Hock Talk

If the worldwide financial crisis is a 195-car pileup caused by a bunch of manicured dicks in bespoke suits driving around drunk while rifling through a dossier of cooked-up financial portfolios, then pawnshops are the hospitals where the innocent survivors come to heal. Vice checked in with pawnbrokers (and a few customers) across the globe to find out the stories behind why people are being forced to peddle Auntie Esther’s whalebone punch bowl encrusted with peridot cabochons for pennies on the dollar.

Vice: Hey, Brian. Please excuse me for thinking this place would be gross. It’s really clean! What do people sell you?

Brian Cabrera:

Any major changes since the dollar tanked?

and

How strict are the regulations on pawnshops in New York?

Any really sad stories to tell?

You’re scaring me.

CONTINUED:
A PAWNSHOP IN… New York | Mexico City & Brussels | Amsterdam & Vienna | Paris & Milan | Berlin & São Paulo | Helsinki & Barcelona | Melbourne & Tokyo | Vancouver & Aukland | Stockholm & London |