Celebrating Thirty Years of East Asian Collections

China

Cover from Calls, sounds and merchandise of the Peking street peddlers
Title page from Calls, sounds and merchandise of the Peking street peddlers

Samuel Victor Constant (1894-1989), Calls, sounds and merchandise of the Peking street peddlers, The Camel Bell, Peking, China. 1936

Originally written as a master's thesis, this book paints a charming picture of street peddlers in 1930s Beijing, with color illustrations and mounted plates, including photographs of peddlers of moon cakes, toys, fans, medicine, and sesame oil, as well as traveling magicians, sugar figure blowers, and fortune tellers. Constant was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1916 and served as a military attaché in China in the 1920s.  After retiring from the U.S. Army in 1946, he worked as Director of Placement for the China Institute.

Knife sharpener = 磨剪子磨刀的

Knife sharpener = 磨剪子磨刀的
Knife sharpener =磨刀的
Knife sharpener’s tools = 磨刀人吹的号和敲的“惊闺叶”
Knife sharpener’s tool Ching-kuei-yeh = 磨刀人敲的“惊闺叶”
Knife sharpener’s sound = 磨刀人的吆喝声

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