Tokens Used by Bedfordshire Market Gardeners – Gary Oddie

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This note presents a brief introduction to market gardening in Bedfordshire and a series of tokens, bearing only initials, that were used as receipts or tallies for each sack or basket of produce picked. Once understood, the initials allow the identity of the farmer and his location to be identified. Two pieces of documentary evidence are also presented, from the 1940s, that confirm the use of London Market checks as pickers’ tickets in the fields of Bedfordshire.