Mock Auctions

MOCK AUCTIONS

There's nothing new under the sun ... or, possibly, the Victorians invented modern life ... I can never quite decide. In any case, many of the criminal cons you see in London today (and elsewhere) go back a long way. I recently came across a Victorian reference to the 'long firm' (see Jake Arnott's novel of that title, in reference to the 1960s) and another classic is the 'mock auction', which can still be found in the metropolis, although I haven't seen one in Oxford Street for a year or two (but then I don't get out much!).