Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:24:43.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Charity Bazaars In Nineteenth-Century England*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2014

F. K. Prochaska
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to announce a sale of many interesting, beautiful, rare, quaint, comical and necessary articles. Here you will find objects of taste, such as Babies' Shoes, Children's Petticoats, and Shetland Wool Cravats; objects of general usefulness, such as Tea-cosies, Bangles, Brahmin Beads, and Madras Baskets; and objects of imperious necessity, such as Pen-wipers, Indian Figures carefully repaired with glue, and Sealed Envelopes, containing a surprise. And all this is not to be sold by your common Shopkeepers, intent on small and legitimate profits, but by Ladies and Gentlemen, who would as soon think of picking your pocket of a cotton handkerchief, as of selling a single one of these many interesting, beautiful, rare, quaint, comical and necessary articles at less than twice its market value.

Spoken amidst trumpet flourishes by Robert Louis Stevenson's “allegorical Tout,” these words introduce an institution familiar to all of us and one full of interest to the social historian — the charity bazaar. Tea-cosies, bangles, Brahmin beads, and Madras baskets may seem only quaint and comical, but they and similar trifles filled countless stalls in innumerable bazaars and raised tens of millions of pounds in nineteenth-century England for causes of every conceivable description. Men and women of all social classes found bazaars, fancy fairs, fancy sales, or ladies' sales as they were variously called, a most popular and fashionable way of making money for the charity of their choice. Many philanthropic societies depended on them for annual funds. Clergymen of all persuasions, not without a touch of compromise, looked to them as a last resort to build a church or to enlarge a school or drawing room.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , Spring 1977 , pp. 62 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This study was supported by a Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies and a Research Council Grant from the University of Missouri-Columbia. I would also like to thank my wife Alice, and my friends Ivon Asquith, Claire Barwell, Michael Collinge, and Bernard Semmel for their comments.

References

1. [Stevenson, Robert Louis], The Charity Bazaar: An Allegorical Dialogue (place of publication not given, [1868]), p. 1Google Scholar.

2. Jumble sales and rummage sales begin to appear late in the nineteenth century; they tended to be inferior bazaars, dealing in miscellaneous, often secondhand, goods. See The Oxford English Dictionary.

3. The Royal Lady's Magazine, and Archives of the Court of St. James's, II (July, 1831), p. 6Google Scholar; Times, May 3, 1850.

4. [Holland, John], The Bazaar; or Money and the Church (Sheffield, n.d.), p. 34Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury, April 15, 1875; Newcastle Daily Journal, March 16, 1850, March 19, 1875; Hampstead Record, May 18, 1895.

5. Cambridge Independent Press, May 18, 1850.

6. [Stevenson, ], The Charity Bazaar, p. 2Google Scholar.

7. The Works of Lord Macaulay, 12 vols. (London, 1903), I, 363Google Scholar.

8. Something resembling a charity bazaar is mentioned in “Frogmore Fête,” a poem by Peter Pindar. He refers to some booths, filled with trinkets bought in Windsor shops, set up for charity during a festival at Frogmore [1794]. He does not use the term bazaar or fancy sale, and it appears that the booths were not central to the purpose of the fête. See The Works of Peter Pindar, 4 vols. (London, 1794–1796), IV, p. 59Google Scholar. I would like to thank Michael Harris for this reference.

9. Leigh, Samuel, New Picture of London (London, 1830), p. 213Google Scholar.

10. Times, May 30, 1829; Jan. 19, Feb. 8, June 16, Aug. 5, 1830. Commercial bazaars were popular outside London as well; see, for example, Brighton Herald, March 25, 1825; Bristol Gazette, March 27, 1828.

11. Court Magazine & Belle Assemblée, VII (Nov., 1835), 178–79Google Scholar.

12. Extract from an Account of the Ladies' Society for the Education and Employment of the Female Poor (London, 1804), appendix, ppp. 16–17Google Scholar.

13. The Ladies' Royal Benevolent Society (Late Dollar) for Visiting, Relieving, and Investigating the Condition of the Poor at their own Habitations (London, 1818), pp. 26–30Google Scholar.

14. Times, April 8, 1823, April 5, 1824.

15. Ibid., May 11, 15, 30, 1826; Brighton Herald, March 25, Aug. 2, 12, 1826; Bristol Gazette, March 27, Dec. 25, 1828; Bristol Mercury, Oct. 27, 1829; Leeds Mercury, Aug. 22, 1829.

