Cockles, Mussels, Whelks,Prawns!!

[bossdogg]

Mmm kershaws i think they called them what used to go round pubs&clubs

[Ghostrider]

Mmm kershaws i think they called them what used to go round pubs&clubs

They're the ones I remember.

[tasha_78_1]

my hubby worked as a "prawn man" when we were first married, (1970`s) to earn some extra money

[old tup]

Just remembered a couple of little tricks I used to pull to impress the ladies using my packet of whelks!.I used to conceal one in my hand then pretend to give out a big sneeze next to one of them covering my mouth with my hand,then I would open my palm to reveal a great nobbly whelk,always guaranteed a gipping session!.Number two was a variation on the first,poking in my ear then revealing a juicy whelk producing the same results,thinking back I really was a childish silly billy but the lads thought it was funny anyway!.

[MikeRyalls]

I used to work for Kershaw's (and another similar operator, posibly) sometime in the mid-sixties, early seventies, I think.

 

We used to have to go to the van - a 7 1/2 tonner - to collect our baskets, which were already made up with what we were expected to sell. We were also provided white white jackets - very smart . . .

 

I didn't have a car, so, unlike the other salesmen who drove off to (presumably) more profitable areas, I had a walking round taking in pubs around the steelworks.

 

I too, as Alan remembers, had to contend with the comedic genius in every pub who trotted out some variety of "Got crabs, love?". I did, as it happens - dressed crab was the most expensive thing in the basket, so I was always able to get one out of the basket and ask for the money. Of course, I never sold a single crab, but would still get exactly the same crack next time I went in the pub.

 

My round was on Thursdays, I think, which was pay day in the steel works.

 

It was a job I hated, but I needed the money. I never made much and my basket was about as full when I returned it as it was when I set out, unlike some of the salesmen who drove off to their rounds with two baskets.

[Tommo68]

Lot more pubs with a lot more people in them back then..

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[cookingfat50]

yer it was the same in WMS clubs everyone waited for the cockle man to come in with his basket he would come round each table. never new why he clubs didn't buy their own stock in and sell it over the bar it would put another few qud in he bank for hem

[MikeRyalls]

It's the "How old's that sausage roll" syndrome, cookingfat50. Fish doesn't age too well, shellfish goes off even faster.

 

The stuff we sold was fresh, cooked, shelled and refrigerated until until it was handed over to us to sell. Anything left over that night was returned, boiled and converted to fish meal to use as fertilizer or animal fodder.

 

Would you really consider buying a bag of prawns from a pub, much less a WMC? The only thing I'd consider would be a (sealed) jar of cockles in brine, oil or vinegar. So as not to compete with the sort of places we were trying to sell in, we didn't stock any shellfish preserved in that way.

[lazarus]

A lot of these shellfish sellers picked their baskets up at the dark arches on Bernard Rd. Some of the pubs they visited had landlords who use to help themselves to the precious packets, if the salesman objected he was banned from selling in that pub again.

[Kidorry]

I remember having a bag of raw mushrooms in the Wapentake in the early seventies, made a change from gritty vinegary cockles and chewy whelks!

Me too,and I still eat them raw.