A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationary or mobile, hawkers often advertise by loud street cries or chants, and conduct banter with customers, to attract attention and enhance sales.
Definition
A hawker is a person who sells things on the streets or roads; "a person who travels from place to place selling goods"."Hawker". Collins Dictionary Synonyms include huckster, peddler, chapman or in Britain, costermonger. However, hawkers are distinguished from other types of street vendors in that they are mobile. In contrast, peddlers, for example, may take up a temporary pitch in a public place. Similarly, hawkers tend to be associated with the sale of non-perishable items such as brushes and cookware, while costermongers are exclusively associated with the sale of fresh produce. When accompanied by a demonstration or detailed explanation of the product, the hawker is sometimes referred to as a demonstrator or pitchman.
Social commentator Henry Mayhew wrote, "Among the more ancient of the trades, then carried on in England, is that of the hawker or pedlar", and he notes, "the hawker dealt, in the old times, more in textile fabrics than in anything else." In several passages of his work, Mayhew categorises hawkers, hucksters, and peddlers as a single group of itinerant salesman, and claims that he is unable to say what distinction was drawn between a hawker and a huckster. Mayhew estimated the number of licensed pedlars in 1861 as 14,038 in England, 2,561 in Scotland, and 624 in Wales.Mayhew, Henry, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, 1861, p. 364 and p. 377
History
Hawkers have been known since antiquity and possibly earlier. Claire Holleran has examined literary, legal and pictorial sources to provide evidence for the presence of hawkers in antiquity, especially ancient Rome.Claire Holleran, "Representations of food hawkers in Ancient Rome", in: Melissa Calaresu and Danielle van den Heuvel eds, Food Hawkers: Selling in the Streets from Antiquity to the Present, Routledge, 2016, p. 19 Her findings indicate that the Romans had no specific term for hawkers – rather they went by a variety of labels including: ambulator (a person who walks around); circitor (to go around); circulator (a broad term which included itinerant entertainers) and institor (a business manager). She found that hawkers and street vendors were an important part of the distribution system. The vendors mainly sold everyday food at low prices and clustered around temples, theatres, bathhouses and forums where to take advantage of the optimal commercial opportunities. Their street cries were part of the fabric of street life yet were largely viewed as an unwelcome disturbance. In Roman society, hawkers experienced the same disdain that Romans held for retail generally; hawkers were low in social status, with privileged groups often referring to them in pejorative terms.Claire Holleran, "Representations of food hawkers in Ancient Rome", in: Melissa Calaresu and Danielle van den Heuvel eds, Food Hawkers: Selling in the Streets from Antiquity to the Present, Routledge, 2016, pp 22–42
Literary references and images of hawkers and peddlers during the medieval period are relatively rare.James Davis, Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200–1500, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 96 Hawkers, hucksters and peddlers occupied a different social position to merchants and were regarded as marginal in society.James Davis, Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200–1500, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 103 and p., 262 However, English narratives from the 12th and 13th centuries suggest that hardworking hawkers could advance to positions as packmen and ultimately wealthy wholesalers or merchants.James Davis, Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200–1500, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 97
Global society and informal street vending
Traditionally deeply rooted in the social and economic fabric of many countries in the Global South, the practice of street vending has, in recent decades, extended its reach to even the most developed nations, taking on various forms. While not strictly confined to the informal economy, since street entrepreneurs can theoretically position themselves along a continuum ranging from entirely formal to entirely illegal, contemporary societies are unmistakably trending towards the informal extreme. From a comparative analysis of various socio-anthropological studies on street vendors, recurring and interconnected figures emerge, which can be categorized into distinct types: the recognized vendor, whose role is legitimate and/or institutionally accepted; the ephemeral vendor, whose activity is sporadic and often goes unrecognized; the clandestine trader, whose work lacks legitimacy. Furthermore, they can be classified based on their mobility: the stationary vendor, conducting business in a fixed location; the semi-stationary vendor, operating in makeshift structures; and the mobile vendor, conducting business by moving to different locations. According to M. Meneghetti, informal street vending in global society often represents a complex and highly flexible form of agency that allows for the adaptation and functional development of the social actor practicing it in relation to a given personal or collective situation of distress (real or perceived), whether it be social, legal, cultural, economic, or political.
