“There were the Rougiers, for instance, an old ragged, dwarfish couple who plied an extraordinary trade. They used to sell postcards on the Boulevard St. Michel. The curious thing is that the postcards were sold in sealed packets as pornographic ones, but were actually photographs of châteaux on the Loire; the buyers did not discover this until too late, and of course never complained. The Rougiers earned about a hundred francs a week, and by strict economy managed to be half starved and half drunk. The filth of their room was such that one could smell it in the room below. According to Madame F., neither of the Rougiers had taken off their clothes in four years.”
George Orwell, “Down and Out in Paris and London”, 1933.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 