German? Figure help with ID of marks

Looks like a grinding wheel to sharpen tools on his back !!
& the bell...
I stilll have an orange truck...with a bell....pass by every 2 weeks to sharpen the neighborhood tools !

 

Great many thanks

 

Hi,
That the nice thing about living in Brooklyn, they knife sharpener drove through every two to three weeks. Always ahd a knife or pair of scissors for him. I just got a set of ceramic covered knives I HATE them. The bright colors etc and they are NOT sharp nor can you sharpen them.
greg

 

It’s incredible how people can identify such items, I literally had no clue what he was carrying on his back, fascinating. Thanks for info everyone

 

We used to have Gypsies going from door to door to sharpen knives. I haven't seen them where I live now, the Gypsies around here are more into the used car and car repair business. And antiques, but isn't everyone?

 

Pressig Porcelain Factory from the mid-50s on.

 

'Our' Gypsies are ok, and they usually keep a low profile. Except when it comes to music, many are very good musicians, Gypsy Jazz mostly.
But there is a Travellers camp nearby that has a bad reputation. It used to be one of the worst in the country.

 

I have to say I’m in the UK and I have to agree with Daveydempsey. They have a dedicated site in our town but choose instead to cut the locks off playing fields and car parks instead, the crime rate in our town always goes up when they are around and the mess they leave behind is beyond disgusting, soiled nappies thrown in bushes, human excrement smeared everywhere and not to mention tons of rubbish which costs us in the long run to clear up. And they wonder why they are not welcomed with open arms. On the plus side I now know what my figurine is thanks everyone.

 

Are you sure the ones in your town are Gypsies and not Travellers? Real Gypsies have a taboo on anything to do with faeces, and the lower body in general. They have strict purity laws, just like their Indian cousins. The Gypsies here in the Netherlands adhere to the traditional laws. Most Gypsies I have met abroad do the same.
Travellers have a different culture, of course, and are different from one country to another because they are of local origin, unlike Gypsies.

 

The groups we get here are Irish Tinkers, not Roma’s as I think you have. We have lots of trouble when they come to town. If they showed more respect, they would get more respect. Sad really.

 

If only we took the same stance as the French have done. I lived in London in the 1990’s and I loved it, sadly now it has changed dramatically, and not for the best.

 

Hi,
Those Irish tinkers are the worst. The one day I was in Limerick and just left the pub having lunch. Two Tinker girls walked up along my side and within a second but I was faster. I jammed my hands into my pockets where my money and wallet were. The two girls grabbed my arms and started to chatter a a song while they tried to pick my other pockets that were empty. I shouted "GUARDS Help!!! The two girls cursed me out and fled.
greg

 

Lol no he’s a travelling knife sharpener made by Pressig in Germany 1950’s. Thanks fir the help and interesting conversation

 

Our Gypsies would never defend Travellers, they don't like them very much. The local Gypsies are mainly Sinti, related to the Manouche of France.
We do have some trouble with Roma from former Yugoslavia, they lost most of the traditions, just like many Romanian Roma. Centuries of slavery will do that to a culture.

I agree, the figurine is not a Gypsy. He could be a German Traveller, they had occupations like that. But a German Traveller is not an Irish Traveller.