Sep 27, 2013

Clip, clop, jingle, jingle. Next comes the sing-song holler: pe-eee-aches and ca-aaa-ntalopes, wa-aaa-termelon, su-uuu-gar bananas and swe-eee-et grapes…” This musical rhythm section cuts through the humdrum sounds of traffic, turning a routine city scene into something special. An Arabber, no longer a common sight on Baltimore’s streets, has arrived. Leading this musical band is Yusuf Abdullah, known as B.J., followed by his horse Tony, decked out in bells and a red feather plume and harnessed to a vintage wagon laden with fruit.

: Arabbers get the horses and carts ready to go out in the morning at the North Fremont Ave. stable. Murals have recently been painted at this stable by street artists. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: The Arabber Preservation Society wants to turn the North Fremont Ave. stable into an educational Arabber Center. Murals have recently been painted at this stable by street artists. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: A mural scene has been painted over one of the stables at the North Fremont Ave. stable. The horses are rotated so that they get rest between outings. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Many cats make their home at the North Fremont Ave. stable, where the Arabbers feed them. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” adds the finishing touch, a red feather plume headdress, to his horse Tony before setting out on his trek from West to East Baltimore. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” secures an umbrella to the wagon to shade the fruit from the sun. A few of the carts have a canopy, but not this one. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” with his horse Tony, begins his day walking the streets in West Baltimore near the stable. He hollers, “peaches and cantaloupes, watermelons, sugar bananas and sweet grapes…” (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” walks with his horse Tony along West Mulberry Street past the Basilica, as he travels eastward. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” spots a man pushing a car on West Mulberry Street, and leaves his horse and wagon to lend a hand. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” waits at a red light with his horse Tony on North Charles Street, before heading east on East Centre Street. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” with his horse Tony, breaks into a smile on Centre Street after leaving the congested midtown streets. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” makes a phone call while customer Marilyn Brown examines the strawberries with a sharp eye on East Monument Street. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” stops on West Franklin Street to fix the umbrella he has jerry-rigged to his cart to shade the fruit from the sun, when it is inverted by a wind gust. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” ventures into the Latrobe housing project in East Baltimore, where some arabbers are leery of going. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Children try to get the horse, Tony, to react when Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” stops in the Latrobe housing project. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” with his horse Tony, sells fruit to a regular customer in the 1200 block of East Eager Street. The addresses of his loyal customers all around the city are in his head. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: After 5 p.m., concerned that he has fallen behind schedule, Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” decides to ride for a bit as he heads east on Ashland Street, just past the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” makes a sale as the sun goes down on East Federal Street in the Berea neighborhood. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: In the early evening, arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” feeds his horse Tony an apple on East Federal Street. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Regular customer Betty Johnson checks out the fruit while arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” carries a watermelon to her home in the 1500 block of Decker Street in the evening. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Most children, like this girl on East Eager Street, stop and stare when Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” passes by with his horse Tony, but adults don’t always pay as much attention. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” carefully arranges his wares on the cart at the North Fremont Avenue stable so they won’t bounce off during the journey. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” with his horse Tony, crosses Fallsway, under the I-83 overpass, heading east. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” shows off plums to customers Yolanda Miller and Glenn Giles on Pitcher Street in West Baltimore. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: School boys look with interest at the Arabber’s horse, named Tony, on West Saratoga Street. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: At dusk, Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” calls out the Arabber holler: “Peaches and cantalopes, watermelon, sugar bananas and sweet grapes…” as he walks along East Federal Street in the Berea neighborhood. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Brass hardware on one of the old saddles is stored at the North Fremont Avenue stable. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” gets on the wagon to rest and get back to the stable on Preston Street more quickly as night falls. He has already walked about 11 miles. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: By 8 p.m., Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” rides past rowhouses on East Preston Street, back to the stable on North Fremont Avenue where he began his day around 10 a.m. He has logged over 11 miles this day. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

: Arabber Yusuf Abdullah, known as “B.J.,” gets on his wagon at East Preston Street to ride back to the stable as he and his horse Tony wind up their 12-hour workday. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

B.J., 25, works out of the North Fremont Avenue stable, one of two Arabber stables currently in operation. As he carefully stacks the cart with fruit at the start of his 12-hour workday, B.J. recounts, “I’ve been around horses since I was a baby.” His father owned horses and did some arabbing, but wasn’t around enough to teach B.J. the tradition of selling fruits and vegetables by horse-drawn wagon. “I learned arabbing by going around with everyone. I learned from all the good people.” B.J. added, “I love horses. They put food in my mouth and I have fun with them.”

“I stopped going to school after 8th grade,” B.J. says. “I was still coming down here. But the money wasn’t fast enough. I used to like fast money when I was young.” Fast money – and drugs – landed B.J. in jail for three years, where he earned his G.E.D. “That’s one thing I like about arabbing,” B.J. says. “You can be slow. Now I’m making slow money doing something I love most.”

Arabbers vary their routes, and on this day, B.J. heads east, logging over 11 miles, mostly on foot. “I go through a lot of sneakers in a year.” B.J. keeps a brisk pace, passing decrepit rowhouses, congested downtown streets, a housing project and more rowhouses before reaching the leafier neighborhood of Berea on the east side. Along the way, B.J. criss-crosses the streets, knocking on the doors of his regular customers. At Edison Highway, as dusk approaches, B.J. turns around onto East Federal Street, heading westward again, making a few more sales as night falls.

Arabbers: Working the city streets of Baltimore

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