16. Times, May 30, 1826. (my italics).

17. Bishop, J. G., “A Peep into the Past:” Brighton in the Olden Time (Brighton, 1880), p. 177Google Scholar, note.

18. Times, June 1, 1829.

19. Ibid., June 20, 1831.

20. The Ladies' Penny Gazette (Nov. 3, 1832), p. 9Google Scholar.

21. An Account of the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress … for the Year 1866 (London, 1866), p. 50Google Scholar; Times, June 20, 1833.

22. Any analysis based on numbers of newspaper advertisements is hazardous, for newspapers often changed advertising policy or rates; and many of them in the nineteenth century changed from weeklies to dailies.

23. Times, 1830: March 29, April 27, May 14, 20, June 12, July 17. 1850: Jan. 17, April 8, 17, May 10, 13, June 1, 21, July 1, 6, Aug. 13, 21, 26, Nov. 19, Dec. 24. 1875: Feb. 12, April 17, 26, May 4, 11, 18, 26, June 1, 2, 10, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, July 2, 31, Nov. 8, 13, Dec. 13. 1895: Jan. 19, March 22, 25, 28, April 23, May 7, 8, 13, 25, 28, June 8, 10, July 2, Oct. 5. The Times also reported a vast number of provincial bazaars. In January 1900, for example, it noted thirteen in its subscription lists, most of them in aid of the Transvaal War Fund.

24. East London News, 1875: Jan. 1, May 21, Sept. 17, Dec. 10, 24, 31.

25. Hampstead Record, 1895: March 23, May 4, 11, 18, June 1, 15, July 13, Nov. 16, 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21.

26. Brighton Herald, 1830: Jan. 2, April 10, Sept. 11, Oct. 16, Dec. 18.

27. Leeds Mercury, 1829: Aug. 22. 1875: Jan. 2, 9, 16, Feb. 4, 27, March 13, 20, 24, 25, April 10, 15, 20, 22, 24, 26, May 1, 10, 26, June 12, 19, July 2, 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, Aug. 7, 21, Sept. 4, 9, 11, 13, 30, Oct. 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 16, 19, 23, Nov. 13, 27, Dec. 6, 11, 18, 23, 24, 28.

28. Newcastle Daily Journal, 1875: Jan. 2, Feb. 4, 20, March 19, April 6, 19, May 11, 12, 17, 21, June 11, 25, July 19, Aug. 2, 11, Nov. 23, Dec. 16, 18, 23.

29. Church Pastoral-Aid Society, Report of the Committee, read at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting (London, 1850), pp. 46–116Google Scholar.

30. Proceedings of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. One-Hundred-and First Year, 1899-1900 (London, 1900), p. 35Google Scholar.

31. McCord, Norman, The Anti-Corn Law League, 1838-1846 (London, 1958), p. 161Google Scholar.

32. Prentice, Archibald, History of the Anti-Corn-Law League, 2 vols. (London, 1553), I, 300–01Google Scholar.

33. The population in the provinces outnumbered that of Greater London by over six to one until the 1860s. See Best, Geoffrey, Mid-Victorian Britain, 1851-1875 (London, 1971), p. 7Google Scholar.

34. Times, May 14, 1830.

35. Vanity Fair, XXII (July 12, 1879), 26Google Scholar; The Indian Female Evangelist, VII (April, 1883), 103Google Scholar.

36. Fifth Report of the British and Irish Ladies' Society (London, 1828), 71Google Scholar; Times, June 11, 1844.

37. Sherman, James, The Pastor's Wife. A Memoir of Mrs. Sherman (London, 1848), p. 40Google Scholar; The Harbinger (July, 1861), 169Google Scholar; Brighton Herald, March 25, July 15, 1826; Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal, May 18, 1850; Newcastle Daily Journal, Feb. 20, May 21, 1875.

38. See, for example, The Anti-Slavery Reporter, The Harbinger, and Missionary Leaves.

39. The Anti-Slavery Reporter, new series, I (April 1, 1846), 58Google Scholar; new series, III (Jan. 1, 1855), 99; new series, IV (July 1, 1856), 168. Boston hosted the first of the American anti-slavery bazaars in 1833. It appears that charity bazaars became popular among the rich somewhat later in America than in England; Harriet Beecher Stowe remarks that the Boston bazaar was not very fashionable in its earliest years. See The Anti-Slavery Reporter, new series, III (Jan. 1, 1855), 99Google Scholar.

40. The Harbinger (Feb., 1859), 16Google Scholar; (Sept., 1859), 209-10.

41. Ibid., (July, 1861), 169.

42. The Anti-Slavery Reporter, new series, VI (June 1, 1858), 143–44Google Scholar; new series, VII (Dec. 1, 1859), 277-78.

