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The Pearly Kings & Queens of London

While out for my customary constitutional down Brick Lane yesterday, I happened upon some of the Pearly Kings & Queens of London. I’d heard about, and seen pictures of these characters, but out in force they are definitely holding it down!

The ‘Pearlies’ have been part of London life since 1875; young Henry Croft, uh, came across a large colleciton of mother-of-pearl buttons (the stories are confused, at least according to wikipedia). He was a costermonger (street vendor) and they gave some added vibe to their suits with mother ofpearl buttons. With his hoard, Henry Croft pimped his suit as much as feasible:

There’s a Pearly King and Queen for each of the boroughs of London, as well as for the City and Westminster. These days, they mainly do stuff for charity, go to Jools Holland’s Hootenanny for NYE each year, and pimp around the east end. Read more about them on their ’site.

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