Why Was There No Money Found on Any of the Victims?

[Currerbell]

of course, I just wondered if it was illegal for people to carry some kind of weapon back in the LVP...

[Mr. Poster]

They surely had no money?

MOst of them were out whoring because they were skint (its a matter of known fact).

I presume money would have transferred hands after the act, and assuming they were killed whilst getting ready to do th edeed......its not surprising there was no money on them.

p

[Howard Brown]

Bell:

I am not sure if carrying scissors was an "offense"...and not really certain if a being in possession of a knife (obviously we are referring to a concealed knife..) would be considered illegal...in the UK.

Maybe someone else knows...I should...but don't offhand.

[Currerbell]

Thanks How...

You're welcome Bell.

Hopefully someone does know...and will let us both know.

[ferret]

Would be now How!!!!! Gawd you can't leave the house heading for the airport even thinking about scissors!!!!!!!!!

Just checked and haven't found any ref to a scissor related unpleasantness.............in the LVP, (There's an unpeakable tin-opener related total horror in WW2 but that another seriously horrible story)

Mind you in Dial M for Murder- Hitchcock- the scissors were the offending item wielded by Grace Kelly....IF JTR had had a pair about his person....they wouldn't have come from his sewing kit I fancy!!!


In the LVP tho -Scissors were quite an unusual and prized article a bit like tweezers,nail files etc etc..A semi sharpened knife would have done for most of those bits and pieces- as if they actually bothered most of the time.

The posh (!) bits that Kate had on her person IMO didnt belong to her in the first place or she'd 'acquired' them along the way! Certainly NOT that red leather number!!

Like you'd pick up half a pair of specs....mind you I would if I lost mine!!..Blooming 'eck!!!!....... half a one's better than none!!!

Pass the eye!!!!!!!!!!

[Currerbell]

but what about knives or needles..as in sewing type needles, anything like that classed as a weapon?

[admin tim]

I had read somewhere that many women, and I would certainly suppose the prossies, carried hatpins as makeshift weapons during this time. Few today have seen hatpins, for they went out with low prices, but they were fearsome objects. From Wikipedia:

A hatpin is a decorative pin for holding a hat to the head, usually by the hair. In Western culture, a hatpin is almost solely a female item and is often worn in a pair. They are typically around 20cm in length, with the pinhead being the most decorated part.
The hatpin was invented to hold wimples and veils in place, and was hand-made. In Britain, demand eventually outgrew the number that could be supplied by hand-making, and they began to be imported from France. In 1832, an American machine was invented to manufacture the pins, and they became much more affordable. In Britain, they rose to popularity towards the end of the Victorian era, and continue to be a popular accessory. Laws were passed in 1908 in America which limited the length of hatpins, as there was a concern they might be used by suffragettes as weapons.


This one is 8" long.

[Currerbell]

Precisely what I mean, thanks Admin...you could do serious damage with that pretty thing...

[admin tim]

Originally Posted by Mr. Poster

I presume money would have transferred hands after the act, and assuming they were killed whilst getting ready to do th edeed......its not surprising there was no money on them.

Lars:

You may be right; I have searched diligently for more information on these 'transactions' and have come up dry. I know today one has to pay up front (thanks to Howard for that bit), but I wonder why one would not have had to do so in the East End circa 1888. What would stop a client from just walking off afterwards w/o paying the woman?

Anyway, that's where the recent links posted on Victorian prostitution have come from - my trying to find an answer. Does anyone have a definitive answer here?

I've sometimes entertained the idea that Jack asked Dark Annie to empty her own pockets (as part of a feigned mugging, perhaps), taking her by surprise as she - herself - bent down to line up another item by her feet.