This might be a first for us. I don’t believe we have ever re-posted anything from another blog before, but we thought this was really interesting.
This is an excerpt from Bloomberg View, in a story that contains information from the book "In Hock: Pawning in America from the Revolution to the Great Depression."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/a-brief-history-of-the-american-pawn-shop-echoes.html
Pawnshop loans were so essential to so many that there was one item in pawn for every man, woman and child living in New York City in the year 1828 alone.
While the brand names have changed, pawns themselves continue to be the same types of moveable property brought to the first pawnshops, including clothing, jewelry, watches, tools and entertainment devices. The list below comes from the only existing business records of a 19th-century pawnshop. It's just a sample of the 130 pieces of collateral that pawnbroker John Simpson took in -- and the amount he loaned on them -- at his pawnshop at 25 Chatham Street in New York City on Aug. 21, 1838, a typical day:
cloak .75
2 coats & razor 3.50
coat 4.00
accordion 2.00
pistol .50
blanket, coat, and book .75
apron .06
gown .18 3/4
3 books 2.37 1/2
pair spectacles .62 1/2
vest .25
tablespoon 1.50
rasp .12 1/2
2 sheets & petticoat .50
cloak & 4 books 1.00
silver watch with broken hands 2.00
lever watch 5.00
eyeglass .25
saw .37 1/2
shawl .25
shirt .50
broach .37 1/2
gold watch chain and key 18.00
fur 4.00
quilt 3.00
8 collars .37 1/2
pair of lamps .12
violin 4.00
pair of pants 1.00
box of jewelry 1.00
gown and cape .75
jacket, pants & vest 4.00
sheet .18 3/4
necklace 1.00
music box 1.00
handkerchief .12 1/2
coffee box 30.00
table cover 1.00
umbrella .50
silver medal 2.50
From the lowly 6-cent apron to the prized coffee box, they represent the great variety of commodities in circulation at the time. Although vastly different in particular from today's pawns, they are very much the same in nature. Yesterday's music box is today's DVD player; a violin has become an electric guitar; a silver pocket watch is now a Rolex; a wool cape like a leather jacket. Some items of predictable value -- such as guns, tools and goods made of precious metals -- remain pawnshop staples.
To read more from Echoes, Bloomberg View's economic history blog, click here.
To contact the writer of this post: Wendy Woloson at wewo99@gmail.com.
(Wendy Woloson is an independent scholar and consulting historian. Her most recent book is "In Hock: Pawning in America from the Revolution to the Great Depression," due out in paperback this spring. The opinions expressed are her own.)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/a-brief-history-of-the-american-pawn-shop-echoes.html
Pawnshop loans were so essential to so many that there was one item in pawn for every man, woman and child living in New York City in the year 1828 alone.
While the brand names have changed, pawns themselves continue to be the same types of moveable property brought to the first pawnshops, including clothing, jewelry, watches, tools and entertainment devices. The list below comes from the only existing business records of a 19th-century pawnshop. It's just a sample of the 130 pieces of collateral that pawnbroker John Simpson took in -- and the amount he loaned on them -- at his pawnshop at 25 Chatham Street in New York City on Aug. 21, 1838, a typical day:
cloak .75
2 coats & razor 3.50
coat 4.00
accordion 2.00
pistol .50
blanket, coat, and book .75
apron .06
gown .18 3/4
3 books 2.37 1/2
pair spectacles .62 1/2
vest .25
tablespoon 1.50
rasp .12 1/2
2 sheets & petticoat .50
cloak & 4 books 1.00
silver watch with broken hands 2.00
lever watch 5.00
eyeglass .25
saw .37 1/2
shawl .25
shirt .50
broach .37 1/2
gold watch chain and key 18.00
fur 4.00
quilt 3.00
8 collars .37 1/2
pair of lamps .12
violin 4.00
pair of pants 1.00
box of jewelry 1.00
gown and cape .75
jacket, pants & vest 4.00
sheet .18 3/4
necklace 1.00
music box 1.00
handkerchief .12 1/2
coffee box 30.00
table cover 1.00
umbrella .50
silver medal 2.50
From the lowly 6-cent apron to the prized coffee box, they represent the great variety of commodities in circulation at the time. Although vastly different in particular from today's pawns, they are very much the same in nature. Yesterday's music box is today's DVD player; a violin has become an electric guitar; a silver pocket watch is now a Rolex; a wool cape like a leather jacket. Some items of predictable value -- such as guns, tools and goods made of precious metals -- remain pawnshop staples.
To read more from Echoes, Bloomberg View's economic history blog, click here.
To contact the writer of this post: Wendy Woloson at wewo99@gmail.com.
(Wendy Woloson is an independent scholar and consulting historian. Her most recent book is "In Hock: Pawning in America from the Revolution to the Great Depression," due out in paperback this spring. The opinions expressed are her own.)
We'll be back with some of our famous/infamous original stuff a little later this week, but we thought you'd enjoy this.
By the way..."We're glad you're here!"
By the way..."We're glad you're here!"
Gpawn
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