CRAFTS
Flower seller, Malvern Link, Hereford and Worcester, 1939
Gypsies would sell their home-made crafts to the people
of the towns and villages along their route.
Selling was usually the women’s responsibility, their
baskets filled not only with items such as pegs, but also bunches of flowers,
lace and ribbons and even the occasional wild rabbit trapped the previous night.
During the summer months many Gypsies would seek paid
work on farms close to where they were camped, helping with the harvest of fruit
and vegetables or with any other task. Very often the Gypsies would plan the
stops along their journeys to coincide with the availability of this work.
Trading at horse fairs provided another profitable opportunity.