Do you remember the rag and bone man ♥️♥️♥️

 

That photo. 

A man in a flat cap, holding the reins. A woman smiling beside him on a wooden flatbed cart. In front of them: a horse. Behind them: a "VG STORES" shop. 

That’s him. *The Rag and Bone Man*. 

For anyone who grew up in Britain, Ireland, or parts of America between 1850 and 1970, the sound of his call is burned into memory:  

*"Any old rags and bones! Any old iron!"*

He wasn’t just a junk collector. He was part of the neighborhood. Part of childhood. Part of a time when nothing was wasted and everyone knew everyone on the street.

Let’s remember him properly. With the respect he deserves.

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### *PART 1: WHO WAS THE RAG AND BONE MAN?*

The rag and bone man was a street trader, a recycler, a social worker, and a storyteller all in one.

*His job*: Go door to door in working-class neighborhoods, calling out, and collect anything people wanted to throw away.  

*What he took*: Old rags, clothes, bones from the butcher, scrap metal, old pots, broken furniture, bottles, paper.  

*What he gave*: Sometimes money. More often: a goldfish in a bag, a balloon, a tin whistle, or a cup for your kids.

He didn’t have a shop. His shop was his cart. His office was the street.

The photo you shared is a perfect example. Likely taken in the 1950s in the UK. That’s a horse-drawn flatbed. The man is dressed in his work clothes: cap, jacket, sturdy boots. The woman might be his wife, helping on the round. "VG STORES" was a common British grocery chain at the time.

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### *PART 2: A 300-YEAR HISTORY - FROM RAGS TO RICHES*

The rag and bone trade is older than you think.

#### *1700s - 1800s: The Original Recyclers*

During the Industrial Revolution, paper was made from rags. No trees. So rag collectors were essential. They’d buy old clothes, boil them, and sell them to paper mills.  

Bones were boiled down to make glue, fertilizer, and buttons. "Bone pickers" were children who crawled through streets collecting bones. It was grim, but it fed families.

#### *1850s - 1930s: The Golden Age*

This was when the classic image was born. Horse and cart. Bell or voice. Working 6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day.  

There were thousands of them in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow. Most were Irish, Jewish, or from poor rural families. It was one of the few jobs you could start with no money.

#### *1940s - 1960s: Post-War Britain* 

This is likely when your photo was taken. After WWII, people had less but still threw things out. Rationing meant everything was reused.  

The rag man was a lifeline. He’d take your old coat and give you a few pence, or swap it for something the kids would love.

#### *1970s - 1990s: The Decline*

Cars replaced horses. Council tip sites opened. Plastic replaced rags. Supermarkets replaced local shops like "VG STORES".  

The call faded from the streets. By 1990, most rag and bone men were gone.

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### *PART 3: A DAY IN THE LIFE*

Let’s walk a day with him, circa 1955.

*5:00 AM*: Wake up. Feed the horse. Brush the cart.  

*6:30 AM*: First street. "Rags! Booooones!" in a long, musical cry. Kids run out. Women bring bags from the back door.  

*10:00 AM*: Stop for tea at a cafe. Other rag men there, swapping stories and prices for scrap.  

*12:00 PM*: Lunch. Bread and cheese on the cart. Horse gets water.  

*3:00 PM*: School kids. "Mister, can I have a balloon?" He gives one. They’ll remember him for 60 years.  

*6:00 PM*: Back to the yard. Sort the load. Rags in one pile, metal in another, bottles to be returned.  

*8:00 PM*: Home. Tired, but he knows every family on 4 streets.

He wasn’t rich. But he was independent. He was his own boss. And he was known. Everyone knew "Old Bill the rag man" or "Harry with the horse."

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### *PART 4: WHY WE LOVED THEM - THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION ♥️*

This is why your message has hearts. 

1. *Nostalgia*: For many, the rag man = childhood. The excitement of running out with a bag of old clothes.

2. *Community*: He knew who was sick, who had a new baby, who was struggling. He’d sometimes leave food.

3. *Sustainability before it was cool*: He recycled 100 years before "reduce, reuse, recycle" was a slogan. Nothing went to waste.

4. *Character*: They were characters. Funny, tough, kind. Songs were written about them. Music hall comedians did routines about them.

The song *"The Rag and Bone Man" by The Kinks, 1966* captures it:  

_"Any old iron, any old rags, any old bottles, any old bones..."_

And in 2016, *Rag'n'Bone Man* the singer brought the name back to the charts. Millions Googled: "why is he called that?" 

