|
Searching for an answer to this type of question can lead to a lot of, shall we say, "inappropriate" sites. However, queries on "origin of red light district" and "victorian prostitution," and a peek into Yahoo!'s Prostitution History category turned up some PG-rated answers. According to the Origin of Phrases site, the term "red-light district" dates back to the railroading days around the beginning of the 20th century. Railroad crews used red lanterns
for signaling and lighting, and most crew members carried one with them as they left the train yard. When they paid a visit to a working girl, the men would leave the lantern on the porch of the prostitute's house while they were inside, probably to signal that she was busy. The Phrase Finder bulletin board offers another explanation, stating the term dates back to the 1890s. Prostitutes would put red shades on candles and electric lamps, and place these lights in their windows to advertise their trade. This practice has continued to the present day in some places, most notably in Amsterdam. The city's red-light district is locally called the Walletjes or
Wallen (both referring to the walls) or Rosse buurt (meaning the red or pink neighborhood). In the Netherlands, prostitution has long been accepted, and it's been legalized and regulated for some time. Amsterdam's red-light district is full of windows glowing red, where prostitutes stand partially clothed to attract business. Of course, prostitution districts are nothing new. Major cities often hosted bustling red-light districts in the Victorian era and earlier, and lawmakers often sought to regulate them. Sometimes, police simply settled with confining the prostitution to one part of the city, essentially condoning the red-light district. Some of the laws passed were only concerned with health issues. For example, Britain's
Contagious Diseases Act of 1869 required prostitutes to be officially registered and inspected for sexually transmitted diseases. Several modern authors refer to mid-19th-century prostitution areas as "red-light districts." While it's difficult to know if the term was in use at the time, the railroad lantern explanation does seem to be a plausible origin for the light itself.
|
