What did street vendors look like in the Russian Empire? (PICS)
Cards with sketches of milk, gingerbread and flower salesmen reveal what street trading was like in St. Petersburg in the early 19th century.
Street vendors were a very popular phenomenon in Tsarist Russia. They roamed the streets of the cities, laden with trays and boxes, offering their goods - bagels, gingerbread, fresh milk, pies, flowers, clothes and much more.
They became the characters of artist Karl Beggrow, who worked in St. Petersburg in the 19th century.
A collection of 24 of his engravings, dated 1834, appeared at the Litfond auction.
