Rag-and-bone Man - 20th Century

20th Century

A 1954 report in The Manchester Guardian mentions that some men could make as much as £25 a day collecting rags. Most used handcarts rather than a bag, and some used a pony and cart, giving out rubbing stones in exchange for the items they collected. In 1958 a Manchester Guardian reporter accompanied one rag-and-bone man, John Bibby, as he made his rounds through Chorlton and Stretford, near Manchester. For his handcart's load, which comprised rags, furs, shoes, scrap car parts, a settee and other furniture, he made about £2.

The rag-and-bone trade fell into decline though; in the 1950s Manchester and Salford had, between them, around 60 rag merchants, but this had fallen to about 12 by 1978, many having moved into the scrap metal trade. Local merchants blamed several factors, including demographic changes, for the decline of their industry. A newspaper report of 1965 estimates that in London, only a "few hundred" rag-and-bone men remained, possibly due to competition from more specialised trades such as corporation dustmen, and pressure from property developers to build on rag merchants' premises. Despite the BBC's popular Steptoe and Son, which helped maintain the rag-and-bone man's status in English folklore, by the 1980s they were mostly gone. Lately, rising scrap metal prices have prompted their return, although most drive vans, not horses, and announce their presence by megaphone, causing some members of the public to complain about the noise created.