Tom Dodson Print Organ Grinder

On occasions, the organ grinder came into the street and played many of the popular tunes of the day, even though they nearly always sounded much the same to us children. We would run outside and dance in time to the music or stand as near to the man as we could, hoping that he would let us have a turn at winding the handle. If he ever did let us have a go, we would fox the girls by playing it slowly, then quickly, so they would get mixed up and fall over their feet! Dogs yapped and the children would laugh with pleasure, pleading for a halfpenny, so they could pay the man to stay in their street a little longer.