Any article on the board a penny A man wounded in the Boer War, his leg lost resort to life as an itinerant tinker or peddlar, peddling his wares on the street. A Tinker was originally an itinerant tinsmith, who mended household utensils. The term became used in British society to refer to marginalized persons, of which this gentleman is a very fine example. This picture shows how easy it is to be wiped out from one's regular life in an instant.