Rag and bone man.

[bimsey]

In days of old when the rag and bone man wandered the streets with his bell and horse and cart I know what the rags were ...but what were the bones..were they actually bones or was this a name for something else?

[Rev.Crowley]

Yes, they were actually bones. At one time they collected discarded bones from beef, pork, etc, which were taken away to be sold to the glue-maker, who boiled them down into glue.