43. See Prochaska, F. K., “Women in English Philanthropy, 1790-1830,” International Review of Social History, XIX (1974), Part 3, 442–45Google Scholar.

44. See, for example, the reports of the London Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Church Pastoral-Aid Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, and the Society for the Relief of Distressed Widows.

45. See Prochaska, , “Women in English Philanthropy, 1790-1830,” I.R.S.H., XIX, 430Google Scholar.

46. Fifth Report of the British and Irish Ladies' Society, 71.

47. Third Report of the British and Irish Ladies' Society (London, 1825), v, 50–52Google Scholar.

48. Times, May 15, 1826; April 27, 1830.

49. Charity cruises, or “water parties” as they were sometimes called, travelled from London to places like Sheerness and cost the benevolent £1 or so. See Times, July 13, 1830.

50. The Journal of Mrs. Arbuthnot, 1820-1832, 2 vols. (London, 1950), II, 26Google Scholar; Times, May 3, 26, June 7, 1826; Oct. 25, 1832.

51. [Stevenson, ], The Charity Bazaar, p. 2Google Scholar.

52. Greville, Charles C. F., A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, 3 vols. (London, 1875), II, 383Google Scholar.

53. Times, Feb. 15, 1830; Thornbury, G. W. and Walford, Edward, Old and New London, 6 vols. (London, [1873 etc.]), V, 269–71Google Scholar.

54. A Guide to Bazaars & Fancy Fairs, the Organisation and Management, with Details of the Various Devices for Extracting Money from the Visitors (London, [1882])Google Scholar; Times, July 6, 1850; March 28, April 23, June 27, 28, 1895; Leeds Mercury, July 3, 1875.

55. Chelsea News and General Advertiser, July 29, 1865; National Anti-Corn-Law League Bazaar Gazette, No. 3; Burdett-Coutts, Baroness (ed.), Woman's Mission (London, 1893), p. 78Google Scholar.

56. The Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, XIX (July, 1861), 53Google Scholar.

57. The Englishwomen, No. 31 (May 30, 1835), 483; Times, May 21 1835.

58. Ibid., July 6, 1850.

59. Press Bazaar News, June 28, 29, 1898.

60. Brighton Herald, Sept. 18, 1830; Times, June 27, 1895.

61. Missionary Leaves, I (Aug. 1, 1868), 58Google Scholar.

62. The Bible Class Magazine, I (1848), 14Google Scholar.

63. The Wesleyan Juvenile Offering, XIII (May, 1856), 52Google Scholar.

64. Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor, new series, III (Jan., 1867), 5Google Scholar.

65. Ibid., (March, 1867), 47. The pig was not to be sent abroad, just the proceeds from its sale. Missionary rabbits and hens were also popular among the children.

66. The Indian Female Evangelist, VII (April, 1883), 101–02Google Scholar.

67. Press Bazaar News, June 28, 29, 1898.

68. Ibid.; Daily Mail, June 29, 30, 1898; Sketch, June 29, July 6, 1898; Times, June 29, 1898.

69. National Anti-Corn-Law League Bazaar Gazette, No.'s 1-17; National Anti-Corn-Law League Bazaar, to be held in Covent Garden Theatre, London, May, 1845 [1844], p. 1Google Scholar; Prentice, , History of the Anti-Corn-Law League, II, 327–41Google Scholar; The Poetical Works of Horace Smith, 2 vols. (London, 1846), I, 217–19Google Scholar.

70. Prentice, , History of the Anti-Corn-Law League, II, 336Google Scholar.

71. National Anti-Corn-Law League Quarter of a Million Fund (Manchester, 1846)Google Scholar.

72. Quoted in Prentice, , History of the Anti-Corn-Law League, II 336Google Scholar.

73. It is not very well known just how indebted the women's suffrage movement was to the bazaar, but The Suffragette gives us a clue. In the issue of November 8, 1912, for example, local unions reported over twenty jumble sales or bazaars.

74. Prentice, , History of the Anti-Corn-Law League, I, 298Google Scholar.

75. Ibid., II, 315.

76. Brighton Herald, May 11, 1850; Chelsea and Pimlico Advertiser, July 29, 1865; East London Advertiser, July 29, 1865; Hammersmith Advertiser, July 15, 1865; Leeds Mercury, Aug. 22, 1829.

77. From the biblical woman Dorcas, (Acts IX, 36Google Scholar) who made clothes for the poor. The name became a brand of needle and was also applied to meetings, which had as their purpose the making of garments for the poor. See The Needle A Magazine of Ornamental Work, ed. de la Branchardiere, Riego, II (Jan. 1, [1853])Google Scholar, advertisement, back cover.

