Yesterday's Chip Paper

Described as a “vulgar, industrious, shrewd” character worthy of Charles Dickens or Chris Reade, this is the story of, arguably, the most brilliant and bonkers businessman of Victorian London. William Harris, the Sausage King, built his string of sausage shops from the murky misery of Newgate Market, before moving to his glamorous new premises across the road from Smithfield Market. He was known in every household in England, and his fame spread to most every continent in the world. Also this week, Jim reads a lyrical musing about what would happen if people didn’t have to eat, and a gaff of an announcement which has a certain newpaper in all kinds of trouble. This is Yesterday’s Chip Paper, a fortnightly(ish) history podcast that looks at true crime, strange stories, bizarre letters and old poetry from the pages of historic newspapers. Every two weeks or so, transatlantic researchers Jim and Violet discuss a story they’ve found from historic newspaper archives across the world.   Newspaper archives used in t