I thoroughly recommend the Dover books reprint of Henry Mayhew. "London Labour and the London poor" it is absolutely fascinating. People who had a brass farthing to rub together could enjoy eating 2 day old leftovers from the posh banquets, sold on the streets. (2 days because much of it was premade and so a day or so old by the time it hit the banquet table) Trifle and Lobster for anyone. Clothes rental was a thing. Dirt collecting had specialities with "pure" dog dung fetching extra prices for leather tanning.
I think Mayhew may have fed into Sydney and Beatrice Webb which in turn much later leads to Labour party policy, and ultimately the Beveridge report and birth of the welfare state.
Also, if you enjoyed Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting you will be familiar with Matthew the cats meat man.
It's strange how an entire occupation can cease to exist. A lot seem to have vanished in the decades around WW2: I learned a few days ago of the Dutch eelmongers in London, who for three centuries had a guaranteed moor in the Thames. https://bsky.app/profile/greenleejw.bsky.social/post/3lsvugc...
For the cat lovers among you, I strongly recommend the documentary Kedi, which is about the stray cats of Istanbul and the bonds they form with their human neighbors. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmV-mXkfjK8
There’s a similar confusion in Australia, where ground beef is called mince. You can go into any supermarket and pick up some beef mince, pork mince, even kangaroo mince. And then to the pet food aisle where you’ll find… “puppy mince”?!?!
I thoroughly recommend the Dover books reprint of Henry Mayhew. "London Labour and the London poor" it is absolutely fascinating. People who had a brass farthing to rub together could enjoy eating 2 day old leftovers from the posh banquets, sold on the streets. (2 days because much of it was premade and so a day or so old by the time it hit the banquet table) Trifle and Lobster for anyone. Clothes rental was a thing. Dirt collecting had specialities with "pure" dog dung fetching extra prices for leather tanning.
I think Mayhew may have fed into Sydney and Beatrice Webb which in turn much later leads to Labour party policy, and ultimately the Beveridge report and birth of the welfare state.
Also, if you enjoyed Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting you will be familiar with Matthew the cats meat man.
>Trifle and Lobster for anyone.
In 1851 lobster was still cheap food for the poor, you'd not find it at a fancy banquet.
In London it was a different story to the USA.
The Cat's-Meat-Man played a central role in convincing Dr Dolittle to become an animal doctor: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/221/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle/...
It's strange how an entire occupation can cease to exist. A lot seem to have vanished in the decades around WW2: I learned a few days ago of the Dutch eelmongers in London, who for three centuries had a guaranteed moor in the Thames. https://bsky.app/profile/greenleejw.bsky.social/post/3lsvugc...
For the cat lovers among you, I strongly recommend the documentary Kedi, which is about the stray cats of Istanbul and the bonds they form with their human neighbors. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmV-mXkfjK8
I love the ambiguity of "The Cat's Meat Man" — my initial thought before reading the rest of the title was, "and to whom does he sell cat meat?"
There’s a similar confusion in Australia, where ground beef is called mince. You can go into any supermarket and pick up some beef mince, pork mince, even kangaroo mince. And then to the pet food aisle where you’ll find… “puppy mince”?!?!
https://happypawspetfood.com.au/products/puppy-mince-1kg-por...
Terry pratchett would be loving this
IIRC, Neutering pets wasn't common until the mid 1900s.
So unwanted and stray animals could be a problem in this era. Unlimited feeding would mean a population explosion.
In this era you’d rather have too many cats than too many rats.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful gem. It was a splendid read!