78. The Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, XXX (Feb., 1867), 94Google Scholar.

79. Hilton, J. Deane, Marie Hilton, Her Life and Work, 1821-1896 (London, 1897), p. 291Google Scholar.

80. The Letters of Mrs. Gaskell, eds. Chappie, J. A. V. and Pollard, Arthur (Manchester, 1966), p. 13Google Scholar.

81. Martin, Frances, Elizabeth Gilbert and Her Work for the Blind (London, 1887), p. 223Google Scholar.

82. Daily Mail, June 30, 1898; Vanity Fair, XXII (July 12, 1879), 26Google Scholar.

83. Freeman, Flora Lucy, Religious and Social Work amongst Girls (London, 1901), pp. 44, 142Google Scholar.

84. A Stallholder, A Fancy Sale (London, [1875?]) p. 11Google Scholar.

85. Sherman, , The Pastor's Wife, pp. 40–41Google Scholar.

86. “A Younger Brother,” On Charity Bazaars (London, 1829), p. 16Google Scholar.

87. Cornhill Magazine, IV (1861), 339Google Scholar.

88. A Stallholder, A Fancy Sale, p. 12Google Scholar.

89. Punch, I (1841), 95Google Scholar.

90. A Stallholder, A Fancy Sale, p. 13Google Scholar.

91. Dickens, Charles, Sketches by “Boz,” 2 vols. (London, 1836), I, 137Google Scholar.

92. Ibid.

93. Punch, LXVIII (1875), 159Google Scholar.

94. [Holland, ], The Bazaar, p. 17Google Scholar.

95. See the chapter “Charity in Full Dress” in The Mill on the Floss.

96. See, for example, James, John Angell, Female Piety: or the young woman's friend and guide through life to immortality (London, 1852), p. 127Google Scholar; Cornhill Magazine, IV (1861), 338Google Scholar.

97. Anon., The Bazaar; or Fragments of Mind (Lancaster, 1831)Google Scholar.

98. British Mothers' Magazine, XI (Sept., 1855), 203Google Scholar.

99. From “Hurkaru” quoted in ibid., IX (April, 1853), 82.

100. Evans, R. W., The Bishopric of Souls (London, 1841), p. 271Google Scholar; James, , Female Piety, p. 127Google Scholar; Landels, William, Woman's Sphere (London, 1859), p. 224Google Scholar.

101. Blunt, J. J., The Duties of a Parish Priest (London, 1856), p. 259Google Scholar; Chadwick, Owen, The Victorian Church, 2 Parts (London, 1966, 1970), II, 174Google Scholar.

102. [Holland, ], The Bazaar, p. 18Google Scholar.

103. Ibid., p. 19.

104. Ibid., p. 18.

105. Westminster Review, CXXXV (1891), 307Google Scholar.

106. [Holland, ], The Bazaar, p. 18Google Scholar.

107. Punch, XVIII (1850), 168Google Scholar; Vanity Fair, XXII (July 12, 1879), 26Google Scholar.

108. Dickens, , Sketches by “Boz”, I, 136–37Google Scholar.

109. The Countess of Huntingdon's New Magazine (Nov., 1851), p. 252Google Scholar; Anon., The Fancy Fair (London, 1833)Google Scholar; [Holland, ], The Bazaar, p. 16Google Scholar.

110. See, for example, Bristol Mercury, Jan. 12, 1850; Times, April 15, 1856; Friendly Leaves (Nov., 1890), p. 306; A Stallholder, A Fancy Sale, p. 7Google Scholar.

111. Ibid., p. 10; [Holland, ], The Bazaar, p. 16Google Scholar.

112. Leeds Mercury, Oct. 26, Nov. 19, 1875; A Guide to Bazaars & Fancy Fairs, advertisement opposite p. 1.

113. The fancy goods trade was big business. By 1889, imports and home production were worth about £14,000,000 a year. See The Fancy Goods and Toy Trades Journal, I (Feb. 2, 1891), 9Google Scholar.

114. See Anna of the Five Towns.

115. See, for example. Press Bazaar News, June 28, 29, 1898. The standard charge per day for the hire of a policeman was 5s in the 1880s. A Guide to Bazaars & Fancy Fairs, pp. 2-3.

116. The Countess of Huntingdon's New Magazine (Nov., 1851), p. 252Google Scholar.

117. A Stallholder, A Fancy Sale, p. 16Google Scholar.