Cash-poor? Unable to get enough paid work? You may have tried your hand at picking, or dealing in the junk trade. You could collect paper from law offices and printers to sell to butchers and other merchants. Or clothes to sell to brokers who in turn sold them to paper or cloth mills, where the rags were shredded and woven into "shoddy cloth." Bones could be ground into meal for fertilizer or be made into buttons. Glass bottles could be sold to retailers or brokers.

Sometime between 1825-1855, residents in Slate Alley dug a pit in their yard and filled it with 544 bottles of all types as well as hardware, window glass, bricks, nails, and bone. The archaeologists who made this discovery believe that it is evidence of "junking," which could be a full time occupation. In a census for 1880, some men living in alleys listed their trades as "rag picker," "junk dealer," "peddler," "jobber," "huckster," or "horse trader."

FUN FACT: All artifacts found during an excavation are washed, labeled with identifying numbers, and inventoried. Then they are packed away for long-term storage so future archaeologists can learn from them as well.