Comments on: Wonderful London

By: Di

Di — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 13:58:38 +0000

absolutely stunning – thank you so much for sharing.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 01:53:07 +0000

That was truly wonderful. Photographer Donald MacLeish is a hero, and so are the people he photographed. They knew it.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Fri, 29 May 2020 15:06:47 +0000

Fabulous images, although I admit the one of the telephone cable man made by stomach lurch. I recall the knife grinder of my childhood, and near to my junior school in Chelsea, there was often a Chair Restorer sitting on the corner of a side road off Sloane Street, who sat there re-caning the seat of of a chair. I would often stop for a few moments, fascinated as I watched him weave a perfect pattern on the seat.

By: David Green

David Green — Fri, 29 May 2020 14:10:37 +0000

How much could an itinerant onion-seller possibly have made?? It’s not as though they have ever been expensive or hard to come by…at least, I don’t think so…

By: Pamela Traves

Pamela Traves — Thu, 28 May 2020 20:36:13 +0000

Gorgeous Vintage Pictures! Thank You So Much!?????????

By: parktown

parktown — Thu, 28 May 2020 18:49:34 +0000

Carman/Charman/Carrier/Carter/Cartman Driver of (horse-drawn) vehicles for transporting goods. Carmen were often employed by railway companies for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. Modern day van driver. A Carter typically drove a light two wheeled carriage. Also sometimes someone who drove horse-drawn trams was called a Carman.

https://rmhh.co.uk/occup/c.html
?

By: Chris Webb

Chris Webb — Thu, 28 May 2020 17:42:02 +0000

Joan, the carman is wearing a GCR cap which stands for Great Central Railway (which ran out or Marylebone). Railways used to run a service roughly comparable to today’s DPD, DHL, Hermes etc. in that you could send parcels and luggage from anywhere to anywhere else. They ran carts for pickup/delivery to/from the nearest station. My father told me that when he was a child it was common for people going on holiday to have their luggage sent ahead by rail, and anything else too large or heavy to be posted.
I wasn’t aware that the horse and cart drivers were called carmen but I would assume it referred to any such driver rather than just those employed by railways. Maybe it is a contraction of cart man.
Until relatively recently the word was also used to mean a “rep” or anyone who drove a car regularly for work. You used to see signs outside roadside cafes and “greasy spoons” saying “good pullup for carmen”. (Nothing to do with the Bizet opera!)

By: Joan

Joan — Thu, 28 May 2020 14:13:53 +0000

Can someone tell me exactly what a ‘carman’ did? I had a great grandfather who is described on his census as a carman and I am not sure what he did.
Thanks.

By: Adele Lester

Adele Lester — Thu, 28 May 2020 13:08:45 +0000

Wonderful photos. Wonder how many Cable men ended up injured with no form of medical insurance, what a dangerous job!

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Thu, 28 May 2020 13:07:33 +0000

Your other readers have already rightfully commented on the pure delight of these images —
It occurs to me that surely this volume of photos MUST have been a staple in Hollywood reference libraries; since I believe I have encountered these “archetypes” in many classic films. The messenger boy! Always rushing into the frame, his bicycle skidding to a stop, a breathless transmission of a telegram, and a paltry tip — then, whoosh, back out of the scene. The flower seller! — the plucky enduring short lady in shawl, ready to sell a bouquet of violets and offer an encouraging wink to Cary Grant. Look at the wardrobe of the Chimney Sweep! — This is a classic wardrobe solution for endless movie “hard luck” parts……think “Grapes of Wrath”, “Meet John Doe”, etc. (and, dare I say, this Sweep could BE a Hollywood character type) Anyhow, forgive an inveterate “research junkie” and History of Costume fiend for this riff. I couldn’t resist.

I loved this post! Thank you GA, as ever.