Baltimore's community of arabbers make for a unique phenomenon, offering the city mobile fruit stands pulled by horse and buggy. The profession has a long tradition in Charm City, but it may be on the verge of dying out if a new generation doesn't become interested in the trade. In this video from Great Big Story, a couple of arabbers explain why the job is important.
"In Baltimore, you've got markets around, but you've gotta have a vehicle to get to them," explains arabber James Chase. "It's going to cost them to get there, cost them to get back, so it's beneficial to a lot of people for the arabbers to be on the streets."
In 2014, Eater profiled the dwindling salesforce and the songs — called "hollers" — the arabbers use to sell their produce. While the number or remaining arabbers is small, those who still ply the trade are determined to keep it alive.
"If we don't get a lot of people behind us and exposed to the arabbing business, it might eventually die out," Chase says in the video. "My dream is to see it last forever, till the day I shut my eyes for good."
