Costermonger, or simply Coster, is a street seller of fruit (apples, etc.) and vegetables, in London and other British towns. They were ubiquitous in mid-Victorian England, and some are still found in markets. As usual with street-sellers, they would use a loud sing-song cry

Street cries

Street cries are the short lyrical calls of merchants hawking their products and services in open-air markets. The custom of hawking led many vendors to create custom melodic phrases...

 or chant to attract attention. Their cart might be stationary at a market stall, or mobile (horse-drawn or wheelbarrow

Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...

).

Costers met a need for rapid food distribution from the central markets (e.g., Spitalfields

Old Spitalfields market

Old Spitalfields Market is a covered market in Spitalfields, just outside the City of London. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets....

 for fruit and vegetables, Billingsgate

Old Billingsgate Market

Old Billingsgate Market is the name given to what is now a hospitality and events venue in the City of London, England, based in the Victorian building that was formerly Billingsgate Fish Market....

 for fish). Their membership as a coster was signalled by their large neckerchief, known as a kingsman, tied round their necks. Their hostility towards the police was legendary.

The term, now often used to describe street vendors

Hawker (trade)

A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...

 in general, is derived from the words costard (a type of large ribbed apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

) and monger; i.e., seller.

History

Costermongers have existed in London since at least the 16th century, when they were mentioned by Shakespeare and Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...

. They probably were most numerous during the Victorian era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

, when there were said to be over 30,000 in 1860. They gained a fairly unsavoury reputation for their "low habits, general improvidence, love of gambling, total want of education, disregard for lawful marriage ceremonies, and their use of a peculiar slang language" (John Camden Hotten

John Camden Hotten

John Camden Hotten was an English bibliophile and publisher.Hotten was born in Clerkenwell, London to a family of Cornish origins. He spent the period 1848–1856 in America and on his return opened a small bookshop in London at 151a Piccadilly, and founded the publishing firm later known as Chatto...

, The Slang Dictionary, 1859). Costers were notoriously competitive: respected "elder statespeople" in the costermonger community were elected as pearly kings and queens

Pearly Kings and Queens

Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working class culture in London, England.The practice of wearing clothes decorated with pearl buttons originated in the 19th century. It is first associated with Henry Croft, an orphan street sweeper who collected...

 to keep the peace between rival costermongers.

However, crimes such as theft were actually rare among costermongers themselves, especially in an open market where they tended to look out for one another. Even common thieves preferred to prey on shop owners rather than costers, who were inclined to dispense street justice

Vigilante

A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....

. The costers' animosity towards the police was extreme:
The activities and lifestyles of 19th century costermongers are comprehensively documented in London Labour and the London Poor

London Labour and the London Poor

London Labour and the London Poor is a work of Victorian journalism by Henry Mayhew. In the 1840s he observed, documented and described the state of working people in London for a series of articles in a newspaper, the Morning Chronicle, that were later compiled into book form.-Overview:The...

, a four volume collection of erudite and well-researched articles by Henry Mayhew

Henry Mayhew

Henry Mayhew was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of the two founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch, and the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days...

. Mayhew describes a Saturday night in the New Cut, a street in Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

, south of the river:
Such was London in the 1840s; but by the end of the 19th century, the costermongers were in gradual decline. They did not disappear as mobile street-sellers until about 1960, when the few that remained took pitches in local markets. They were portrayed in the music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

s by vocal comedians such as Albert Chevalier

Albert Chevalier

Albert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...

 (1861–1923) and Gus Elen

Gus Elen

Ernest Augustus Elen was an English music hall singer and comedian. He achieved success from 1891, performing cockney songs including Arf a Pint of Ale, It's a Great Big Shame, Down the Road and If It Wasn't for the 'Ouses in Between in a career lasting over thirty years.Born in Pimlico, London,...

 (1862–1940). In The Forsyte Saga, Swithin Forsyte is driving Irene Forsyte in his carriage through the streets of London in 1886 and a costermonger (the "ruffian") and his girlfriend are riding alongside in their donkey cart, which is overturned in traffic. The antihero star of Look Back in Anger

Look Back in Anger

Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...

 (1956) by playwright John Osborne

John Osborne

John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....

 is a coster who sells candies from his cart. The play and a filmed version

Look Back in Anger (film)

Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson.It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and...

 depicts aspects of the formal and informal politics of street markets (as seen from a left wing perspective): racial prejudice, irate customers, abusive regulatory officials.

In 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

 of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 announced plans to license 1000 street vendors (the name costermonger is not used in America) Green Carts to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. The announcement spurred hopes for a revival of costermongering.

Legal standing

The costermonger's trade in London is subject to regulation by law, under the administration of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...

. If the pitch is stationary, by-laws of local councils also apply. Legislation exists under clause six of the Metropolitan Streets Act 1867, which deals with obstruction by goods to pavements (sidewalks) and streets. There are various modern amendments.