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When I was a child on the Huxley Estate in Edmonton in the early 1900s, our local greengrocer was Mr Rice. With his wife, he worked a flourishing business in Silver Street, and he brought his wares out with his horse and cart, leaving his wife and daughter to mind the shop.
The 1911 census shows that my mother's memory was absolutely right: Thomas Rice, a greengrocer, age 32, lived at 81 Silver Street, presumably above his greengrocer’s shop. He was born in Alresford, and lived with his wife Amelia Rice, 30, born New Cross, with their sons Thomas Richard, 3, and Arthur George, 1, both born in Whitechapel. Amelia assisted in the business.
I remember him mostly on a hot summer’s day, when he would tuck a large cabbage leaf into the back of his cap to protect his neck from the hot sun, and the horse would have straw caps on his ears to keep off the flies. Mr Rice would put the tailboard of the cart down flat and place his scales on it to weigh out whatever his customers wanted. The scales were the balance sort with weights on one side and a pan for the goods on the other, and the women would come out to him carrying their baskets.
If you have an old photo which illustrates anything on this page, I would very much appreciate a copy. Pat Cryer
We children regularly spent some of our pocket money with him, mainly on locus beans. They were often full of insects eggs but we weren’t put off. I really liked them.
When my mother brought gooseberries, we children had the job of topping and tailing them with small scissors. It was a horrible job. Stoning the cherries was fun though because there were often two stalks together and we would dangle them over our ears as earrings.
These childhood recollections are of a local greengrocer in a working class area of north London in Edwardian times