An actor performing the role of a spiv selling goods "from the back of a lorry" at a 2011 historical re-enactment, complete with a look-out watching for the law
In the United Kingdom, a spiv is a petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. Spivs were particularly active during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed due to shortages.
According to Peter Wollen, "the crucial difference between the spiv and the classic Hollywood gangster was the degree of sympathy the spiv gained as an intermediary in the transfer of black market goods to ... a grateful mass of consumers."[1]
Origins
The origin of the word is obscure. According to Eric Partridge[2] the word was originally racecourse slang, but had become widely accepted by 1950. It appeared in a paperback crime novel in 1934.[3]
spiff, a bonus for salespeople (especially drapers but later car salesmen etc.) for managing to sell excess or out of fashion stock. The seller might offer a discount, by splitting his commission with the customer. A seller of stolen goods could give this explanation for a bargain price.
"Spiv" was the nickname of Henry Bagster, a London small-time crook in the 1900s who was frequently arrested for illegal street trading and confidence tricks. National newspapers reported his court appearances in 1903–06.[4][5][6]
Other suggestions have been made, most commonly noting that spiv is also a Romani word for a sparrow, implying the person is a petty criminal rather than a serious "villain"[7] or that it is an American police acronym for Suspicious Person Itinerant Vagrant,[8] though this is an unlikely formation and is probably a backronym.[5]
The spiv had a characteristic look which has been described as "A duck's arse haircut, Clark Gable moustache, rakish trilby [hat], drape-shape jacket, and loud garish tie ... [which] all represented a deliberate snook cocked at wartime austerity."[10]
The comedian Arthur English had a successful career immediately after the Second World War appearing as a spiv with a pencil moustache, wide-brimmed hat, light-coloured suit and a large bright patterned tie.[11]
The British television series Minder (1979–1994) featured George Cole in the role of Arthur Daley, an aging spiv with an unseen wife ("her indoors"), a used-car business, and a bodyguard (minder) played by Dennis Waterman.
The character Swinburne (played by Bruce Forsyth) in the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks – set in London during the Second World War – has a similar appearance, and offers to sell from a selection of watches which are pinned inside his coat.
In Agatha Christie's play, The Mousetrap, the mysterious character of Mr. Paravicini is referred to as a spiv. He arrives unexpectedly at Monkswell Manor, a guesthouse that is the setting for the play, with only one small suitcase.
In a song from The Kinks' album Muswell Hillbillies (1971), called "Holloway Jail", the narrator is visiting his beloved in that famous London lock-up. He says "she was young and ever so pretty", but "a spiv named Frankie Shine" led her into a life of crime.
In The Kinks' rock operaPreservation: Acts 1 & 2 (1973–74), Ray Davies states that his character "Flash", at that point leader of the Government, had started out as a spiv in the song "Second Hand Car Spiv".
English singer-songwriter Joe Jackson based elements of his early public persona on that of the spiv, and labelled his own music as "spiv rock".[14] His use of spiv imagery is particularly evident on the cover of his second album, I'm the Man.
Box for One (1949) is a television play about a spiv.
^e.g. Daily Mirror 30 August 1914." “Spiv” Bagster, ....went to prison yesterday for three months as a "rogue and vagabond.” ... Bagster was detected in the yard of Victoria Station offering imitation jewellery or sale as genuine."
