Who could afford the prostitutes?

[Writerboy]

I was wondering, regarding the issue of how many toffs were actually floating around the East End in another thread,how that huge number of prostitutes actually made their money. The press at the time very much saw prostitution as something of poor being exploited by rich, but if they were charging 4d a time, was that a sum that at the time many local people could afford to? It was the same amount as a bed for the night in a lodging house.


Also for toffs to be in the area I assume they would have all been in coaches: were the streets of Whitechapel at the time very busy with coaches or were they a rare sight in that area?

[Ben]

Hi Writerboy,

The crucial point here is that many of the prostitutes plying their trade in that part of the East End were very much povery-striken. They were unlikely, therefore, have charged a great deal of money for their services, and they would certainly have sought to cater as much as possible for the "local people", who comprised their majority clientele. Any East End prostitute adopting a "toffs-only" policy would no doubt have elicited the mirth and derision of her colleagues!

All the best,
Ben

[protohistorian]

Hello Writerboy. It is also worth noting that not everyone in the area was dirt poor. There was a local economy, and the flow of money was not as bad as many conceive. A totally blighted conception of the area is in error. Dave

[Barnaby]

In addition to the above points, then as now, the people who could least afford to spend money on sex, drugs, gambling, etc. are the ones most likely to do so.

[Adam Went]

It also depended on the prostitute for how much they could charge - for instance, somebody of Mary Kelly's age and appearance could demand more than somebody of the likes of the older victims - so it's easy to see how some pretty young girl could see the dollar signs flashing in such a profession early on, and then find herself destitute by the age of 40. As previously mentioned, many times these women would impart their services merely to satisfy their lust for alcohol, or to pay for a lodging house or a little bit of food.....

Toffs could be seen in the area but the smart ones would have avoided areas like Whitechapel and Spitalfields in the middle of a weekend night, whether in a coach or not, as their chances of being mugged would be quite high.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Jane Coram]

Hi,

Quite often the arrangement was that the client simply paid for the prostitute's bed in the doss house for the night.

For instance, Polly had been staying at the White House for some days up until the last day of her life. The White House was really a glorified brothel where a prostitute could take a client and share a double bed with him for the night. The charge for this was 8d. The arrangement for this would be that the prostitute would pick up a bloke, take him back to the doss house and he would pay the 8d -- in other words he just paid for her bed for the night in return for a bit of slap and tickle. If she was lucky, she might get a gin and a baked potato out of him as well. If she was unlucky it would be a nice dose of syphilis or a bun in the oven

Annie Chapman, allegedly spent the weekends with Ted Stanley, presumably with the same sort of arrangement. It's seems to have been a fairly standard pratice back then.

Hugs

Janie

xxxxx

[protohistorian]

"slap and tickle" is soooo stolen by me. So long "bumping uglies", you have been replaced with "slap and tickle". Thanks Jane! Dave

[kensei]

Don't forget "two penny knee trembler!"

[claire]

Tupenny upright; bit of 'ow's yer farver.

[Monty]

Obviously the transactions between prostitute and client differs.

One classic example is Coles and Sadler. She notes a previous client in a pub, sidles up to him, realises he has just been paid his seafarers wage, makes sure he spends as much on her as she can, they end up legless at a doss house.

Coles seemingly didnt receive monies direct, however she was seen right as they say.

And for Coles I suspect we can call Eddowes. It was a shame PCs Robinson and Simmons put an end to that game. It wouldnt surprise me if a Sadler type was in that crowd which had gathered around her.

Monty

[protohistorian]

Thank you Kensei and Claire. I am always looking for colorful ways to express myself. Dave