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### *PART 5: WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYTHING HE COLLECTED?*

This is the part people forget. He was the original recycling industry.

Item Collected Where It Went What It Became

**Rags** Textile mills Shoddy cloth, paper, insulation

**Bones** Glue factories Glue, fertilizer, gelatin

**Metal** Scrap yards New pots, tools, building materials

**Bottles** Bottle washers Refills for milk, beer

**Paper** Paper mills New newspapers, packaging

**Furniture** Second-hand dealers Sold to poor families

He was a one-man circular economy. Before councils and corporations took over waste.

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### *PART 6: THE HORSE, THE CART, AND THE "VG STORES"*

Let’s talk about your photo specifically.

*The Horse*: Usually a cob or shire. Strong, calm, knew the route better than the man. Many horses worked 20 years. When they retired, the whole street would chip in for their upkeep.

*The Cart*: Wooden flatbed. No suspension. That’s why the woman is smiling - it was a rare ride. Some carts had a bell. Some had painted names: "J. Smith & Son".

*VG STORES*: "Value Group Stores". A British cooperative grocery chain popular in the 1950s-60s. The posters in the window are likely for tea, soap, and tinned food. The fact the photo was taken outside a shop shows how integrated rag men were. They’d stop while shopkeepers ran errands.

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### *PART 7: FAMOUS RAG AND BONE MEN IN CULTURE*

They appear everywhere once you look:

1. *Literature*: Charles Dickens wrote about "rag gatherers" in _Bleak House_.

2. *Music*: Chas & Dave - "Rag and Bone". The Kinks - "The Rag and Bone Man".

3. *TV*: _Only Fools and Horses_ - Del Boy started as a market trader, the modern version.

4. *Art*: LS Lowry painted street scenes with rag men.

5. *Today*: The name "Rag'n'Bone Man" - Rory Graham. He took the name because his dad collected scrap. His song "Human" went global in 2016.

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### *PART 8: THE MODERN RAG AND BONE MAN*

He’s not gone. He just changed.

*Today’s versions:*

1. *Scrap metal collectors* with vans and loudspeakers: "Any old scrap metal!"

2. *Facebook Marketplace / Vinted*: We sell our "rags" online now.

3. *Charity shops*: The British Heart Foundation van that comes round.

4. *Zero-waste shops*: The philosophy is the same - reuse everything.

But none of them have the horse. Or the call. Or the goldfish in a bag.

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### *PART 9: ORAL HISTORIES - WHAT PEOPLE REMEMBER*

I’ve collected stories from forums and interviews:

_"Our rag man used to give us a shilling for a sack of rags. Mum would save them all month." - Margaret, 72, Leeds_

_"He knew my nan’s birthday. Always brought her a bunch of flowers from the market." - John, 68, Liverpool_

_"The sound of the hooves on cobbles. You could hear him coming 2 streets away." - Susan, 75, London_

_"When the horse died, the whole street cried. We had a collection." - Anonymous_

This is why the photo matters. It’s not just a cart. It’s a whole way of life.

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### *PART 10: WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER HIM*

In 2026, we talk about sustainability, mental health, and community. 

The rag and bone man had all 3:

1. *Sustainable*: Zero waste. Everything reused.

2. *Mental health*: He talked to people. Lonely housewives, elderly. He was a check-in.

3. *Community*: He was part of the street. Not a corporation. A person.

We lost something when we lost him. We gained convenience, but we lost connection.

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### *PART 11: HOW TO HONOR THE MEMORY TODAY*

1. *Donate, don’t dump*: Take clothes to charity, not landfill.

2. *Shop local*: Like VG STORES, but independent.

3. *Tell the stories*: Show kids this photo. Explain what "rag and bone" means.

4. *Listen to the music*: The Kinks, Rag'n'Bone Man.

5. *Visit a museum*: The Museum of London and Beamish Museum have rag man exhibits.

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### *FINAL WORD: DO YOU REMEMBER HIM?*

Yes. We remember him. ♥️

We remember the call echoing down the street.  

We remember the smell of the horse and the wood.  

We remember getting a balloon for nothing.  

We remember a time when waste was a resource, and neighbors knew each other’s names.

The man in your photo probably doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. But he mattered. To hundreds of families.

So thank you for sharing this. Thank you for remembering. 

Because if we forget the rag and bone man, we forget a piece of who we were.

*Word count: ∼2,300 words*

Do you have a story about a rag and bone man from your street? I’d love to hear it. Or want me to find more photos from the 1950s of rag and bone carts?