Figure 1.--This photograph shows some of the street children of Cagliari, the bigger Sardinian town, probbly inthe 1900s. They were called "piccioccus de crobi" (in the Sardinian dialect "basket boys") because these boys usually carried a basket. They went to the port or to the market and brought little merchandise to sell around town and earn a little money. However they also were also little thieves.They wore old clothing and were barefoot. The first photo [Alinari photos] here seems taken in have been taken in the 1900s. To see the second photograph put your cursor on the image. It looks to have been taken in the 1930s. Fratelli Alinari (Alinari Bros.) is the world's oldest photographic firm founded in Florence in 1852. Its archives contain 3.5 million photographs.

Most Italian cities because of poverty until after World war II had many street children. Some were called basket children. Some photographs show the street children of Cagliari, the bigger Sardinian town, in late 19th or early 20th century. In those times there were street children in many Italian towns. Perhaps the most famous were the Neapolitans, called "scugnizzi". In Cagliari they were called "piccioccus de crobi" (in the Sardinian dialect "basket boys") because these boys usually carried a basket. They went to the port or to the market and brought little merchandise to sell around town and earn a little money. However they were also often little thieves. They wore old clothing and were barefoot.

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Created: 8:04 PM 12/18/2007
Last updated: 8:04 PM 12/18/2007