selling inexpensive items without a license is an old street hustle- especially for the psychically disabled- and for a time in NYC at least you would see folks selling pencils or other such sundries on the street.
The idea of the blind beggar selling pencils on city streets was already a stereotype by the time legendary journalist/reformer Jacob Riis wrote How The Other Half Lives in 1890 in New York: “There is no provision for him anywhere…The annual pittance of 30 or 40 dollars which he receives from the city serves to keep his landlord in good humor; for the rest his misfortune and his thin disguise of selling pencils on the street corners must provide.”
selling inexpensive items without a license is an old street hustle- especially for the psychically disabled- and for a time in NYC at least you would see folks selling pencils or other such sundries on the street.
Here’s an example article about the pencil trope specifically during the 30’s: https://www.graphiteconfidential.com/blog/2018/2/25/blind-new-yorkers-selling-pencils-on-the-corner