The sequences of Tradefolk offered in hundreds of publications, The Cries of... change in personnel and patter but offers the illustrator a sort of template for sustaining a recognisable format but varying the subject matter greatly (The Street Cries of London, of New York etc) It can be a device for satirical asides on the consuming classes. This set of reproductions were published by Zodiac Books in c1950 with no contextual essay. The images are indicative of their generic type but with attractive bold caption styling.

Study of the Cries helps with understanding Topographical imagery and the interpretation of street scenes e.g. Crome's paintings of Parisian street scenes in 1814. My favourite appearence of a tradesman is the Porter of Lithographic stones which appears in several street scenes of the nineteenth century, and appearing as a variant in Le Vitrier in this set.Lithographic stones are heavy. The porters squat. The Cool Drink Vendor here has an ingenious built-in support for his burden.