OP: Report of the Mayor's Push-Cart Commission
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The City of New York, 1906. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed first printing.
Progressive social reformer and urban planner Lawrence Veiller (1872–1959) is best remembered for his significant contributions to housing laws and building codes, the backbone of which are still in use today. In 1905 he was commissioned by NYC Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to report on the state of push-cart peddler congestion in the city, which had increasingly become a nuisance after loosened regulations in the preceding five years.
The purpose of the commission was to resolve the conflicting issues of pushcart crowding and other dangers (street traffic, fire, spread of germs, competition with shopkeepers) and maintenance of the livelihoods of the peddlers, mostly concentrated in poor, immigrant neighborhoods.
The report, published in 1906, is a remarkable insight into the lives of New Yorkers, particularly those of lesser means, and demonstrates a clear concern for whatever effect the results of the commission might have on them.
Included are black and white photographic plates, city maps, and tables of statistics. Additional tables cover the ethnicities, other occupations, and length of US residence of peddlers, all by precinct or borough. Fascinating detail for those interested in food and city history.
While not all vendors sold food, it is clear, both from the tables and from the prevailing concern for food safety, that such items were a meaningful portion of pushcart wares.
Ours is a presentation copy, signed by commissioner Lawrence Veiller to Mina L. Acton, “As a memento of her careful proof-reading of this and many other reports, past and future.” Acton’s bookplate is present on the front pastedown. First (and only) edition. Minor soiling and creasing to the bookblock. The green cloth bound case is rubbed, stained, fraying, and the gilt title fading. Otherwise sturdy. Scarce.
