper

The Flower-Seller

The Match-Seller

The Newspaper-Seller

The Little Water-Cress Seller

The Shoe-Black

Child Workers in London (The Strand, 1891A)

A look at the amazing variety of employments fulfilled by children in London - and the pros and cons thereof.

The Flower-Girls of London, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

A look at the lives, manners and situation of London's flower-sellers.

London Flower Girls After the Great Frost (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

A Day in the Life of a Scavenger Boy, by J.D. Symon (English Illustrated Magazine, 1899A)

The life of the "street orderly boy," responsible for keeping London's streets clean.