Selling fruit and vegetables by horse-drawn cart is an international practice; yet, Baltimore may be the last city to host this tradition, which includes brightly decorated wagons and musical hollers while providing foodways from the city’s historic public markets to its neighborhoods. The mostly African American men who ply the trade are called arabbers. Arabbers represent a cultural tradition essential to Maryland’s heritage. Folklorist Charley Camp traces the term “arabber” to 19th century England, where those hustling in city alleys were compared to street “arabs,” a reference to a nomadic and outsider nature of street culture. The term quickly lost its original ethnic reference. Arabbers often pass on the tradition to their children and today serve as an alternative to the rampant drug trade. Camp says that while they represent a 150-year-old tradition, arabbers still operate on the city’s margins. The elderly and the poor who live in areas of food apartheid, where people without cars have few options for healthy food, depend on and trust arabbers.
At the beginning of the pandemic, UMBC partnered with the Arabber Preservation Society on a public health ‘zine created by a local artist to go out with the arabbers who were delivering free food and masks. This venerable Baltimore tradition now has connections to local youth and violence interruption programs along with the potential to expand into new facilities by the B&O Museum in Southwest Baltimore (see attached media sample). The arabbers currently have momentum to grow and sustain their important tradition.
Arabbing is recognized as an African American folk tradition, an economic system, and a method of apprenticeship unique to Baltimore. There are three remaining Arabber stables on Carlton Street, Bruce Street, and North Fremont Avenue in West Baltimore. The Arabber Preservation Society was created in 1994 to assist arabbers in navigating city building codes and is dedicated to the support and preservation of Baltimore’s arabbers and functional horse-cart vending, known as arabbing. James Chase, a longtime arabber, is president. M. Holden Warren is vice president.
The Arabber Preservation Society is dedicated to preserving this vital and autonomous cultural tradition and economy without interference. The Arabbers and the Preservation Society stepped up recently during the coronavirus pandemic to bring free food, masks, and public health resources to residents of the city’s neighborhoods most in need. Warren explained. “People ask, ‘Why are the arabbers important?’ It’s a trusted means of communication with a community that’s at risk.” Arabber Lavar Mullen who runs the Carlton Street stable represents the multigenerational connections of the arabbing tradition in Baltimore. His grandfather was an arabber, his grandmother the first African American woman to own a stable, and his daughter currently works taking care of the horses with her father. Mullen received funding for a horsemanship program for local at-risk youth and works with the Arabber Preservation Society to sustain this important tradition. Lavar led a group of arabbers to escort a walking tour at UMBC’s A Walk Down West Baltimore Street public humanities event last year.
Baltimore Arabbers have received the 2021 Maryland Heritage Award in the category of tradition from Maryland Traditions in recognition of the 150 years during which arabbing has been upheld by and for Baltimore’s Black communities.
