Genealogy Chat

hello all, got my first cert today! i ordered it off of the swansea website and it came in under a week, very efficient. i found out that my g granddad was a rag and bone collector. can anyone shed any light on what this occupation involes? it doesn't sound very posh does it!

Liz congratulations on your first arrival.....lol Taken from old occupations site: Rag Man / Rag and Bone Man Toured the streets in his cart collecting rags and any old useable discarded items lib

don't seem to see them any more Jeanette

Congrats on the first cert!! Rag + bone man - I remember him well. When I was young (no laughs please), - the rag + bone man used to come around quite regulary with his old horse + cart - I can remember his cries of 'any old rags, any old bones! (I don't know where the bones come in), - but we used to go running out with our old clothes and he used to swap them for 'brown stones'. My mother would use these to dip in water and spead over the front steps of our house which made them look very 'posh' !! You could also get 'white stones' which would do the same thing but it would be whiter !!! ???????? God knows why, but it was the 'in thing' in those days. Dea x

Liz, Congrats. best start saving for the next batch. incidentally, which swansea website?? Could it help me with my Welsh connections? Pete

Hi liz, well done i know the feeling well when you get that cert it doesnt matter if its the first or the 50th its still great to see it all down in print. its like peeping back through a window, my great grandfather was a rag merchant which was the same as a rag and bone man. they used to collect old clothes from posh areas and sell them on to poorer people and the rags he got off the poor people used to go to factories for cleaning down machines etc.. then in later days they would collect any item and sell it on. one mans rubbish etc.. i suppose they were recycling but you are right it wasnt a proffesion that carried a lot of esteem the image of steptoe and son does it all for me. good luck with your hunting love linda x x

Well done Liz. I can remember the 'Rag & Bone' men collecting any old unwanted items.The one round our way used to give us corn dollys or a trinket. Heather

When I lived in Bedford 20 years ago there was a man who used to tour the streets shouting, 'Any old iron and rag and bones!' Not that long ago, really.... Mind you, I don't know if he would really have accepted bones... Kate.

In the interests of research, I suggest you watch an episode of Steptoe and Son!!! I too remember them well. Nowadays they call it a Car Boot Sale'!!!

In the interests of research, I suggest you watch an episode of Steptoe and Son!!! I too remember them well. Nowadays they call it a Car Boot Sale'!!!

I remember a rag and bone man in N Wales, where I was brought up in the 50's. He would wander the streets with a cart from which he bought and sold used items, including rags. When I moved to Southport in 1979, I was awoken one morning by one of these guys pushing his trolley up the street and bellowing 'Ra-ags and bones; any old rags and bones?'. It brought back all those childhood memories. Really they were the type of people we need in an age when recycling is supposed to be in fashion. Nowadays we call it e-Bay! Bill

thanks for your replies, i actually thought he was a coal miner because thats what my grandad did. bit of a difference isn't it! awww bless him i bet he was good at it though lol i must say its very interesting finding out this info about people who lived years before

Our one used to give you a goldfish in a bag, isnt that awful! Now they drive around in old trucks and take the scrap iron whether you want them to or not.

Nowadays people get rid of unwanted stuff by putting it into charity bags, on e-bay or hiring a skip! But I remember the rag and bone man. He had a bell he rang as he approached. nell

aaahhh, the rag and bone man------remember him well!! remember the calls!! i can't remember if we gave him any rags! probably didn't have any----probably wore them!!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOppps - Just remembered - I once gave him one of my mum's good cardies and got in return a balloon on a stick, and later a good pasting off my dad! Dea x I had forgotten that but - Ouch - now I remember how it hurt! Dea x