The Kleeneze man

I occasionally get a betterware catalogue left at my door or an Avon book. I don't buy anything from them though. I suspect many people can buy what they need via the internet now

I remember in the 1950s a brush salesman coming down our street. He was a Sikh. No one had seen a Sikh before and nobody would open the door to him. Poor man.

Kate1949 you must have read my mind as I came across your post. I remember a Sikh gentleman too being treated in the same way. Even travellers selling dolly pegs and “lucky charms” didn’t get as short a shrift as he did! I understood that was because people were rather afraid of travellers leaving bad luck if you didn’t buy something from them!

I remember the Kleeneze man! A Greek man came round once or twice with lace mats. The only real regular was Johnny Onions from Brittany, he only spoke Breton but was understood by locals who were welsh speaking.

My Welsh DH talks about Sioni Wynwns (Johnny Onions) coming round on his bike when he was young. Here in South Yorkshire we had the oatcake man. He would call from door to door on a Saturday, selling oatcakes and pikelets from a large wicker basket covered with a gingham cloth.

My lovely Mum always used to try to buy some little item as she was sorry for them.

As a child, I remember the rent man used to call once a week. I couldn’t imagine anyone now walking around the streets alone with what must have been a large amount of cash.

Once a year when the fair was in town the ladies used to come around selling lucky heather, my mother always bought some just in case.

We also had Sikh gents coming round with their suitcases. Remember Dad buying a black ‘funeral’ tie from one of them, Mum was furious as an uncle who lived in Leicester had warned her that once you bought from them, they told their mates and you would be inundated with salesmen.

This was back in the late 50s, early 60s. We had never seen anyone with turbans before, as we lived in a very rural location.

My favourite caller to the house was the man to empty the gas meter. There always seemed to be a flurry of excitement. He’d empty all the 2 shilling coins out on the kitchen table. I was mesmerised by the speed of his fingers as he stacked the coins into piles of of 10. Then he’d read the meter and do his calculations while my Mum hovered in the background hoping there was a small overpayment. It made her day if there was a few shillings “rebate” handed back.

Greyduster, I remember my Mum saying if I was offered anything rom a gypsy lady (heather irrc) I had to buy it otherwise they would put a curse on me!

There also used to be people who sold those metallic framed pictures?

We had a rent woman Miss Christie was her name. She came once a fortnight from the Council carrying a doctors type leather bag. No one locked their houses in those days. If my mum was out she would still come in and make herself a milky coffee and use the toilet. At Christmas time she always gave us a tin of biscuits and a calendar. The insurance men would also just knock and come in to collect their money. There is still a Kleenese/betterware man who come around and leave a booklet where I live.

My deeply superstitious Scottish Gran always bought white heather from travellers.

When a young woman traveller with a small child asked if she had any old spare clothes for the bairns, Gran went into the attic to have a, look.

When she down the woman and child had disappeared…….and so had all the weekly washing off the clothes line.

We had an 'Ingin Johnny' too. He cycled around with strings of onions dangling from his bike.

I remember the tallyman. I once bought a vacuum cleaner from him and my husband at the time went spare complaining about interest charges. We were both nurses and hard up then.

We had an Onion Johnny in Glasgow and my mum did love a good Betterware catalogue! But what I remember really enjoying was when the rag man came with his horse and cart. My mum would give him old rags, i.e. anything she hadn’t already been able to reuse as dusters or floor cloths. In exchange she’d choose an ornament or trinket of some sort and there’d always be a balloon for me!

Greyduster, my Welsh DH talks about Johnny Onions as well.We were really surprised to see him a couple of years ago in Rhayader, still on his bike!

We also had a Johnny Onions in Hampshire! Also a man with a knife sharpener on his bicycle who used to visit our village, the tally man used to call on our neighbours, Mum was horrified that people borrowed money.
The Kleeneezie man left us small tins of lavender furniture polish.
The Corona man used to deliver fizzy drinks.
Plus the man from the Pru came for our insurance money.
Bakers, the man from the Pools (football) .
And our local shops also used to deliver fish, groceries and meat.

Yes Greyduster I remember what my mother called 'gypsies' coming to the door selling pegs and sprigs of 'lucky' heather.

I remember the rag and bone man with his 'orse .

We kept a bag of old clothes ready for him .
There were never any bones .

Another guy sold vegetables on a horse drawn wagon .

Any horse in the street might oblige my Grandma with a nice bucket of manure for her vegetable patch .

There were French or Belgian onion sellers as well .
I was convinced that these energetic men travelled across Europe each day by bicycle .

A Sikh man sold brushes, dusters and tea towels tempting you with his magic beans .

Various gypsies told fortunes or sold lucky white heather and hand carved clothes pegs .
You could make dolls from them .

The man from the PRU used to collect insurance money .

And my Grandma threw the unfortunate Corona man and his free trial soft drinks out calling him a Satan addicting children to poisonous
addictive drinks !
I wasn't allowed fizzy drinks as a child and when I'm tempted by one -it hits my stomach like a canon ball .

I last saw a door to door gypsy in 1980 .She used to sell very poor quality plants and spat at me for not buying any .

I used to have beautifully made bread delivered .
Plus milk of course .

We had a man call round regularly to sharpen knives.

My Dad used to do the 'pools' - collected each week by someone who came round. Never did win!

I remember the Kleeneze man. And, I still have the Dairy Book of Home Cookery (bought from the milkman in 1978 - for some reason, I entered my name and year on the inside page)

When the gypsy women came around selling pegs and sprigs of lilac my mother always used to buy something. She was very superstitious and believed they would curse her with bad luck if she didnt buy.

We used to have a "rag and bone" man who came around with a horse and cart. He used to sing "Any old rags-a-bowans? Any ole boots a shoeys?" He would buy empty jam jars and lemonade bottles and give us kids a few pennies in exchange. We ran off and spent them on sweets.

There was also a man my mother called "the tinker." He was probably another traveller. He sharpened knives and scissors on a kind of grinding wheel. He also repaired pots and pans that had burned into holes by screwing tin plates onto the bottoms.

Nothing was wasted in those days (1950s).

We also had the ‘pig’ man, he collected all of the vegetable peelings, for pig swill, (not ours though, Grandad had a huge compost heap.) he had a trailer with oil barrels on, all filled with peelings.