The Twilight City

[admin tim]

This content is so good that it deserves its own thread,


http://www.historicaleye.com/Lost1.html

Vagrants and prostitutes in Victorian London.

Much of Walkowitz’s work stems from an analysis of a sizeable late Victorian questionnaire of 16,000 prostitutes who went through the Millbank Penitentiary in the late 1880s.

Many other prostitutes were ‘dollymops’, usually older women who held other jobs, but supplemented their meagre incomes with irregular acts of streetwalking. These women were at the bottom of the ‘sex industry’. According to Chesney they were ‘whores in the last resort, and ready to escape back to another life as soon as they could.

Seedy, sleazy and morally bankrupt, it was no surprise that streetwalking became closely tied to notions of degeneracy and the view that prostitutes were conduits for disease, contagion, filth and decay. Although we should note these opinions were frequently voiced by those with little knowledge of the realities on the ground, often by academics, or journalists whipping themselves into frenzy of indignation. For example, only a few weeks before the savage butchery of Mary Jane Kelly by Jack the Ripper, a Daily News’ correspondent wrote that Whitechapel prostitutes were ‘bloated by drink and distorted by passion’.

There's plenty more in here; this is one profound work and well worth your read. It contains much information that I had not known, such as the questionnaire for the 16,000 prostitutes in Millbank.

Be sure to read the 'Strength in Adversity' section - it discusses three of Jack's victims.
http://www.historicaleye.com/Lost5.html

But it must be emphasised that it is not within the remit of this dissertation to analyse the grisly details of the murders, or to dwell on the reaction – often hysterical – of the press and public. Rather, we shall confine ourselves to looking at the lives of three victims: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly. We will chart the course of their lives and consider the extent that they match the model of prostitution constructed by Walkowitz and the views of other historians we have touched upon.

[admin tim]

The ‘dollymops’
Many other prostitutes were ‘dollymops’, usually older women who held other jobs, but supplemented their meagre incomes with irregular acts of streetwalking. These women were at the bottom of the ‘sex industry’. According to Chesney they were ‘whores in the last resort, and ready to escape back to another life as soon as they could.


I had never before seen the term 'dollymop' used to describe the worn-out prostitutes in Jack's time, and surely I should have run across it in reading about Chapman and Eddowes. Has anyone else ever seen this term before in researching the case?

[How Brown]

Tim:

I had heard of the term and surprisingly ( or maybe not) it was just this very week that I remember seeing the word. Can't remember where though...

[How Brown]

This also makes me rethink a little about this situation that beggar ladies, homeless ladies in the park(s),and those women sleeping out on the street weren't attacked ....since they would be easier targets.... and assuming Nichols,Tabram, and maybe Eddowes weren't sleeping or attempting to nod out at the times they were killed.

Could it be that beggars would likely stay on the more frequented streets than the streets that Stride,Eddowes,Nichols, and Chapman were killed on?

What say ye,O fellow Forumite?

[Ultra Violet]

Tim:

I had heard of the term and surprisingly ( or maybe not) it was just this very week that I remember seeing the word. Can't remember where though...

Funny enough, so did I. But I remember I was searching for vintage pinups. Anyhoo, image googling for "dollymop" brought that up

http://www.marymortis.net/btp/dollymop.htm

(The other historic recipe perfumes have funny names, too)

[Archaic]

I have seen the term 'Dollymops' used in mid-19th C literature & illustrations, but I don't recall ever having seen it used in connection with Whitechapel or JTR. As far as I know, it was most popular in the 1830s, 1840's & 1850's.

*Didn't Mayhew use this word in his 'London Poor'? (I think so, but I don't recall the context in which he used it.)

Dollymops are mentioned in a used book I picked up at Half-Price Books called 'A History of Sex' by author Reay Tannahill, published 1982. (She's quite entertaining & witty and also wrote 'Food in History,' but I haven't seen it.)

She says Dollymops were ''London's version of the Parisian midinettes, pretty little Seamstresses or Milliners or Nursemaids who were ready to be picked up by a personable young man or a wealthy older one, and could be cajoled into bed in return for a 'fee' paid in flowers, chocolates, trinkets, & entertainment under the bright lights.''

In other words, they weren't actually prostitutes; more like young women with low-paying jobs looking for a little fun & romance beyond their means. I have read of them being entertained in private rooms at restaurants, which you wouldn't expect of a WC street-walker. Also, they seemed to meet the gentlemen at their place of legitimate employment, not out soliciting in the street.

In Tannerhill's book I see nothing to indicate that 19th C. dollymops were regarded as actual 'prostitutes', but I suppose that would be in the eye of the beholder. And different usages might have different nuances; for instance, American vs. British slang.

Hope this helps, Archaic

[Dustin Gould]

This also makes me rethink a little about this situation that beggar ladies, homeless ladies in the park(s),and those women sleeping out on the street weren't attacked ....since they would be easier targets.... and assuming Nichols,Tabram, and maybe Eddowes weren't sleeping or attempting to nod out at the times they were killed.

Could it be that beggars would likely stay on the more frequented streets than the streets that Stride,Eddowes,Nichols, and Chapman were killed on?

What say ye,O fellow Forumite?

That's precisely how it is here, in modern-day Toronto.

Not only do they stay on the more frequented main streets, but if you can believe this, they additionally "network". It's not uncommon for street beggars to postion themselves two to a street, and sitting directly across from one another. So unless an individual is willing to walk into oncomming traffic to avoid them, they are forced to encounter at least one of the crew. At the end of the day, they spilt the proceeds between them.

[How Brown]

Thanks for that D.G.

I remember someone making the observation elsewhere that the victims...not all of them perhaps...may have been engaged in begging at the time they were accosted and killed as opposed to prossing. I tend to disagree for three prime reasons..

Because of the locations ( off the major arterial routes) and the time of day ( I have never seen local modern day beggars at work at that time of night here...and we certainly do have beggars) and the available market of people to beg from ( less people at night on the street than at day) would be those factors.

[Ultra Violet]

Occasionally there are beggars at late hours in the bigger cities over here, but that's in the areas where the action is - bars, restaurants, i.e. places crowded with people and not some dark back street. And other than prostitutes, they have no reason to go with someone into a deserted place.

[Dustin Gould]

Violet...We call that out "Entertainment District". The geographic area of town in which we house our nightclubs, bars, dinner theatres, and so forth. Often crowded until 4am, it's common knowledge one doesn't stand outside waiting in line or for a cigarette, unless you're willing to be accosted by a beggar.

[How Brown]

I think I mentioned this a long time ago, but many homeless and a sizeable percentage of those of the "beggar" class...many schizophrenics and those with serious mental disorders...who slept over open grates ( with steam rising up out of them like you see in movies...) near the Free Library, The Rodin Exhibit, the Art Museum and in other significant places on Ben Franklin Parkway....were found to be out of staters who were being rounded up in the provinces and dumped outta vans on the City's streets.

Philadelphia reciprocated and began taking some of them in their vans and clandestinely dumped them off in other areas outside the city.:)