'Rag bone!' Sunderland people's memories of the traders who came to their streets when they were little
‘I got a goldfish and I remember my mam getting plastic flowers’
They were the traders who came to your streets with a familiar cry. ‘Rag bone!
And when we asked people for their memories of the rag and bone merchants, they had loads of recollections to share on our Wearside Echoes Facebook page.
Let’s take a look at what you had to say about those days.
Lots of you recalled that some of them gave a goldfish in return for scrap.
Gill Barnard was among them and said: “Tansey with his open cart and horse came around Fulwell in the 50’s. I remember goldfish that didn’t live for long.”
Ingrid Golden said: “I got a goldfish and I remember my mam getting plastic flowers.”
Colin Foster got ‘dolly pegs or a goldfish’ while Jan Sinclair said: “We got a goldfish in 1965 and it lasted till 1971. Even moved house with us from Hylton Castle to Doxford Park.”
Judith Porter said: “Sometimes my mam got a few pence for the rags, and if you had woollen clothes you got a few pence extra, but some only gave you wooden clothes pegs.”
Gail Osborn remembered a rag and bone man ‘in East Rainton late 60's. Used to take me up to school on his Pony. Loved it, can you imagine that happening now.’
And Louie Thompson said: “My Dads cousins Bobby Marshall and his brother Frankie were rag and bone men. Bobby once told me that he could have made a fortune if he'd sold some of the items that he was given instead of weight them in for scrap.”
Tanya L Oliver commented: “My great grandad was a rag and bone man’ while Brenda Ferguson Berry said: “Ours was called Paget.”
Lynne Roberts recalled: “I remember my Mam getting pegs from him, we often called him the candy man.”
Others remembered getting balloons. lollipops and other goodies in return for items and we thank everyone who took the time to share their memories.
We would love more people to join our Wearside Echoes Facebook group which already has more than 21,000 members. To become one of the next, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/wearsideechoes for a daily look at nostalgia from the Sunderland area.