'Draper' is the now largely obsolete term for a merchant in cloth or dry goods, though often used specifically for one who owns or works in a 'draper's shop' or 'store'. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild.
A number of prominent people were at one time or another drapers:

★ Margaret Bondfield

★ Anton van Leeuwenhoek

★ John Lewis

★ Anthony Munday

★ H. G. Wells

★ George Williams, founder of the YMCA

★ Edward Whalley, regicide, cousin of Oliver Cromwell
In 1724 Jonathan Swift wrote, in the guise of a draper, ''The Drapier's Letters'', a series of satirical essays.

Contents

See also

See also

★ Haberdasher

★ Millinery

★ Worshipful Company of Drapers

★ ''Sukiennice''

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