# \*Very\* Cheap Lodgings **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166 "2001-03-07T22:24:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/1 "2001-03-07T22:24:04Z")
I once read in that in merrie olde England (I believe it was England), if one could not afford a bed for the night one could get a room in which a rope was strung from one side to the other, pay a pittance, and drape oneself over the rope for the night. Can any of you remember the name for this appalling practice? Thanks Quasi PS: Man, what a morning after, huh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/2 "2001-03-07T22:47:48Z")
I apologize for the unfortunate wording of the previous post. I did not mean to imply that any of you were that that old or that you had engaged in the practice. Or worse, that _I_ had! 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/3 "2001-03-07T23:28:51Z")
I can’t even think as to how you would use a rope to sleep w/o cutting circulation to you arms. Also why not just use the floor in that room unless it’s too crowded. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/4 "2001-03-08T00:54:13Z")
Dave, IIRC, the owner of the “establishment” was able to fit more people onto the rope “standing up” than if they just laid on the floor. (I imagine the floor cost a bit more). Dare I hope that this will be one for the famed Cecil to answer? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2001, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/5 "2001-03-09T18:57:03Z")
If I am violating a rule, please let me know, but I think there is an answer to this somewhere, so I’d like to “bump” it in the hopes that someone with that answer might see my post. Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/6 "2001-03-10T01:46:11Z")
Maybe you title is not leading enough people to your thread - at least people who know the answer or can point you to the answer. If you ask Manhattan nicely enough he might possibly consider changing your title. If I were asking, I might use something like: Sleeping on a rope - old English lodging practice? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/7 "2001-03-10T02:09:06Z")
Maybe more of a hammock than a rope? Never heard of the practice, myself. ---
**Author:** ![padabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@padabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/padabe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/8 "2001-03-10T07:59:50Z")
They were in the movie [The Great Train Robbery](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0079240), based on Michael Crichton’s novel. They were shown in one brief scene, and Michael commmented on them in the director’s commentary on the dvd. Great Sean Connery movie - I don’t know why it isn’t better known. Definitely just a bunch of ropes strung at shoulder level - it seems that the poor people in the era were very poor. Anyone have any idea why they would be called “Penny” Hangs? I didn’t think pennies were ever a part of English currency, but I could be wrong. A search of the web returns a lot of links about someone named Penny who is hanging things and [this review](http://www.newstimes.com/archive96/dec0496/mva.htm) of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/9 "2001-03-10T10:54:10Z")
I found this so bizzarre I had to search. I came up with exacly one reference. > [@](#): > > Among the varieties of shelter once available on the Bowery-“barrel houses,” which provided a place to sit out of the rain in exchange for the purchase of keg beer; “rope houses,” with ropes strung across the room for men to lean against as they tried to sleep standing up; “flophouses,” often amounting to nothing more than a roof overhead and a space on the floor of an open room-the cage hotels, with a private “room” and chicken-wire ceilings, were relatively upmarket; they have become what are now known generically as flophouses. A further search for “rope houses” shows the common usage of the term was the building used for manufacturing cables which were long buildings with the ropes strung their length for manufacture. As these would have been present in any reasonable sized port city (like the above 1880 description) I have to wonder if it wasn’t the owner of such making a few extra bucks on cold nights. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-cheap-lodgings/57166/10 "2001-03-10T17:03:21Z")
“Penny Hangs” sounds right, padabe, thanks! Dave, thanks for the suggestion, yours would have made a better title for the thread, that’s for sure. Shows I need to give a little more thought to this before I click. Tnanks to all who responded! Quasi