STREETS OF LONDON

Evening Star, Issue 22798, 5 November 1937, Page 12

STREETS OF LONDON

NOT PAVED WITH GOLD Tie streets of London are not paved with geld, if the experiences of Moore Raymond are typical. As a journalist, ho was, commissioned by his editor to go out and see how much he could earn at various jobs. Hero is the result. The first hour as pavement artist brought him in 2d, but that was followed by Is dropped into his cap, and at the end of five hours he had collected 3s Bd. At that average he would have made £2 4s for a 60-hour working week. Another day he sold toys—birds that flapped their wings when you pulled then- tails. He made them himself out of paper so that the Id for which they sold was practically all profit; ho managed to sell about three dozen in the day. With a repertoire of three tunes —‘Men of Harlech,’ ‘There is a Tavern in the Town,’ and ‘ Massa’s in do Cold, Cold Ground ’—he spent another day playing a mandoline. That was less successful as long as he remained in the street. His fortune turned, however, when ho went into a public bar and ordered a beer. Someone asked him for a tune, and after he had played ‘ Men of Harlech,’ went round with a hat. The small crowd contributed Is 6d, but when the musician suggested ho should buy a round of drinks, his benefactor grabbed him by the arm and hustled him to the door. “ You take that dough home to your missus,” he said, “ and don’t go boozing it! ” But if the material rewards of Mr Raymond’s experiment were slight, he gained a good deal of useful information. “To make the best of singing in the street,” he learned, “ is to make for the queues outside a place of entertainment, because the people who are going to a cinema or theatre, and who have to stand in a queue to do so, are customers who not only have money to spend, hut also have time to listen to you.” If you’re a flower-seller you don’t, of course, expect to do big business all the year round. Spring is always the best time because people who haven’t seen flowers for months are always more anxious to buy them. See that you have something worth selling at a reasonable price. As in all forms of business, you should try to satisfy your customer so that he’ll come back for more. If you are a street musician you ought to show that you are skilled enough to deserve a reward. You might make quick money at the game that grafters call fly-pitching, but in the long run it isn’t worth it. Next, don’t appear too prosnerous. On the other hand, if you’re too ragged it makes prospective customers self-con-scious, and they might avoid you. Try the middle line—which is neat but rather threadbare—and don’t smoke; it looks too prosnereus. Next, give your customer a smile and a word of thanks. He goes off thinking he’s done a good deed which is appreciated, and ho won’t trv to avoid you next time.