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Re: (erielack) Bordellos

>The truth of this urban legend is difficult to determine, according to the authorities at snopes.com.
>
>Personally, I'm inclined to think it is just that...an urban legend.  I mean, really, if I was so inclined to visit a house of ill-repute, I don't think I would want too many people (especially co-workers or railroad officials) knowing what I was doing.  But, maybe things were different back then and it wasn't seen as poor behavior.

Yet it has had a long life -- going back to Ed Hungerford writing about it a hundred years ago. And in the modern spirit, there's the sock or tie or belt hanging on the doorknob (depending, apparently on region) to signal to a roomate that the bedroom is currently "occupied."

IIRC, Hungerford also claimed it let the Call Boy know where the "missing" crew member(s) were in case they needed to be found. 

Railroad operating personnel **did** need to make sure that the Call Boys would not get chewed out for not finding them, because Callers had methods of retalliating that could directly impact one's paycheck <g>.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie
ELHS #1296

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