"All over London as one walks, one everywhere, in the season, sees oranges to sell; and they are in general sold tolerably cheap, one and even sometimes two for a halfpenny; or, in our money, threepence"
About this Quote
Oranges for a halfpenny: it reads like a throwaway travel note, but Moritz is quietly staging a consumer spectacle. The repetition - "one walks, one everywhere" - mimics the pedestrian’s trance in a city that sells to you at every step. London appears not as monument or museum but as a moving market, its most vivid landmark an edible, portable luxury turned street-level habit.
The detail that matters isn’t the fruit; it’s the calibration. Moritz counts, compares, converts. That parenthetical - "in our money, threepence" - is the tell: he’s translating experience into exchange rates, turning sensation into an economic fact his readers can immediately price. The intent is documentary, but the subtext is awe mixed with suspicion. For an eighteenth-century continental traveler, oranges aren’t just snacks; they’re global logistics made visible. Citrus implies shipping lanes, colonial networks, seasonal supply chains, and a metropolis rich enough to make the exotic feel ordinary.
"Sold tolerably cheap" is also a moral temperature check. Moritz isn’t praising London’s generosity; he’s measuring the city’s efficiency and abundance, the way capitalism can flood the streets with sweetness while remaining indifferent to who’s doing the hawking. The sentence performs a small, modern revelation: the empire’s reach can be tasted, and its power shows up not only in palaces but in casual, ubiquitous bargains.
The detail that matters isn’t the fruit; it’s the calibration. Moritz counts, compares, converts. That parenthetical - "in our money, threepence" - is the tell: he’s translating experience into exchange rates, turning sensation into an economic fact his readers can immediately price. The intent is documentary, but the subtext is awe mixed with suspicion. For an eighteenth-century continental traveler, oranges aren’t just snacks; they’re global logistics made visible. Citrus implies shipping lanes, colonial networks, seasonal supply chains, and a metropolis rich enough to make the exotic feel ordinary.
"Sold tolerably cheap" is also a moral temperature check. Moritz isn’t praising London’s generosity; he’s measuring the city’s efficiency and abundance, the way capitalism can flood the streets with sweetness while remaining indifferent to who’s doing the hawking. The sentence performs a small, modern revelation: the empire’s reach can be tasted, and its power shows up not only in palaces but in casual, ubiquitous bargains.
Quote Details
| Topic | Food |
|---|
More Quotes by Karl
Add to List
