Academic literature on the topic 'Itinerant trading'

In late nineteenth century and especially in the interwar years, “free traders” took advantage of better transport systems to expand trade with Dene people in the Athabasca and Mackenzie Districts. Well versed in fur grading and supported by credit in the expanding industrializing fur industry in the south, “itinerant” peddlers worked independently and often controversially alongside larger capitalized fur companies such as the Hudson’s Bay Company. A large number of these newcomers were Jews. This article suggests that Jews and, to a lesser extent, Lebanese and other Arabic traders became critical in the modernization of the Canadian North. They helped create an itinerant trader-Dene “contact zone” where the mixed meaning of credit, cash, and goods transactions provided northern Aboriginal trappers the means to negotiate modernism on their own terms in the interwar years. However, by the late 1920s, the state, encouraged by larger capitalized companies, implemented policies to restrict and finally close down this contact zone. The history of itinerant trading, then, raises questions about the long-term history of capitalism and co-related economic neo-colonialism in the Canadian north and their impact on First Nations.

Though West African itinerant immigrant traders have become an indispensable constituent of the Ghanaian economy, it is as yet unknown what their motivations for migration are in the extant literature. Using a mixed-methods approach, this paper examined the drivers of migration among West African itinerant petty traders in the Accra Metropolis of Ghana. The paper, which was underpinned by the push-pull migration theory, surveyed 779 itinerant immigrant traders and conducted nine key informant interviews. Descriptive and bivariate statistics as well as chi-square were the main analytical techniques used to present the findings. The results indicated that most of the immigrants migrated into the country primarily to hunt for job opportunities. The analysis further revealed that about a third of the immigrants selected Ghana as their preferred destination in West Africa due to the belief that Ghanaians are hospitable people. The practical implications and theoretical contributions of this paper are discussed.

Abstract In the early 2000s, nationals of Sub-Saharan Africa who had settled in the market places of Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur, moved to Guangzhou and opened offices in the upper floors of buildings in Baiyun and Yuexiu Districts. These were located in the northwest of the city, near the central railway station and one of the two fairs of Canton. Gradually these traders were able to create the necessary conditions of hospitality by opening community restaurants on upper floors, increasing the number of showrooms and offices as well as the services of freight and customs clearance in order to live up to an African itinerant customer’s expectations. From interviews carried out between 2006 and 2009 in the People’s Republic of China and in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Dubai, and West Africa, the article will first highlight the economic logics which have contributed to the constitution of African trading posts in China and describe their extension from the Middle East and from Asia. The second part will determine the respective roles of migrants and traveling Sub-Saharan entrepreneurs, before exploring their interactions with Chinese society in the setting up of these commercial networks. It will also look at the impact of toughening immigration policies. It is the principle of the African trading posts of anchoring of some traders in strategic places negotiated with the host society that allows the movement but also the temporary settlement of many visitors. The first established traders purchase products manufactured in the hinterland to fulfill the demand of the itinerant merchants who in turn supply customers located in other continents.

Abstract Situated at the crossroads between Northeast Africa, the Mediterranean, the Near East and the Indian Ocean, ancient Egypt was a strategic pathway that facilitated contacts and the circulation of peoples, products and ideas across these vast regions. Sometimes the monarchy took the initiative in these contacts, whereas in other cases, mobile populations, local leaders, itinerant merchants and independent individuals fulfilled such a role. Egyptian regions participated in these exchanges in distinctive ways. Hence, control over wealth flows, access to coveted goods, contacts with privileged trading partners and attracting royal support represented significant moves in their strategies. A constant tension between different political models (centralized, confederacies of cities and territories, regional kingdoms) reemerged through the millennia. This often led to the collapse of the central authority (as it happened around 2160 bc) and was inspired, at least in part, by the political impact of trading activities.

AbstractThis paper provides data on the salt industry along Guerrero's Costa Chica and on itinerant salt trading conducted by highland Nahuatl villagers. The findings are compared with studies of salt production elsewhere in Mesoamerica, and the nature and quality of oral-historical sources are evaluated. Based primarily on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the paper explores technical and social-organizational features of salt production and marketing useful for model building among archaeologists and ethnohistorians. In crossing disciplinary boundaries the paper raises methodological issues of concern to scholars who attempt to reconstruct historical or contemporary Mesoamerican cultural and economic patterns.

