
London labour and the London poor
by Henry Mayhew
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2015–2025first – last mentioned
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An extraordinary work of investigative journalism, literature, and sociology, London Labour and the London Poor originated in a series of articles for a local newspaper and grew into a massive record of the daily life of Victorian London's underclass. By turns alarming, touching, and funny, the pages of London Labour and the London Poor exposed a previously hidden world. Henry Mayhew conducted hundreds of interviews that provided a first-hand account of costermongers and street-sellers, of sewer-scavengers and chimney-sweeps, creating an intimate and detailed portrait that offered unprecedente
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If you'd like to know what the daily life of mid-Victorian poor people was like in excruciating detail, check out "London Labour and the London Poor" by Henry Mayhew: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Labour_and_the_London_P... A major point of interest is that the oceans had not yet been overfished, so fresh fish was an abundant and extremely…
on “The mid-Victorian diet was a mini golden age of nutrition” ↗For a far more nuanced and detailed look at life in London in the 1840s, read 'London Labour and the London Poor' by Henry Mayhew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Labour_and_the_London_P... https://archive.org/details/londonlabourand00mayhgoog http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55998 The economist article is…
on “The history of economic growth is a tale of cleanliness” ↗I thoroughly recommend the Dover books reprint of Henry Mayhew. "London Labour and the London poor" it is absolutely fascinating. People who had a brass farthing to rub together could enjoy eating 2 day old leftovers from the posh banquets, sold on the streets. (2 days because much of it was premade…
on “The Cat's Meat Man: Feeding Felines in Victorian London” ↗…made them toil and die for their profit. When Queen Victoria and her chronies were filling their pockets by looting the world, London was still a slum. Henry Mayhew documented this in his publication London Labour and the London Poor[1]. Things like 8 hour work week, health benefits etc were achived in blood. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Labour_and_the_London_P...
on “Arborists Have Cloned Ancient Redwoods from Their Massive Stumps” ↗