Give a man a fish and feed him for a day....Teach him to use the internet and he won't bother you for weeks!
Somehow, Joe Ades got people’s attention as the crowds swirled by at the Union Square Greenmarket, on their way to eyeing and buying the produce. He was the white-haired man with the British accent, the expensive European suits and shirts — the man selling the $5 peeler. For carrots. Or potatoes....His old-world sophistication stands in stark contrast to the "in your face" style personified by pitchman Billy Mays. And don't even get me started on the ShamWow guy! But a Flickr group has popped up to honor the Gentleman Peeler.
His was a particular kind of street theater in a city that delights in in-your-face characters who are, and are not, what they seem. For he was the sidewalk pitchman with the Upper East Side apartment. The sidewalk pitchman who was a regular at expensive East Side restaurants, where no one believed his answer to the “So what do you do?” question: “I sell potato peelers on the street.”