Abstract The Onion Johnnies were a group of French seasonal migrants and door-to-door traders who travelled to Britain from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. This article explores their surprisingly good reputation among the British population and authorities: while pedlars were often conflated with tramps, suspicious aliens or disreputable individuals by the police, the Johnnies’ reliance on established familial and commercial networks meant they benefited from a positive stereotype. While hawking was generally perceived as an anachronistic and unrewarding occupation, French onion sellers were exoticised by the British population, who celebrated they rural roots. The seasonal, semi-sedentary and ‘picturesque’ aspect of the onion trade enabled them to reverse the stigmas associated to itinerant trading, their doorstep performance becoming their selling point. The case study of the Johnnies helps us understand the stereotypes linked to peddling in late modern Britain and to go beyond the narrative of decline surrounding this occupation.

In the 1880s, the arrival of a new group of traders was noted in Finnish- and Swedish-languagenewspapers published in the Grand Duchy of Finland. The newcomers were Muslim Tatars, pettytraders originating in a few villages south of Nizhny Novgorod. They found a livelihood in marketand itinerant trade in the Russian Empire. This article examines depictions of Tatar mobile tradersin the late nineteenth-century press in Finland. While petty trade has left fragmentary traces inhistorical sources, the Finnish National Library’s digital newspaper database offers new possibilitiesto create an overview of how the press depicted relations between the early Tatar itineranttraders and the local sedentary society. Through the concepts of space and practices, the articlediscusses the following topics: fairs as a space for ethnic encounters, Tatar trading practices andinteraction with local customers, the traders’ use of space and tactics in relation to formal regulationand the fairs as a “threatening” space. The article contributes new knowledge on the earlyperiod of Tatar presence in Finland, relatively invisible in previous research, and on the multiethniccharacter of late nineteenth-century petty trade.

From the beginning of the nineteenth century, Nyamwezi long-distance trading caravans dominated the central routes through Tanzania, stretching from Mrima coast ports such as Bagamoyo and Saadani to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika. Despite the inroads of Omani Arab and Swahili trading enterprises from the middle of the century, the Nyamwezi maintained a position of strength. In the second half of the nineteenth century, market relations emerged as the dominant form of economic organization along the central routes, although the market for many commodities was clearly fractured by transport difficulties, and non-market relations frequently substituted for weakly developed commercial institutions and tools. Most caravan porters in nineteenth-century Tanzania were free wage workers, and nearly all were clearly migrant or itinerant labourers. The development of a labour market for caravan porters was an early and significant stage in the transition to capitalism, which began in a period of violence and political upheaval. Clearly, this has implications for how scholars should view broader processes of economic transformation prior to the imposition of colonial rule, which cut short a series of significant indigenous innovations.The argument that porters were mostly wage labourers rests on evidence that their labour was bought and sold according to fluctuating labour market conditions. Market conditions in the second half of the nineteenth century shows a broadly rising demand for porters, a demand that could only be met if caravan operators offered adequate wages and observed the customs established within porter work culture. Thus, market conditions along the central routes contributed to the development of a free wage labour, characterized by a unique labour culture.

ABSTRACT Fresh cheeses and cream are important garnishes of traditional Mexican food, often purchased at street or itinerant open markets or tianguis. However, there is scarce information regarding the microbiological quality of cheeses and cream sold in tianguis. For 2 years, three dairy stalls from three tianguis in Mexico City were visited once each season, trading practices were registered, and 96 dairy products were purchased. In total 72 fresh pasteurized cheeses that were hand-cut to order (24 Panela, 24 Canasto, and 24 Doble Crema) and 24 unpasteurized Crema de Rancho samples were collected. All dairy products remained without refrigeration for 8 h. Based on the National Guidelines limits, 87.5% of cheeses and 8% of Crema de Rancho samples were of low microbiological quality, and 1 sample of each type of cheese and 3 samples of Crema de Rancho exceeded the guidelines limits for Staphylococcus aureus. All dairy products were negative for Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and all diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes, including Shiga toxin–producing E. coli. Among the 96 dairy samples, the prevalence of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) and of mycobacteria strains were determined because food items contaminated with these strains have been associated with urinary tract infections and mycobacteriosis, respectively. UPEC strains were isolated from 43% of cut-to-order cheeses and 29% of Crema de Rancho samples. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) strains were identified in 12.5% of Doble Crema cheese samples and 21% of Crema de Rancho samples. From the eight NTM-positive samples, 10 strains were identified (3 strains of Mycolicibacterium fortuitum, 2 of Mycobacteroides abscessus, 2 of Mycobacteroides chelonae, 2 of Mycolicibacterium porcinum, and 1 of Mycolicibacterium rhodesiae). All produced biofilms, and 70% had sliding motility (both virulence traits). Trading practices of cut-to-order pasteurized cheeses and unpasteurized Crema de Rancho in tianguis increase the risk of microbiological contamination of these products, including with human pathogens, and their consumption may cause human illness. HIGHLIGHTS

