Does anyone from the Boston area remember “Nathan the Shmate-man”?
As a kid growing up in Hull, MA, in addition to the Ice Cream trucks bringing delightful treats to us kids, there was this older Jewish man who roamed the beach with garbage bags full of cheap clothing (bringing delightful treats to all the old ladies). Nathan got his name because a shmate is a rag or something useless in Yiddish. Anyway, he would walk up to groups on the beach and start pulling stuff out of his bags. The women would start to haggle. It was like a game in which they would try to get the best deals possible. Everyone seemed to win.
Back then, I took for granted how COOL that was. It was like a bit of the old country in 1980. Before e-commerce sites, craigslist and dollar stores there was a real merchant bringing cheap goods to the people. You could come back from the beach with a tan AND a pair of socks. Ah, simpler times
January 27th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Hull rocks. All I’m gonna say. It was here before Boston. I just hope the rising ocean doesn’t wash it away.
January 28th, 2009 at 5:33 am
Reminds me of the Dorchester of my youth, when the “Any Old Rags?” man would come down the street. He actually had a wagon pulled by a horse, and he’d go down the street slowly, singing out “Any old rags today? Any old rags?” I never knew what he did with what he got. Maybe he WAS Nathan?!?