The first "Johnny Onions" landed in Plymouth in 1828, 170 years ago. Since that year onion sellers from Brittany have landed annually on these shores - with the exception of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 war years - bringing with them a popular product and their own unique, colourful brand of selling.
This book tells the story of those men from the early days to the present decade, a history of trade, troubles and two terrible disasters at sea. It includes memories gleaned from men who hawked their onions in places as far apart as Orkney and Shetland and Cornwall. It also contains a descriptive chunk of life as experienced by Jean-Marie Cueff and Olivier Bertevas on their last visit to Cardiff; the life of the onion-seller was not a romantic one, it was often harsh and miserable.
The first "Johnny Onions" landed in Plymouth in 1828, 170 years ago. Since that year onion sellers from Brittany have landed annually on these shores - with the exception of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 war years - bringing with them a popular product and their own unique, colourful brand of selling.