A street doctor displays his wares. Eighty years before the birth of the NHS, healthcare was an unaffordable dream for London's poorer residents. Faced with no other option, many of the penniless sick could only afford the services of quack doctors who sold their products on the streets. Not surprisingly, the 'cures' seldom worked. The 'street doctor' in this photo lost his job as a driver due to a degenerative eye disease. After spending months in hospitals, he met a man selling ointment that led to his eyesight gradually returning. The ointment seller set the man up in business. The man, who is pictured wearing a built-up shoe, told Thomson and Smith: 'I had no money, but he gave me everything on trust. It was a good thing for both of us, because I was a sort of standing advertisement for him and for myself'