Onion Johnny

Common card · No. 386781

Onion Johnnies (Welsh: 'Sioni Winwns' or 'Sioni Nionod') were Breton farmers and agricultural labourers who travelled, originally on foot and later on bicycles, selling distinctive pink onions door to door in Great Britain. They were especially active in Wales, where they share linguistic similarities. They adapted this nickname for themselves in Breton as ar Johniged or ar Johnniged. Declining since the 1950s to only a few, the Onion Johnny was once very common. Dressed in a striped Breton shirt and beret, riding a bicycle hung with onions, the Onion Johnny became the stereotypical image of the Frenchman in the United Kingdom. In many cases these tradesmen may have been the only contact that ordinary British people had with France and French people. With renewed interest since the late 1990s by farmers and the public in small-scale agriculture, the number of Onion Johnnies made a small recovery. The profession was eventually wiped out due to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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