What Is A Red-Light District and How Did It Get Its Name

Red-Light District

If you are an exotic traveler, the chances are that you have met the word red-light district on your searches. Several people wonder about the word and are usually curious to find out what it means. They also want to get a feel of what the red-light district offers. But does the meaning explain what a red-light district is? The next potential question is, how did this name come to be? You can find out more about red-light districts and how the name came to be below.

Where the Name Came from

First of all there’s a claim as to where the term red-light district came from. The claim isn’t and can’t be confirmed, but it may be one of the most believable stories about where the term red-light district came from. The idea is that the term came from railway brakemen leaving their lanterns on cathouse porches. This is far from what the term is used for today. These men, the brakemen, would carry red lanterns when they left the train. The whole idea was so that the crew could easily find them in case there was an emergency. The twist now comes in where they would leave these lights. The main places they would leave the lanterns were outside bordellos. They would leave them out there while they visited the ladies inside. There were times when they would bring the lights and place them in a window. This was the first idea, and it was all about an emergency.

Second Story

The second etymology about the red-light district pretty much is a more convenient one. It resonates more with what the red-light district is today than the previous one. It goes that the rail brakemen would, of course, carry their lanterns when they left the trains and would have them outside the bordellos to show that that is a brothel. No brothel is usually labeled, and some people search for them in futility. This was a more discreet advertisement of what kind of service one would get in the establishment. At some point, it wasn’t about the rails men leaving the lanterns but the establishment owners doing it.

What Is A Red-Light District

Today, the idea of a red-light district is the same as it was before. When you search for red-light districts online, you will get results as to where you can get prostitutes in a particular city. These aren’t districts as one would imagine them, but rather streets where you would get the service.

Long gone are the days of lanterns outside of the front door, today these storefronts buy neon signs from Neolite. Not only that, but now the internet can help you locate these places, and if you travel for such pleasures, you will not get lost. The red-light districts also offer a service where you won’t fall into the hands of the police because of unlawful practices.

What is Red Light Districts

Red-light districts had come a long way from when they were all about the safety of railway brakemen. Then, they evolved to be advertisements, and today, they are more of streets where you can get a friend for the night. Above is what you need to know about red-light districts and where the term came from.