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Tricia Barrett
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, May 17, 2003 - 10:07 am: |       |
Hello,
I have an edition of Charles Booth's notebooks covering south east London. The researchers revisited the areas surveyed originally to see if there had been any changes. One particular walk was taken on May 16th 1900 round a notarious part of Woolwich called the Dust Hole. This area was very similar to the description of Dorset Street
Policemen only ventured into this area if they were summoned and then only if there were two or more.
The area was full of prositutes and I quote " The women are all prostitutes ....... the lowest class of woman is the rough Irish type. THE CLEAN WHITE APRON,frizzed hair and earrings is a mark of the class" Although MJK was not reported as having frizzed hair or earrings (this was 12 years after the murders and fashions change) I could not help but notice the similarity in the wearing of a clean white apron which MJK was reported to do and that of the Irish prostitutes.
It must have been very difficult to keep clothes clean so was this a type of uniform that was worn by Irish prostitutes even in 1888 ?
Tricia. |
Christopher T George
Detective Sergeant
Username: Chrisg
Post Number: 140
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 8:35 am: | |
Hi, Tricia:
The white apron was not so much a distinguishing fashion of prostitutes but of working class women of the day in general. Look at the picture of Dorset Street below which simply shows women of the neighborhood. A visitor at the time would know the women of the district commonly wore "clean white aprons" but would not think of them as prostitutes per se.
Best regards
Chris George
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Tricia Barrett
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 12:40 pm: | |
Hello Chris,
Thanks for the photo and I can see that the women are wearing white aprons(although some look a bit grubby), which as you say marked them as working class. I think it was the emphasis on CLEAN which caught my eye and that MJK's was always clean. Perhaps it was some sort of respectability statement like always keeping your front doorstep clean and that these prostitutes were a little bit better than the others.A little bit of street cred!
Tricia |
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