COSTERMONGER, a street-trader who usually displays his wares on a barrow, but who sometimes uses a cart or "donkey shay." In the London street markets, which are many and varied, the goods sold by costermongers cover a very wide range, including fruit, vegetables, fish, flowers, crockery, glassware, ironmongery, and even clothing and furs. In 1927 a licensing system was in troduced to prevent abuses.
In familiar parlance, a costermonger is a "coster." The deriva tion is from costard-monger, one who in the old days sold costards, a species of large ribbed apple.