THE NAKED CITY: THE LOST STREET VENDORS OF SYDNEY

These days, the most common items sold on the streets of Sydney are drugs, although even now many dealers offer a discreet door to door service. Travel back three or four decades and the footpaths of the CBD and surrounds were full of vendors, selling everything from newspapers to lucky envelopes. They often brought a bit of colour and social interaction to a city regularly accused of being dull and soulless.

Flogging newspapers on the street was of course common for many years in Sydney, especially when the Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun and The Daily Mirror published a number of daily editions. Workers heading home on buses and trains would often grab one of the tabloids from a street seller, attracted by the often lurid and sensational headlines. It was also a great way for a young kid to earn some pocket money after school, collecting a bundle of papers from the local newsagent and working a strategic position.

Unlike many Asian countries we have never entertained a culture of street food unless you give credit to Harry’s Cafe de Wheels and the odd pie or coffee van that surfaces at weekend markets and the like. The hot dog vendor however was once a common site outside football matches, racecourses and other large public events. The portable stand could be set up in an instant, just about anywhere and the familiar cry of “get your doggies” soon rang out.

There were also stories of ‘hot dog’ wars in which established vendors would employ the muscle to get rid of any rivals trying to chisel in on their territory. Hard to believe but there were sometimes noses bloodied all over a snag stuck between two pieces of a bun – tomato sauce optional! Try applying to your local council today to operate a similar trade and you will face a mountain of health and hygiene restrictions.

Lucky Envelopes were a kind of instant street lotto, often operating under a charity licence. They were popular in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s and for a few coins you could win a similarly very small amount of money. The vendors displayed a roll down canvas sheet of numbers, you purchased an envelope and if the number inside matched you could, at the very best, walk off with a piece of paper money. Most of the time you got bugger all so I guess most people realised they were making some kind of charitable donation in the process and losing was no big deal.

Unlike New York City, where umbrella vendors often sweated on a sudden downpour before plying their trade we have seldom seen the opportunist vendor in Sydney. I once saw a man selling balloons at Circular Quay, before he was moved on by the fun police, and apparently it was not uncommon for stolen goods like watches and jewellery to be offered for sale outside pubs back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Other than that perhaps it’s our Anglo-Saxon heritage that deems all commercial activities should be conducted indoors.

As mentioned, these days there’s a stack of regulations and guidelines you need to observe if you want to start hawking something on the street. There’s a twelve page document at the Office of Local Government website  if you are interested. It does start off on a positive note, stating:

“Street vending activity involves the selling of articles either directly or from a stall or standing vehicle or at a footpath restaurant or take away service facility on public roads and public places. Street vending has general community support and may improve the amenity of streets and public places and provide added convenience and economic benefit for the community.”

Not surprisingly there’s no mention that the regulations apply to drug dealers in the following pages!