Volume 2: Of the Street-Jews Summary and Analysis

The story of London is a saga of successive waves of immigrants, each scrambling to earn a living under difficult circumstances. In many cases, recent immigrants look down on the newly arrived, especially if there is a difference in race, nationality or religion. This is illustrated in Mayhew's attitude towards the Jewish residents, and their mutual disdain for recent Irish immigrants. Few adult Jews and very few Jewish women worked as common costermongers. The very few Jewish girls who peddled fruit usually worked under the watchful eye of their brothers. Mayhew reported that the "Jew-boy" selling fruits or cakes was as non-observant and as ignorant of religious teaching as his Christian counterparts.

The Jewish inhabitants of London dominated wholesale trading, especially of watches, jewels, fruit, shells, parrots, curiosities, ostrich feathers and cigars. The Jewish quarters...