Open-air Pig Auction

The source of a few Victorian families' bacon rashers and Sunday roasts - a pig is sold at an old-fashioned auction

A humble scene, but a novel one for many urban cinema audiences at the turn of the 20th century. At a rural livestock auction, a pig is sold to the highest bidder. The main attraction here is the grumpy pig, held fast by the ears and balancing on a bench. It's only natural to be drawn to the faces of long-passed Victorians, demonstrating their equal fascination with the camera. The pig-handler is clearly showing off, and with such a distraction, someone may have bagged a bargain that day.