Rag-and-bone man

<p>A rag-and-bone man or ragpicker (UK English) or ragman, old-clothesman, junkman, or junk dealer (US English), also called a bone-grubber, bone-picker, chiffonnier, rag-gatherer, rag-picker, bag board, or  totter, collects unwanted household items and sells them to merchants. Scraps of cloth and paper could be turned into <a href="/facts/Cardboard_(paper_product)/TGEHmo65">cardboard</a>, while broken <a href="/facts/Glass/hezRsAGf">glass</a> could be melted down and reused, and even dead cats and dogs could be <a href="/facts/Skinning/UpdXn7EX">skinned</a> to make clothes. Traditionally, this was a task performed on foot, with the scavenged materials (which included rags, bones and various metals to be <a href="/facts/Scrap/lPWqt9vd">scrapped</a>) kept in a small bag slung over the shoulder. Some rag-and-bone men used a cart, sometimes pulled by a horse or pony.
</p><p>In the 19th century, rag-and-bone men typically lived in <a href="/facts/Extreme_poverty/603F4wQd">extreme poverty</a>, surviving on the proceeds of what they collected each day. Conditions for rag-and-bone men in general improved following the <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">Second World War</a>, but the trade declined during the latter half of the 20th century. In the 21st century, rag-and-bone-style collection continues, partly as the result of the soaring price of scrap metal, particularly in the <a href="/facts/Developing_world/eTfS4kxl">developing world</a>.
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Rag-and-bone man open-in-new

Rag-and-bone man