What is/was a cannoid?
In 1865 an emigrant returned to Belfast, at the age of 26, and recorded in his diary:
“Bridge Street is wider than I expected to find it. Arnott’s big shop is still there. Pelan’s where we used to buy marbles and half penny cannoids gone, as are 2 or 3 shops there, & a large building is now being put up, 10 feet or so further back, so that the street in time will be wider.”
Directories show that Robert Pelan was a Toy Dealer in Belfast, operating the “Basket Manufactory & Prince of Wales Bazaar” on Bridge Street in 1846. In 1863 the shop was Pelan & Rankin, “Prince of Wales Bazaar & Basket Manufactory”, 6 Bridge St., and at 37 & 41 York St. In 1865, when the diary was written, the company was located at 37, 39, & 41 York Street in Belfast.