# Doctors and Prostitutes - What's with the red light? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626 "2004-03-21T23:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/41 "2020-02-18T23:57:48Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > … Have a look at any pictures of ye olde goldrush towns - the sign-writer was probably the busiest guy in town… Er…Second busiest. And they weren’t all guys. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/42 "2020-02-19T08:37:07Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Er…Second busiest. And they weren’t all guys. Correction of my poorly-expressed, gendered assumptions gratefully acknowledged. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/43 "2020-02-19T09:07:58Z")
Re doctor’s surgeries in their homes… Have none of you ever watched Doc Martin? No red light though, that was never a ‘thing’ here in the UK. AFIK brothels never used one either as they preferred to remain discrete. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/44 "2020-02-19T10:41:40Z")
For historical completeness and because we’re talking about arcane Australian lighting phenomena we also have Blue Light Discos, which were police-sponsored and supervised youth dances. AND the first reference I can find for a red light over a doctor’s surgery in Australia is from 1876, so this is not some fancy post-electrical fad gone crazy. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/45 "2020-02-19T10:57:30Z")
Would you want to try to attract partners while sitting under a blue light? ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/46 "2020-02-19T13:06:32Z")
> [@ALOHA\_HATER](#): > > Would you want to try to attract partners while sitting under a blue light? If anything, it added a slight but very much needed veneer of mystery to my copious acne, corduroy pants and spasmatic dance moves. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/47 "2020-02-19T14:18:39Z")
Ultraviolet light makes your teeth and your grubby shirt look white. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/48 "2020-02-20T07:55:03Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Police stations were indicated by a blue light (that used an identical fitting). Hence: “blue light disco”: police community outreach for under-age kids (Police here have stopped doing community outreach. But they’ve got guns now PCYC (Police Citizens Youth Clubs) are still a thing here in NSW. They usually provide cheap sports facilities, and lessons in things like gymnastics or martial arts. Some might do road safety and driver safety classes too. I don’t think our local one runs any blue light discos, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/49 "2020-03-20T02:56:55Z")
Wile browsing the internet, I recently learned that before Doctors had red lights, Apothecaries had red bottles. Which, apart from not being self-illuminating, looked very much the same (but also came in green and in more ornate versions). It may be the case that the last American apothecary signs were so ornate and multi-colored that there was no natural transition to a red electric lamp. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/50 "2020-03-21T02:04:58Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Yeah, a “Doctor’s Surgery” is a general practitioners work place. The above sentence regarding residential surgeries refers to doctors who work out of their homes. Not _performing_ surgery, but seeing patients _in their (the doctor’s)_ surgery. In the SuperCity game, which comes from Russia but got translated into British English, one of the buildings is “Dental Surgery.” In my mind I keep translating that into “Dentist’s Office.” Visiting India when I was young, I was introduced to a “dental surgeon.” I went for many years thinking “dental surgeon” was a thing, but eventually discovered that it means simply “dentist.” I keep having to translate English into English. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/51 "2020-03-21T16:44:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > This is probably a folk tale, but I once heard that railroadmen used red lanterns at work, but left them on the porch when they entered certain extablishments on their time off. So, much like looking for big-rigs as a sign that a diner had good, cheap food, folks would look for congregations of red railroad lanterns. > > Feel free to discredit this. I was waiting to see if this got posted because I believe it is true. As the camps moved east and west building the RRs the ladies of the night moved with them. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/52 "2020-03-21T20:40:48Z")