La période allant des années 1860 aux années 1940 est souvent associée à la disparition du colportage du fait de l’urbanisation des sociétés européennes et de l’essor des petits magasins. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans la continuité de travaux cherchant à relativiser ce déclin. Elle montre que le nombre de vendeurs itinérants ne décline pas avant les années 1930. Les colporteurs répondent à une demande multiforme, ne se résumant pas aux produits bon marché. L’essor du tourisme et l’urbanisation encouragent, en outre, la vente de rue. Le colportage participe donc du dynamisme commercial de la Grande-Bretagne contemporaine. Du point de vue de l’histoire du travail, la vente itinérante sert parfois de filet de sécurité aux travailleurs pauvres durant les périodes de chômage, s’insérant dans l’économie d’expédients des classes populaires. D’autres individus font de cette activité leur profession principale, et en tirent un bon profit, comme les credit drapers. Ce travail s’insère enfin dans l’histoire des migrations : le colportage est populaire chez les migrants saisonniers et est également une stratégie pour s’insérer sur le marché du travail britannique en vue d’une installation permanente. La thèse étudie ensuite la régulation et l’encadrement policier du colportage. Elle contribue ainsi à l’histoire de la construction de l’Etat et des politiques publiques. Les autorités britanniques tentent à la fois d’encourager et de contrôler la vente itinérante. Elle est vue comme alternative à l’assistance publique par les Libéraux de la fin du XIXe siècle, mais est également perçue comme un danger potentiel, car elle est souvent comparée au vagabondage. Au niveau municipal, l’idée que le colportage doit être un filet de sécurité pour les pauvres est controversée : les problèmes de compétition, de travail des enfants, les soucis d’hygiène ou d’obstructions des voies publiques poussent les autorités locales à l’encadrer. La peur du vagabondage disparaît après 1914. Cependant, la Grande-Bretagne opère un tournant protectionniste et adopte des lois anti-migratoires. Si, au niveau local, l’encadrement des colporteurs se fait de plus en plus strict, les lois nationales du XIXe siècle deviennent anachroniques, notamment face à la diffusion de nouveaux moyens de transport. La Seconde Guerre mondiale vient enfin refondre cet appareil législatif dans le cadre d’une économie contrôlée par l’État. Après 1945, l’idéal du colportage servant de filet de sécurité aux travailleurs pauvres a quasiment disparu. Cette thèse dégage les grandes lignes de l’évolution du colportage et de sa régulation. Elle fait un panorama des différents groupes s’y adonnant et porte une attention particulière aux catégories de genre, aux processus de racialisation et aux conditions socio-économiques des individus. Un panel de sources varié est mobilisé: sources administratives et policières, presse, recensement, mais aussi sources généalogiques, sources publiées et autobiographies
The 1860s–1940s period is often described as being marked by the decline of town-to-town and doorstep trading, primarily due to the proliferation of small shops and urbanisation. I challenge this narrative by contributing to three distinct research fields. First, commercial history: I demonstrate that the number of itinerant traders did not substantially decrease in Britain before the mid-1930s. Pedlars and hawkers continued to meet a diverse consumer demand that extended beyond a simple need for inexpensive, low-quality goods. They remained popular in the countryside and in small towns. The rise of tourism and urbanisation contributed to the expansion of street trading in Britain, underscoring the integral role of itinerant trading in the nation's commercial dynamism. This dissertation also contributes to labour history: itinerant trading served as a safety net for poor labourers during periods of unemployment. Itinerant trading was thus part of the working classes' makeshift economy. For other traders, such as credit drapers, it represented a profitable and long-term career choice. Finally, this dissertation adds to migration history: peddling and hawking were popular among seasonal migrants and often served as entry-level occupations for those seeking to settle more permanently in Britain. The dissertation also contributes to the history of policing, public policies, and public assistance. British authorities aimed to both encourage and control itinerant trading. In the 1870s, Liberals viewed this activity as a good alternative to poor relief. However, it was also seen as problematic, as many reformers and police officers associated peddling with vagrancy. Within local governance, its role of a 'self-help' occupation was contentious. Issues such as commercial competition, child labour, hygiene, and obstruction of public highways led local authorities to impose restrictions on this activity. After 1914, concerns about vagrancy declined, but Britain implemented protectionist and anti-migration policies. A growing number of bye-laws was passed to regulate itinerant trading during this period, but the general acts of the late nineteenth century became increasingly outdated, particularly with the emergence of new modes of transport. The Second World War prompted authorities to amend regulations concerning itinerant traders of rationed commodities. After the war, the ideal of peddling serving as a safety-net for the poor disappeared from public discourse. This dissertation provides an overview of the evolution of itinerant trading and of its regulation in a period of urbanisation, industrialisation, and globalisation. It explores the various groups involved in this activity, with particular attention to gender, racialisation processes, and the socio-economic backgrounds of individuals. It rests on a variety of sources, including administrative and police records, the press, census returns, published sources, and ego-documents

