Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a man in the swag trade, a street-seller of miscellaneous goods.

1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 447: The miscellaneous dealers [...] are known among street-folk as ‘swag-barrowmen,’ or, in the popular ellipsis, ‘penny swags;’ [...] The ‘swag-men’ are often confounded with the ‘lot-sellers’.
1937		J. Worby Other Half 214: She then showed me her swag basket and told me that if she sold the lot she would make about ten pounds profit as it was all cheap swag from Manchester. [...] But it was an awful night. The wretched swag-woman would give me no rest.