The peasants were called Russian peasants, whose main source of income was the profit received as a result of trade. They sold a wide variety of goods, mainly any household trifle - cheap jewelry, scallops, mirrors, clothing, various materials, cosmetics, books, etc.
Instruction manual
1
The name “peddlers” comes from a bark knotted bag - boxes in which peasants transferred their goods from one settlement to another. The richer peddlers transported their goods in carts. Every year they went from home to various parts of Russia and wandered throughout its territory - from the southern borders to Siberia.
2
The merchants received their goods from merchants as a reward for special resourcefulness and accuracy. As a rule, the majority of peasant traders did not have their own capital. But if at least some money appeared, the peddlers went to the Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow fairs and bought goods there. In early September, peasants left their homes and went to trade in Little Russia, the western and Polish provinces, in the remote regions of Siberia and the Caucasus.
3
Trade was carried out at fairs, as well as distribution and distribution of goods home. The googlers returned to their homes by the beginning of summer. Departing from home, peasants could load ten or more baskets belonging to different merchants on one common cart and followed it with all their might. Therefore, the peddlers were also called hobbyists.
4
Another name for the peddlers - “Offeni” - according to one of the most probable and widespread versions, appeared due to the so-called Greek merchants who came from Athens, who moved to Russia in the 15th century.
5
Each ofen wanted to find new places of sale of goods, raise capital and get hold of clerks who could be sent to trade in various countries. Among the peasant men there were also "rich" who had up to ten or more clerks. They were hired to pay about 120 rubles a year, while the grub were hostesses. Some of the peddlers managed to go to sedentary trade and become real merchants with their shops.
6
Upon the return of the shrimp home, the owner of each artel was appointed the day of the collection of clerks and workers, and salaries were calculated. Well-serving employees were hired again and were marked by a salary increase, the best employees became his assistants, poor employees were suspended. If the peddlers brought in a lot of profits, the owner would arrange artels for treats right on the street. Such a festival could last up to two days and was accompanied by songs and horseback riding.
7
Despite the difficulty of trading, most of the offerers were inveterate wanderers, their vagrancy turned into a need. During the journeys of the masons, their close relatives dealt with household chores - farming, sowing, and paying taxes.
eight
Since the middle of the XIX century. the trade of the peddlers gradually became unclaimed. This happened in connection with the installation in Russia of railways and other means of communication. Residents of villages and cities have the opportunity to visit shopping and factory centers, the need for goods from aeon boxes has disappeared. The last peddlers disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century.
