Whats the deal with Ladies Don Go Thieving?
Ladies Don’t Go Thieving is a broadsheet ballad, probably from the late 19th century. Due to the opening of the large department stores, “Respectable” (i.e. middle and upper class) women could, for the first time, go out shopping. Many of these “respectable” women, took to shoplifting for the thrill of it. The author of “Ladies” decided to take these women to task. My wife actually discovered this song while reading a book on the history of the period, and showed it to me. I was amused, and decided it needed to be revived.
