A character in Down and Out in Paris and London

Shorty

An organ-grinder who worked the cheap pubs and coffee-shops round Whitechapel with a mate who had a wooden leg, and always played a second tune once the hat had come round.

What they want in Orwell's account

In George Orwell's account, to be taken for an entertainer rather than a beggar. He plays a second tune after the money has been collected, on the grounds that a man paid to go away would not bother.

The book

Cover of Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Down and Out in Paris and LondonGeorge Orwell, 1933

Orwell's first book: seventeen-hour days in a Paris hotel kitchen, then a month on the road in England.

View the book

At a glance

In the book: An organ-grinder, and a friend of Bozo's
Where he works: Whitechapel and the Commercial Road
Earnings: About a pound a week each after the organ is paid for
Where he appears: Chapter XXXI

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Shorty was a friend of Bozo's, and George Orwell got the trade from him directly. Organ-grinders, like street acrobats, are counted as artists rather than beggars, and it is a mistake to think they earn their living in the street: nine-tenths of the money is taken indoors, in coffee-shops and public houses, and only the cheap public houses, because the good-class ones will not let them in. He and his mate worked the houses round Whitechapel and the Commercial Road.

Their method had two parts. Shorty stopped outside a pub and played one tune. His mate, who had a wooden leg and could excite compassion, went inside and passed the hat. Then Shorty played a second tune. He would not leave that out, and treated it as a point of honour: the idea was that he was a genuine entertainer and not a man being paid to go away.

The books were thin. Between them they took two or three pounds a week, but the organ was hired at fifteen shillings a week, so they averaged about a pound each. They were on the streets from eight in the morning until ten at night, and later on Saturdays.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

The pitchCoffee-shops and cheap public houses round Whitechapel and the Commercial Road. Nine-tenths of the take comes from indoors, and the good pubs bar them.
The mateA man with a wooden leg, who went in with the hat while Shorty played outside, on the reasoning that he could excite compassion.
The encoreA second tune after the drop, every time, which Shorty described as a point of honour rather than a way of earning more.
The booksTwo or three pounds a week for the pair, fifteen shillings of it to hire the organ, and about a pound a week each left. Eight in the morning to ten at night, later on Saturdays.

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