"[2] In William Wycherley's Love in the Wood (1671), II.i.141, Sir Simon complains of a "Mistress of mine...whom I treated to night at the French-house; but as soon as the Jilt had eat up my meat, and drank her two bottles, she run away from me.
"[4] Ann Street, Boston's red-light district in the 19th century, was lined with "jilt shops"—saloons, dance halls, gambling dens, and brothels—whose primary purpose was to lure customers for robbery.
In court, McNamara and "the woman who keeps the jilt shop" told a different story, claiming that "instead of larceny there was only a breach of an illegal contract"; meaning, presumably, that Burnham had paid for sexual services which were not rendered.
[6] In another instance, two female employees of a jilt shop were arrested in 1882 for stealing $250 from the pockets of Charles Tasker, a former North End police officer who "ought to have been wise enough to keep out of the snares of strange women.
In the saloon above the rat-pit, drinks were served by provocatively dressed women who were paid a small fee by the owners, in addition to whatever they collected by various means from the customers.