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HAWKERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 97 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HAWKERS and PEDLARS, the designation of itinerant dealers who convey their goods from See also:

place to place to sell. The. word " See also:hawker " seems to have come into See also:English from the Ger. Iloker or Dutch heuker in the See also:early 1Eth See also:century. In an See also:act of 1533 (25 See also:Henry VIII. c. 9, § 6) we find " Sundry evill disposed persons which commonly beene called haukers . . . buying and selling of Brasse and See also:Pewter." The earlier word for -um an itinerant dealer is " See also:huckster," which is found in T200. " For that they have turned See also:God's See also:house intill hucksteress bothe " (Ormulurn, 15,817). The See also:base of the two words is the same, and is probably to be referred to See also:German hocken, to squat, crouch; cf. " hucklebone." the See also:hip-See also:bone; and the hawkers or hucksters were so called either because they stooped under their packs, or squatted at booths in markets, &c. Another derivation finds the origin in the Dutch hock, a hole, corner. It may be noticed that the termination of " huckster " is feminine; though there are examples of its application to See also:women it was always applied indiscriminately to either See also:sex. " Pedlar " occurs much earlier than the verbal See also:form " to peddle," which is therefore a derivative from the substantive.

The origin is to be found in the still older word "pedder," one who carries about goods for See also:

sale in a " ped," a See also:basket or hamper. This is now only used dialectically and in See also:Scotland. In the .Incren Rile (c. 1225), peoddare is found with the meaning of pedlar." though the Promptorium parvulorum (c. 1440) defines it as culathdsins, i.e. a maker of panniers or baskets. The See also:French See also:term for a hawker or pedlar of books, colporteur (See also:col, See also:neck, See also:porter, to carry), has been adopted by the See also:Bible Society and other English religious bodies as a name for itinerant vendors and distributors of Bibles and other religious literature. The occupation of hawkers and pedlars has been regulated in the See also:United See also:Kingdom, and the two classes have also been technically distinguished. The Pedlars Act 1871 defines a pedlar as " any hawker, pedlar, See also:petty See also:chapman, See also:tinker, caster of metals, mender of chairs, or other See also:person who, without any See also:horse or other beast bearing or See also:drawing See also:burden, travels and trades on See also:foot and goes from See also:town to town or to other men's houses, carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares or merchandise . . . or selling or offering for sale his skill in handicraft." Any person who acts as a pedlar must have a certificate, which is to be obtained from the See also:chief officer of See also:police of the police See also:district. in which the person applying for the certificate has resided during one See also:month previous to his application. He must satisfy the officer that he is above seventeen years of See also:age, is of See also:good See also:character, and in good faith intends to carry on the See also:trade of a pedlar. The See also:fee for a pedlar's certificate is five shillings, and the certificate remains in force for a See also:year from the date of issue. The act requires a See also:register of certificates to be kept in each district, and imposes a See also:penalty for the assigning, borrowing or See also:forging of any certificate.

It does not exempt any one from vagrant See also:

law, and requires the pedlar to show his certificate on demand to certain persons. It empowers the police to inspect a pedlar's See also:pack, and provides for the See also:arrest of an uncertificated pedlar or one refusing to show his certificate. A pedlar's certificate is not required by commercial travellers, sellers of vegetables, See also:fish, See also:fruit or victuals, or sellers in fairs. The Hawkers Act 1888 defines a hawker as " any one who travels with a horse or other beast of burden, selling goods," &c. An See also:excise See also:licence (expiring on the 31st of See also:March in each year) must be taken out by every hawker in the United Kingdom. The See also:duty imposed upon such licence is See also:f2. A hawker's licence is not granted, otherwise than by way of licence, except on See also:production of a certificate signed by a clergyman and two householders of the See also:parish or place wherein the applicant resides, or by a See also:justice of the See also:county or place, or a See also:superintendent or inspector of police for the district, attesting that the person is of good character and a proper person to be licenced as a hawker. There are certain exemptions from taking out a licence—commercial travellers, sellers of fish, See also:coal, &c., sellers in fairs, and the real worker or maker of any goods. The act also See also:lays down certain provisions to be observed by hawkers and others, and imposes penalties for infringements. In the United States hawkers and pedlars must take out licences under See also:State See also:laws and Federal laws.

End of Article: HAWKERS

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