In premodern Europe, and in some cases beyond, peddling was a characteristically Jewish occupation. The work of the travelling peddler who went door to door to offer his wares allowed certain sections of the Jewish lower classes to earn their livelihood over generations. With the emergence of the industrial society and the Jewish rise into the middle class, the trade disappeared almost completely among Jews in Central and Western Europe, while it could still sometimes be found in Eastern Europe up until the Second World War.

Jewish peddlers can be shown to have existed in most Eu…