The Big Plastic Count

Love it!  We had a veg man called Mr Tilney (I called Mr tiddley), a bread man, a butcher,a fish man,an Insurance man, a rent man, a pop man with ginger beer in stone bottles and of course the rag and bone man who used to shout in the street to let you know he was there and give either a balloon or a goldfish depending on how may rags he got? 

Strange how they were all men?

Not strange at all, Vinny. 

Who do you think was giving custom to all those tradesmen? The women who were obliged to stay home, cook and clean (with no modern appliances or cleaning aids apart from a stiff brush and maybe an agitator washing machine with a mangle) and raise children. Washing 8 or 10 nappies a day was no fun. Can't see all those traders saying, " no, no, dear, you do the rounds, I'll look after the house and children".