Street food : hawkers and the history of London /
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York, NY :
Oxford University Press,
2023.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Abstract: | This is a social, economic, and cultural history of food hawking in London, which challenges how we think about street food and urban life in both the past and present. Focused on London between the late sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, the book reconstructs the working lives of the poor women and men who sold fruit, fish, vegetables, milk, and dishes like pies and sausages on the streets, outside the formal economy of markets and shops. It demonstrates the complexity and sophistication of hawkers' work, as well as their vital roles in feeding the city during a critical period of expansion. It also shows how a deeper understanding of street selling provides a new perspective on key debates and issues within metropolitan history, including the improvement of the streets, economic polarization, the rise of retail and shopkeeping, working class diets, the gender division of labour, and the grand narrative of modernization. Finally, the book reflects on the demise of London street trading over the twentieth century and the emergence of a gastronomic street food trend since the 2007-8 financial crisis-highlighting the differences with hawkers' historical experience and that of street vendors around the world today. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (256 pages) : illustrations (color). |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780191966897 0191966894 9780192662446 0192662449 |