Regional
Africa
In many African metropolitan areas, hawkers, commonly referred to as "vendors", are seen everywhere. They sell a wide range of goods such as fish, fruits, vegetables, clothes and books. In suburban areas, they go door to door; in more commercial areas, they usually have stands or lay their goods on the ground. In the afternoon, many of them sell commercial goods in the more crowded parts of the cities, and at night, they sell juices, tea and snacks. The prices are lower than in shops and so attract people on low incomes.
Asia India
According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, there are 10 million street vendors in India, with Mumbai accounting for 250,000, Delhi has 200,000, Kolkata, more than 150,000, and Ahmedabad, 100,000. Most of them are immigrants or laid-off workers, work for an average 10–12 hours a day, and remain impoverished. Though the prevalent license-permit raj in Indian bureaucracy ended for most retailing in the 1990s, it continues in this trade. Inappropriate license ceiling in most cities, like Mumbai which has a ceiling 14,000 licenses, means more vendors hawk their goods illegally, which also makes them prone to the bribery and extortion culture under local police and municipal authorities, besides harassment, heavy fines and sudden evictions. In Kolkata, the profession was a cognisable and non-bailable offense.
Over the years, the street vendors have organized themselves into trade unions and associations, and numerous NGO's have started working for them. In fact, The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) based in Delhi, is a federation of 715 street vendor organizations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Kolkata has two such unions, namely the Bengal Hawkers Association and the Calcutta Hawkers' Men Union. In September, 2012, long-awaited Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha (Lower of Indian Parliament) aimed at providing social security and livelihood rights, and regulated the prevalent license system. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 6 September 2013 and by the Rajya Sabha (upper house) on 19 February 2014. The bill received the assent of the President of India on 4 March 2014. Only three states have implemented the bill as of April 2017. The bill handed governance over public space and vendors over to municipalities. Although, one of the main purposes of the Street Vendors Act was to allow the vendors to have a voice in governance, the bill made conditions more difficult for vendors as they have become more heavily scrutinized.
Bangladesh In the capital city of Dhaka, street vendors such as small tea stalls, and popular food stalls (fuchka, chotpoti) along the public spaces (university campuses, bus terminals, market places) have a significant role to cater to the urban population. Street vendors are a source of food security, especially to the poorer section of the urban population. Street vending is significant portion of Dhaka's informal economy, an employment opportunity for better livelihoods of the urban poor.
Indonesia
Hawkers in Indonesia locally known as pedagang kaki lima ("five‑foot traders") play a central role in the nation’s street‑food culture. These informal vendors operate from mobile carts (gerobak), bicycles (sepeda), or through traditional shoulder‑carried baskets (pikulan or sunggi), and often set up temporary stalls or small warung beneath tarps along pedestrian pavements, especially during peak hours. The term "pedagang kaki lima" originates from the colonial-era architectural regulation known as "five‑foot way", a covered sidewalk roughly five feet (1.5 m) wide mandated by British Governor‑General Thomas Stamford Raffles in Batavia (1811–1816) and due to a Malay linguistic inversion of the English modifier structure (five‑foot way) it became misinterpreted as "kaki lima" ("five feet") and eventually came to refer to the street hawkers who occupied these sidewalks.
Pedagang kaki lima in Indonesia offer a vast array of foods, ranging from hearty dishes to light snacks and beverages. Popular main dishes include bakso, meatball soup served with broth, noodles, scallions, and chili, which are ubiquitous in urban and rural areas alike. Another staple is sate (satay), skewered and grilled meats like chicken, goat, or beef, typically served with peanut sauce or sweet soy sauce and commonly accompanied by rice cakes (lontong) or raw shallot and chili. Vendors also specialize in martabak, both sweet (filled with chocolate, cheese, or nuts) and savory (egg, minced meat, spices) and nasi goreng tek‑tek, a version of fried rice cooked in a large wok with distinctive "tek‑tek" sizzling sounds. Breakfast and comfort options include bubur ayam (chicken congee) widely available from morning into evening, while dessert and refreshment come in the form of sweet, iced beverages such as es cendol (coconut-based drink with green rice flour jelly) and es doger (shaved ice with coconut, fermented cassava, and milk).