AbstractDuring the nineteenth century, the circulation and exchange of various goods increased considerably, which affected trade on global, regional, and local levels. This volume uncovers one important yet neglected form of emerging itinerant livelihoods—namely, ambulatory petty trade—and how it was practiced in Northern Europe during the period 1820–1960. Northern Europe includes here the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark), the Arctic and Subarctic Europe, and northern Estonia. The introductory chapter presents central concepts, such as livelihoods, petty trade, social and cultural encounters, along with theoretical premises, such as situated practices and materiality that underlie the collection. With the period chosen, 1820–1960, the chapter points to continuities and changes when it comes to inequalities and various forms livelihoods in the Nordic region.

AbstractUntil the mid-twentieth century, the Finnish Roma supported themselves by small-scale itinerant trade, such as peddling and market trade. This chapter traces Roma’s strategies of survival in the first half of the twentieth century by analyzing interviews with Finnish Roma. The analysis demonstrates how horse trading carried out by men was experienced as the most important, profitable, and respectable form of livelihood. Women’s versatile work tasks also required trust and aid from the majority population, yet both women and men emphasized the worth of the masculine form of livelihood. The chapter investigates in detail how gender operated in narratives of horse trading and how the construction of a masculine self was taking place in certain spatial realms, like the marketplace.

This chapter uncovers the Yankee peddler in literary and humour texts as business agent and embodiment of US commodity culture. From the 1780s onwards, the peddler’s circuits connect remote settlements to an imaginary national marketplace. The itinerant vendor is portrayed as magician and nationbuilder in texts by Cooper’s The Spy (1821), Irving’s “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820), or Haliburton’s bestselling Sam Slick sketches from the 1830s. He stages the craft of trading with innovations and shams, such as Yankee clocks and wooden nutmegs.

Abstract Trading in a somewhat itinerant career for a stable position, in 1946 Purdy accepted a job teaching Spanish and Freshman Studies at Lawrence College. The enrollment of Lawrence, in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin, jumped at the close of World War II. He kept writing and took on a literary agent, founding a little success in placing his work in magazines in 1939, 1949 and 1955, though he enjoyed the support of college president Nathan Pusey. He met new friends like the psychologist John Bucklew. Jorma Sjoblom, a Finnish-American professor of chemistry, became his lover and closest lifetime friend. In the environment of the hometown of Senator Joseph McCarthy, their affection had to be surreptitious. During summers, he traveled in Spain, France, and Italy and also to Chicago, where he reconnected with Gertrude Abercrombie’s salon. Meanwhile, in New York, his brother Richard had become a star of the stage and the screen of a new medium, television.

Abstract Ulysses’ journey, like that of Oedipus, is an itinerary. And it is a discourse, the prefix of which I can now understand. It is not at all the discourse (discours) of an itinerary (parcours) but, radically, the itinerary (parcours) of a discourse (discours), the course, cursus, route, path that passes through the original disjunction, the bridge laid down across the crevices.Michel Serres, HermesWhen, in Nemean 5, Pindar bids his sweet song set sail on every freighter and commercial galley, his allusions to trading vessels compare his victory ode to their valuable cargo, thus locating his own poetry within a larger cultural system of profit and value.1 This choice of imagery both celebrates the athlete’s accomplishments and enhances the poet’s status since his songs acquire increased value as the appropriate measure of personal and civic excellence. In addition to celebrating the potential value of his poetry, however, the mobility of these cargo ships, in stark contrast to the statue fixed on its base, expands the metaphorical association between cargo ships and songs even further to highlight the extensive range of Pindar’s poetic skill. Pindar’s song will sail on every freighter, putting into foreign harbors, recounting the news of victory, spreading the fame of both athlete and poet well beyond Greece and the original site of victory. In this way, the figurative connection between ships and song celebrates the ability of poetry to transcend its immediate occasion, to be transported across vast oceans to unknown international audiences.