Page:Negro Life in New York's Harlem (1928).djvu/51

 of the Harlemites, who must dress well on a small salary, shun the installment house leechers and patronize the "hot men."

"Hot men" sell "hot stuff," which when, translated from Harlemese into English, mean? merchandise supposedly obtained illegally and sold on the q. t. far below par. "Hot men" do a big business in Harlem. Some have apartments fitted out as showrooms, but the majority peddle their goods piece by piece from person to person.

"Hot stuff" is supposedly stolen by shoplifters or by store employes or by organ gangs, who raid warehouses and freight yartfs. Actually, most of the "hot stuff" sold in Harlem originally comes from bankrupt stores. Some ingenious group of people make a practice of attending bankruptcy sales and by buying blocks of merchandise get a great deal for a small sum of money. This merchandise is then given in small lots to various agents in Harlem, who secretly dispose of it.

There is a certain glamour about buying stolen goods aside from their cheapness. Realizing this, "hot men" and their agents maintain that their goods are stolen whether they are or not. People like to feel that they are breaking the law and when they are getting