[Dixielandjazz] Can Rusher

Mon Mar 31 10:19:28 PDT 2008

I'm pretty sure the soda bottle thing isn't entirely correct.  My 
grandfather had a soda bottling operation in the early 1900's to about 1923. 
My father had a lot of scars up and down his arms from exploding bottles. 
The bottling machines had a face shield to protect your eyes but your hands 
and arms were a whole different matter.  There wasn't a whole lot of quality 
control back then.  There were foot pedals that controlled water, syrup and 
carbonation and nothing was automatic and more a matter of timing.  Too much 
carbonation and bang!   At that time soda was not an all year round product 
and was produced on order.  It was mainly a summer product like ice cream 
and wasn't handled in stores as a regular item at least not in smaller 
towns.  They also commercially sold ice cream.  I imagine it was somewhat 
available in larger cities.  Soda was mostly made at soda fountains and sold 
by the drink.  A problem they had was rough transportation that would shake 
the bottles causing them to explode in hot weather.

My grandfather and father sold soda on the trains that came through their 
town along with apples and other fast foods of the day.  It was only because 
of the trains that they bottled soda and this made it profitable to bottle 
it for most of the year.  They shipped some soda to nearby towns on special 
order but not as a regular thing.  Soda was most popular at church and 
school socials although some churches thought that soda was bad.  My 
grandfather owned three stores but did not even regularly carry his own soda 
until the 20's.

The old coke bottle douche theme is I think is 90% urban legend even though 
it could work.  Several reasons I say that.  Warm soda was explosive and who 
would use iced soda for that?  Imagine popping a cap on a warm soda that 
would go off like a Champaign bottle while applying it to a delicate part of 
the anatomy.  The second reason is that it was fairly expensive to buy 
bottled soda in the early days when there were much cheaper methods around 
such as vinegar.  Lysol was used and while the advertising usually only 
hinted at it's use it was a common contraceptive up until the 1950's.  I'm 
not sure but I think that they started selling that in the 20's. 
http://www.mum.org/lysol1.htm

The ornate pitcher and bowl found in every room was used for cleaning the 
client.  They called them "Peter Pans" and sometimes employed young girls to 
wash the clients.  These young girls were the daughters of the whores. 
Today we look at that with horror but the account that I read it was as 
accepted ( or disliked as much) as any other chore.  So if it was carrying 
coal (Coal cart Blues ( musical content)) or beer or towels or whatever 
everyone worked and it had to be pretty hard too especially for kids.  I 
would think carrying water would be more accurate.

Somehow I don't think that towels would need to be "rushed" anywhere. 
Sanitation was pretty rudimentary and I don't think most were so dainty. 
Remember these people were still using chamber pots, out houses and corn 
cobs soaked in water.  I think the concept of using separate towels for each 
client would not have occurred to many of them especially before 1900.

There is also a possibility that this might have referred to removing waste. 
Indoor plumbing was almost non existent and chamber pots were used.  The 
question could be raised who emptied them and into what and could the 
rushing be referring to rushing away from and not toward the bordellos? 
Isn't this basic human function referred to, even today, as "going to the 
can"?

I would more think they needed beer much more than warm water and towels.  I 
do know that my grandfather would buy buckets of beer and bring them home. 
I went with him up until I was about 8 and carried the buckets sometimes for 
him.   It isn't hard for me to believe that they would hire boys to get beer 
the same way.  I would be pretty sure there was a heavy demand for beer in 
the bordello districts especially along the line.

No matter what they did I'm sure there was an extensive service industry 
that supplied everything needed to the working girls so they could do what 
they did best.

I found the following from a discussion on pre 1920 topics that talked about 
the coke bottle method of birth control.  So maybe it might have been used. 
I noticed the line that said "when Coca Cola was available" which backs up 
what my dad said about the general availability of soda.
________________________
Now, a word about birth control. My grandmother believed that a woman who 
had too many children was "too lazy to get out of bed" and clean up, and 
said so often and with disdain. She used quilting squares of cotton, rubbed 
lard into the cloth (about four inches square) and used it like a diaphragm 
during her fertile period (she kept track of that too) and would get up and 
clean afterward. She said when Coca Cola was available it was easier to use, 
you just shook up the bottle and inserted it to douche and the six ounce 
size was perfect. She had four children which is how many she said she 
wanted but got pregnant once years later but miscarried. Aunt Amanda (the 
midwife) and Aunt Edith only wanted one child each and that is all they had 
but grandmother said they had a couple of miscarriages. I am now suspicious 
of the miscarriages but didn't know enough at the time to ask the right 
questions as I am sure she would have told me. She had learned to use 
greased fabric squares from her mother.
_______________________________
The discussion continued in other matters relating to feminine hygiene but 
was interesting  http://www.mum.org/pastgerm.htm I guess that is if you find 
such things interesting.  Isn't the internet amazing.
Larry
St.L
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen G Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 9:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Can Rusher

>I hear you Glen. But I was thinking that the used towels would be  removed 
>from the room via a can (pail or bucket). After all, who would  want to 
>handle them? I think a high class Bordello lady would neither  use the same 
>towels from trick to trick, nor leave them lying around,  nor even in the 
>same room when the next trick appeared. No need for  hot water, just shake 
>the soda bottle.
>
> Remember that old line . . . What will we do if we can't make it as  jazz 
> musicians? " Become towel boys at Lu Lu White's".
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
> On Mar 29, 2008, at 8:46 PM, Glen Page wrote: (polite snip)
>
>> How often are towels delivered in a can? A can rusher may or may not 
>> have
>> delivered towels, there could have been an adequate supply in the 
>> room,BUT
>> the next vital item needed could not have been on tap, pardon the  pun, 
>> in
>> the room at that time . Hot water to complete the ablutions was what  the
>> "can rusher" delivered. I seem to recall Alan Lomax mentioning this in
>> "Mister Jelly Roll"but I cannot dig through it now in case somebody  else
>> comes up with what must be the real answer too.
>>
>> In 2002 I recall that I expressed my regret at not having been  trained 
>> to be
>> a "can rusher"during my educational years.Surely this would have  lead to
>> openings . . . remainder snipped.
>
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