2-714-161 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Nice New, A well known character at Reading', 1822. Portrait of 'an eccentric street peddler' of Reading in Berkshire, who carried 'unwieldy baskets on each side being always stored with cakes and other delicacies for children...his baskets were so large, that they used to engage the whole of the foot-path, to the annoyance of the other passengers.' His name came from his cry of "Nice new! Nice new!" with sometimes the addition of "Here they be, two sizes bigger than last week". From "Wonderful Characters: Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation", Vol. III, by Henry Wilson. [J. Robins and Co. Albion Press, London, 1821]