On Sep 25, 2006, at 12:20, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
That's nuts! I don't understand being offended by language...in a
whore
house.
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You're obviously not a Victorian. Whorehouses often had signs banning
the use of profanity on the premises, according to first hand
accounts and photographs of sporting house interiors. You might be
there to enjoy the "French Girl Show", but you better not cuss while
doing so.
In 1876, using language like that heard on the Deadwood show would
get you killed very quickly.
Teddy Blue Abbott, a longtime Montana cowboy and rancher (1870's
-90's) stated in 1939 when he was 80 yrs old:
"... six-shooters were a great thing for keeping the peace. You
wouldn't have any of this calling names and brawling and fighting,
where every man was wearing a deadly weapon in plain sight. And as
for that expression about a son of a bitch, I never heard it 'said
with a smile', as they say, before the nineties. In the early days
men were soft-spoken and respectful to each other, because it didn't
pay to be anything else. It's not like that now."
Things in the west were quick and to the point. Notice that rude
language and its consequences came up as an aside in a discussion of
firearms and their uses. Calling somebody a bastard or sob was a
death challenge.
The mores of the time would have demanded instant terminal action
directed at anyone calling a man a "c*cks*cker" (one of Deadwood's
favorites) and probably all his associates, plus burning his body.
Concerning the men's costumes, styles depicted on this show range
from about 1855 to 1900, with a heavy emphasis on the 1880's. Pretty
bad, but better than most.
Ed Walton
Walton & Taylor Mercantile
http://www.waltontaylor.com
972-690-1945
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