Staying out

Catalogue Reference:(JML) 1060.16

The streets have traditionally been the playgrounds of city children. These girls are dancing to the music of a barrel organ in east London in 1901. Street musicians were very popular and there were an estimated 500 barrel organs in London before the First World War. The barrel organ was a portable instrument, operated by turning a handle on the side of the machine, and many organ-grinders hired one by the day.