'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
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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.
See also
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Haberdasher
★
Millinery
★
Worshipful Company of Drapers
★ ''
Sukiennice''