Financial considerations

[Maggyann]

We are told about MJk being drunk, Polly being drunk etc and I was just wondering how did they manage it?

Does anyone have any idea how much they could earn turning a trick? How much did alcohol cost?

Surely to have enough to be almost permanently intoxicated they must have been 'working' all the time and if so when did they get the time to drink?

[lynn cates]

price of

Hello Maggy. The price of a trick was roughly the same as a large glass of gin--3 or 4d.

The best.
LC

[Maggyann]

So to get 'drunk' they would have to have turned a quite few tricks every day/evening? How many gins would get a woman drunk? (I don't imbibe and have no idea)

[lynn cates]

doss vs drink

Hello Maggy. A glass or 2 could get one tipsy which may have been the aim.

You recall that Polly stated she had her doss money (about 6d) 3 times on the day of her murder but drank it up in each case. That figures out to about 1s 6d. Possibly 5 or 6 tricks? So it looks like 5 or 6 glasses of gin.

Have mercy on her liver!

The best.
LC

[Pontius2000]

today, you see crack addicts who are completely broke and own virtually nothing in the world. and yet, they still manage to get their hands on crack. alcohol was the 19th century version of crack. in fact, in my profession, I see women who could be exactly like those "unfortunates", living in small cinder-block rooms and run down motels, addicted to drugs.

[KatBradshaw]

You also have to remember that in those days people didn't sell Gin in 35ml measures like they do now. Plus if they weren't eating so much or were lacking sleep that would exaggerate the effects of the Gin.

[Sam Flynn]

I'm not sure what the strength of the gin would have been, though, nor how watered-down it was. Anyone know?

[lynn cates]

gin

Hello Sam. The next to last Ripperologist had an extensive article on gin.

The best.
LC

[KatBradshaw]

London Dry was pretty cheap to make. I wonder more about the quality and purity than the actual alcohol content. Its cheap to make pure Alcohol.

[Septic Blue]

The price of a trick was roughly the same as a large glass of gin--3 or 4d.

'Ripperlore', for which there is no historical basis. None, whatsoever!

[JTRSickert]

Hello Maggy. A glass or 2 could get one tipsy which may have been the aim.

You recall that Polly stated she had her doss money (about 6d) 3 times on the day of her murder but drank it up in each case. That figures out to about 1s 6d. Possibly 5 or 6 tricks? So it looks like 5 or 6 glasses of gin.

Have mercy on her liver!

The best.
LC

Lynn, indeed, bless her liver

However, (and this goes for illness Annie Chapman was inflicted with as well) I guess as it turns out, they didn't really need to worry about those things anymore.

[lynn cates]

lore

Hello Septic. Well, it looks as if we've bumped into one another again.

Why do you call it lore? There's an excellent piece on alcoholic beverages in Ripperologist 107, I believe. (Note my low level of doxastic involvement. Hopefully you'll not need to do a graphic reproduction of all the magazines. It may be 108.) It is interesting reading. I think it listed 3d as the late 18th c going rate. Given low inflation, well . . .

But perhaps you referred to the price charged by the ladies? Did I get that wrong too?

The best.
LC

[lynn cates]

Anie

Hello JTR. Right. Annie may not have lasted long anyway.

The best.
LC

[Septic Blue]

Why do you call it lore?

... perhaps you referred to the price charged by the ladies?

Indeed, I did! For it is just that: 'Ripperlore'!

And this, I am certain, is its source:



"Those women there", said our guide, "will sell themselves for thru'pence, or tu'pence, or a loaf of stale bread".

"The People of the Abyss", by Jack London (Chapter 6)

Donald Rumbelow asserts three-to-four nights per week (i.e. as often as he hosts a tour), that "you could buy an 'East End' prostitute, in 1888, for three pennies, two pennies, or a loaf of stale bread". He then goes on to proclaim that "the price was 'fixed' (i.e. capped) at three pennies, as that was the price of a tall glass of gin".

In the absence of any other known references, 'Ripperology' has seized upon Jack London's very specific pronouncement, regarding a very specific group of down-trodden souls, and established a convention that all 'East End' prostitutes typically charged ~ 2d-to-4d, in 1888.

I am quite certain that at the height of desperation, the likes of Annie Chapman would have settled for absolutely anything she could get, in return for a 'wank', in some vermin-infested, sludge-filled alley.

But I am just as certain that on a good night, having already procured a meal and bed for the evening, the likes of Frances Coles, when propositioned by an especially drunk and lustful sailor, would have demanded - and commanded - a 'half-crown' (i.e. 'two-and-six': 2s/6d), in return for an 'all-nighter', in some reasonably 'comfortable' accommodation.

[lynn cates]

red light specials

Hello Septic. Well, Donald seems a good chap to quote.

Are you saying that 3-4d was not the usual fee?

Whence the certainty about the lower fees?

The best.
LC