Joe Ades
| Joe Ades | |
|---|---|
 Joe Ades in Union Square, Aug 8, 2005 | |
| Born |
December 18, 1934 Manchester, England |
| Died |
February 1, 2009 (aged 74) New York City |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Occupation | Street Merchant |
Joseph "Joe" Ades /ˈɑdɛs/ (18 December 1934 – February 1, 2009), also known as the "Gentleman Peeler," was a well-known street potato peeler seller in New York City, United States.
Early life
Joseph Ades, the youngest of seven children, was born in Manchester, England, where his father worked in the textile industry. Leaving school at 15, he became an office boy before becoming intrigued by the local markets that would spring-up in the World War II–devastated landscapes of Northern England. He started out hawking comic books before selling linens, textiles, jewelry, and toys directly on the streets.[1]
Australia
In 1956 he married a woman named Shirley, and they had three children. The family moved to Australia in 1969 as Ten Pound Poms and settled in Sydney, where Ades tried to set up markets in the parking lots of drive-in movies. Eventually he sold goods at street fairs off of the back of a large truck.[2] After the marriage to Shirley dissolved in 1980, Ades remarried and divorced again.[1]
His third wife gave him a copy of London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew, a contemporary of Charles Dickens, which recorded the activities of the street sellers of the Victorian period. Ades modeled himself on sellers that Mayhew called "the patterers," most of whom liked to ape the dress and mannerisms of gentlemen.[1]
New York City
After the breakup of his third marriage and a period of residence in Ireland, Ades followed his daughter to New York City,[2] taking up residence in Manhattan.[1]
From 1993 onward, Ades sold $5 Swiss-made metal potato peelers.[3] His engaging sales patter and his $1,000 Chester Barrie suits and shirts from Turnbull & Asser[1] made him a well-known character on his regular demo circuit, which included places such as the Union Square Greenmarket. Ades never bothered with a license, meaning that he was often moved on by the New York City Police Department.[1] His iconoclastic pitches and lifestyle eventually brought him attention and notoriety, and he was the subject of a Vanity Fair article.[4]
Ades sold enough peelers to enjoy café society at the Pierre Hotel, on the Upper East Side, and lived with his fourth wife, Estelle Pascoe[5] in her three-bedroom apartment on Park Avenue.[6]
| “ | Never underestimate a small amount of money gathered by hand for 60 years | ” |
Ades died on February 1, 2009,[2] only a day after being informed that he had been granted American citizenship.[1]
Legacy
Ades was survived by his daughter and two sons from his first marriage. His daughter, Ruth Ades-Laurent, began selling the peelers in the same spots as her father,[7] but was later forbidden from selling in Union Square.[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Joe Ades". Daily Telegraph. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- 1 2 3 "His Stage, the Street; His Rapier, a Peeler". New York Times. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (Volume 77 / Number 51 - May 21–27, 2008). "He serves up potato peelers with a slice of style". Retrieved 2009-02-03. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Kaplan, Howard (May 2006). "The Gentleman Grifter". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ↑ "Estelle Pascoe Obituary". New York Times. 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ↑ "Joe Ades". MSNBC. October 2, 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "The Veggie Peeler". WestView - The New Voice of the West Village. 2009-03-01.
- ↑ "Ades' Subtraction". 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
External links
- A-Peeling To The Masses - New York Post video article on Joe Ades
- Impromptu video of Joe Ades (circa November 2008)
- RIP Joe Ades - Photos of Joe Ades