London Street Hawkers, Selling Baked Potatoes (1890)
Crowned jauntily with spuds, portable ovens such as this were a regular sight on London's streets during autumn and winter in the late nineteenth century.
Edgar Scamell took the photograph for the National Photographic Record and Survey (1897-1910), a project to document buildings, ceremonies and customs. It's thought that around ten tons of potatoes were sold in this manner every day. Baked beans were unlikely to have been a filling, though they didn't arrive in the UK until 1886 and were sold by Fortnum & Mason as a fancy foreign delicacy.
This photograph, along with its description, appeared in Time Out magazine's 'Top 40 Best Photos of London' collection.
