Antique Engraving of "A Michaelmas Goose Fair" from Illustrated London News 1873

A coloured engraving of an interesting piece of social history. Michaelmas is the feast of St Michael and all the angels and has been celebrated from the Middle Ages on 29th September. 29th September is a "quarter day" when traditionally staff would be hired, debts would be paid etc. In England it was traditional, into the Victorian era, to eat a goose on Michaelmas - preferably one fattened by feeding on stubble after the harvest - and if you did so, you were supposed to be financially secure for the following year! In this piece, we see a goose seller showing his live wares in a crowded market. Note the woman sitting down who appears to be plucking a dead goose to order.