My best friend Lisbeth and I sometimes call each other buckey, bittiebot or totters. Little did I know a totter was someone who collected trash and sold it for cash! Too funny.
A rag-and-bone man, or totter, was usually a job performed on foot with the scavenged materials (which included rags, bones and various metals) kept in a small bag slung over the shoulder. If you had some extra money you could buy yourself a cart to be pulled by a horse or a pony.
19th century rag-and-bone men were typically very poor and survived on what they were able to sell each day. Conditions of this profession seemed to improved following the World War II, but the trade declined during the latter half of the 20th century. Surprisingly, this job might not be gone for good! Lately due to the recent soaring price of scrap metal, rag-and-bone men can once again be scrummaging around for goodies to sell!
A couple times a year they would go out with horses to collect bigger materials such as old furniture. During this time period glues were bones or rabbit skins. Thus the totters trolley was equipped with bins for the bones, and if the rags were wet they were first dried by being hung across the front mounted drying racks before being carried inside the vehicle.
Ever heard of the expression one mans trash is another mans treasure? It is true! I will think twice before I throw something out again.
References:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/rag-and-bone_man
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue464/rag-bone_man.html
Photo by Shirley Baker
Gone Jobs 