If you get a kick out of old building or medical pictures, you’ll see that an operating room (as distinct from a surgery) is a surgical theater: > **[The Old Operating Theatre](https://oldoperatingtheatre.com/)** > > Museum & Herb Garret [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Eakins,_The_Agnew_Clinic_1889.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Eakins,_The_Agnew_Clinic_1889.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/53 "2020-03-21T20:59:47Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > … > Question is, do any doctors still set out a red light? > … Still?:dubious: afaik, and iirc, they _never_ did. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/54 "2020-03-22T01:51:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Still?:dubious: afaik, and iirc, they _never_ did. You should get out more (and you a medical man …) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZuY_-MoinM8/maxresdefault.jpg "This is Australia. Comedy. Red light means brothel in Europe. In Australia is doctor's surgery") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuY_-MoinM8) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/55 "2020-03-22T03:36:32Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > You should get out more (and you a medical man …) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuY\_-MoinM8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuY_-MoinM8) Never been down under. But indeed, this hasnt been used in America. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/56 "2020-03-22T07:51:19Z")
> [@Wytehawk](#): > > Hmmm, maybe that’s just a common practice here in Australia. I’ve seen it outside any number of doctors surgerys here. Any other Aussies to confim/deny this? Egad, that explains my drunken escapade when I visited Australia! I thought the madam was role-playing with that stethoscope and the digital rectal exam was a bonus!?! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/57 "2020-03-22T10:08:44Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Egad, that explains my drunken escapade when I visited Australia! I thought the madam was role-playing with that stethoscope and the digital rectal exam was a bonus!?! And because we practice socialised medicine (or communist medicine as its known in the US) you’d have got most of your money back plus a voucher for a friend! ---
**Author:** ![Bounderby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@Bounderby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bounderby)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/58 "2023-11-11T23:50:40Z")
Just to keep this zombie twitching… Search in Google Maps for 96 Brighton Road, South Croydon, CR2 6AD, UK. Then call up StreetView, look for the house with the blue & white sign on the bay window, then move until you can see down the passage on the left side of the house (looking from the street). This was a doctor’s house from about when it was built, and the surgery was originally a single-storey building in the back garden (still visible). Nowadays the whole house is used by a medical practice, but the patients’ entrance is still via the side passage that led to the garden building. Beside the gate is a cast iron lamp standard: this would have been the red lamp that was still in use up to WWI to show where you could get medical assistance - levels of illiteracy were still fairly high in the poorest classes in the Victorian period and just after. Police had a big blue lamp, fire station a big red lamp, doctor a small red lamp. I have a capture of a 1955 large scale map which still labels the garden building as “Surgery” and clearly shows the separate entrance path, I would have loved to attach this along with a capture of the StreetView, but that option isn’t open to new accounts, hence the clumsy directions above. In addition to the Conan Doyle book _Round the Red Lamp_ mentioned above, there was also one called _The Doctor’s Red Lamp_ by Charles Wells Moulton published in 1904 which was another collection of tales of the lives of general practitioners, and which continues to be reprinted, probably because it’s long out of copyright. It’s findable on Amazon, and although it starts with an American tale it appears to be a British book, reinforcing the idea that this was a British habit that got carried to Australia but nowhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/59 "2023-11-12T00:04:42Z")
What I mean is that they took a single family house and converted part of the downstairs into an office. I remember well the family doctor we had when I was growing up (in West Philly, not any kind of rural area). He owned a row house at 5460 Baltimore Ave. (his phone number was xxx-5460 and his licence plate was K-5460, K being his initial). The other houses along the street were single family homes. The downstairs rooms had been converted to office and lab space and he and his family lived upstairs (except the kitchen was in the back of the first floor). If they had a separate entrance, it would have had to be in the back alley. When we moved to Montreal we had a family doctor who had similarly converted part of a single family home into an office. Since these were standalone houses, he was able to put up a separate entrance on the side for his office. The pediatrician we had for our kids had a similar arrangement. It all started to change probably in the 1970s when doctors started renting separate space in buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626/60 "2023-11-13T15:00:51Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > I’m wondering if instead of saying doctors practiced out their homes, it might be more correct to say that one building included both the doctor’s office and home. I have a vague recollection that Alex Stone, the dad on The Donna Reed Show, had his pediatrics office in the same building as their home, but there was a separate entrance for patients. Didn’t Dr. Cliff Huxtable have a separate office in his house for patients? It’s been so long since I’ve seen the show I don’t quite remember. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-and-prostitutes-whats-with-the-red-light/235626.md?page=4)