Harlan Senior wrote:

Memories,? Well I have a few, of the Rag and Tag,and the wonderful characters, and the entertainment they provided,not least at the Edwards Pot stall.

My overriding memory was of the Edwards always being smartly dressed, jackets, ties,or in warm weather shirt sleeves, the skill with which they moved the merchandise around the stall and to each other always interspersed with their very professional sales patter.

I had a workmate who liked seafood very much,cockles,whelks,shrimps, and when we had finished work at mid-day on Saturdays he and I would go to the old market hall fish stall for our weekly treat, and then around the Rag and Tag ,to see what was going on, the Mandrake Man, Rix-Amoid, the old lady with her weighing scales where you sat in a chair, and always to see what was happening with Edwards stall, listen to what was on offer, another thing which sticks in my mind was the electric light bulbs were glass clear so when an item was held to light it was shown to its best.

Just after returning from National Service, 1950-51 I bought my Mum a set of 6 cups,saucers,and tea plates for 15 bob! and my dear Mum treasured that set for the rest of her life,and when she died in 1993 I never found out what had happened to that set.

Before we were married my Wife lived at Grenoside and well remembers Joe riding round the village on horseback, and this always upset her Dad as it set their German Shepherd Dog barking as Joe clattered down the street.

Andrew Turner wrote:

It was a great atmosphere in those days and characters like Joe were the salt of the earth. I could tell a few stories about some of the other characters. I'll tell you one funny story about me standing in awe, watching Joe do his patter. I got so wrapped up in it, I walked away buying a bloody dinner service.....thinking to myself...."Yer great pleb.....yer don’t even want a dinner service".......such was Joe's hypnotic spell.........I was about 17 at the time, so my mom got a present that day !!

 

He also told me of this funny story...

There was one grafter that used to turn up at different markets and you never knew what he would be selling this time. He turned up at Worksop one Saturday morning with no stock. He went to the chemists and bought a carton full of those little round cardboard pill boxes with lids on (don’t know if you remember them?) and a bottle of cheap perfume. Then he went in a grocers and bought a couple of pounds of lard. With the lard and perfume mixed together and spooned into the pill boxes......he went into his routine, selling it as foot cream !! ....." For rheumatism, chilblains and sweaty feet..........there's a lady who can't do the cha cha...only 2 bob a time....." .......................Dishonest I know, but funny.  The best about it though...........the following week, some of the women were back looking for him......" Its marvellous stuff, I wanted some more."