Shoddy

[yulzari]

I can remember the rag and bone men coming around our London suburb in the 1960s with their horse and cart. With the cry 'rag bone! rag bone!' By then bones were no longer part of their trade and they were more totters for metal scrap, resale and 'antiques'. All very 'green'.

 

[FarawayFriend]

I never did find out why they collected bones.

I guess bones were needed to make glue.
We had those rag and bone men also. I can still remember what one of them called out when he came down the street. It was like a cadence:

"Lumpen, Eisen, Silber und Papier,
ausgekämmte Haare sammeln wir"

meaning

Rags, iron, silver and paper
combed out hair we are collecting

and I remember that my Mom as well as my Grandma had a container where they collected the hair they found in their brush after brushing their hair. No idea if this was used for making whigs?

 

[zburkett]

John Hartwell, I didn't know that and it makes me proud. Thanks.

 

[Waterloo50]

I can remember the rag and bone men coming around our London suburb in the 1960s with their horse and cart. With the cry 'rag bone! rag bone!' By then bones were no longer part of their trade and they were more totters for metal scrap, resale and 'antiques'. All very 'green'.

Did you notice how when they shouted rag and bone it sounded more like they were shouting...hurb du burb...bit like the old newspaper sellers on the street corner.