A costermonger was a street seller of fruit and vegetables. The term, which derived from the words costard (a type of apple) and monger, i.e. "seller", came to be particularly associated with the "barrow boys" of London who would sell their produce from a wheelbarrow or wheeled market stall.
Costermongers have existed in London since at least the 16th century, when they were mentioned by Shakespeare. They probably were never more numerous than during the Victorian era, when there were said to be over 30,000 in 1860. They gained a fairly unsavoury reputation for their "low habits, general improvidence, love of gambling, total want of education, disregard for lawful marriage ceremonies, and their use of a peculiar slang language" (John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary, 1859). Costermongers were notoriously competitive; respected "elder statespeople" in the costermonger community were elected as pearly kings and queens to keep the peace between rival costermongers.
Costermongers were notoriously competitive; respected "elder statespeople" in the costermonger community were elected as pearly kings and queens to keep the peace between rival costermongers.
The activities and lifestyles of 19th century costermongers are comprehensively documented in London Labour and the London Poor, a four volume collection of very erudite and well-researched articles by Henry Mayhew.
The orange season is called by the costermonger the "Irishman's harvest." Indeed, the street trade in oranges and nuts is almost entirely in the hands of the Irish and their children; and of the children of costermongers.
All the costermongers with whom I conversed represented that the greater cheapness and abundance of fruit had been anything but a benefit to them, nor did the majority seem to know whether fruit was scarcer or more plentiful one year than another, unless in remarkable instances.
Among the costermongers I heard this useful root -which the learned in such matters have pronounced to be, along with the mushroom, the foundation of every sauce, ancient or modern -called ing-guns, ingans, injens, injyens, inions, innons, almost everything but onions.
Feeds |
Contact