Can anyone suggest a better solution?

[mythtrav16]

I've got a rough layout in my mind for a story I'd like to write but before I write it, I need to sort out a part that seems a bit implausable, as I currently imagine it.

My situation is this: I need an establishment, in depression-era America, where both (young) men and women would live, and where their "nocturnal activities" would be the proprieter's business. That is, if the staff of the establishment had reason to believe that one of the residents were having hanky-panky in their room, the staff would be well within their rights to burst in and chastise the person.

The story features a sex scene between two orphans, that must be intruded upon by an older adult, who knows what's going on in the room and is obliged to end it. One of the two lovers must be 2.5/3 years older than the other. And, for obvious reasons, the minimum age of the youngest orphan is 18. Both lovers must be living either in the same building, or at least the same complex/property.

The simplest setting for this scenario would be the orphanage itself. As it would explain why both these people are living under the same roof. Also, the staff of an orphanage would certainly be obliged to put an end to any sexual activity between its wards. But the problem with this is the lovers' ages. You could say that the 18 year old simply hasn't moved out of the orphanage yet, and that might sound somewhat pausable, but what about the 21 year old?

I was thinking about doing this by explaining that (s)he grew up in the orphanage, and stayed on as the cook after (s)he grew up, but I'm just wondering if that sounds like a flimsy explanation.

Does anyone else have a better setting for this scenario that fits the following criteria?

* Can be set in depression-era America.
* Multiple (young) men and women living in the same building.
* Building has an authority figure that has the right/obligation to prevent the residents having sex.
* It is plausable that both an 18 year old and a 21 year old would be living there.
* It is also plausable that (if the setting is not an orphanage) two orphans who grew up in the same orphanage together would be likely to both end up living in this building at the same time, even if they didn't deliberately seek each other out.

 

[emap]

Doesn't have to be the orphanage, many of the young and poor lived in floppy houses, basically an apartment building for cheap. The name is really accurate in the houses generally had more people than it should and were a little on the run down side. There would be no staff however the other residents would care if someone is getting down to that business because the walls are thin.

There were not actual laws against though the disturbing the peace laws were only loosely defined, a passing copper could have come right up and arrested both for disturbing the peace, it was known for entire houses to be arrested because of two people having sex.

Alternately, you have an orphanage, she or he just turned 18 at midnight, their lover snuck in to give them a nice welcome to 18 present of sex, possible the night after as well, orphanages kept you for your birthday and released you the day after, you are still nominally a ward of the orphanage and under all of their laws, one of them was no sex, pregnant wards of the state looks bad.

 

[Cold_Eyes]

The idea of staying on as the cook is plausible. Perhaps he watched the cook or tried to help out when he lived there. It would be an easy way to get a job.

Alternately, they could be living in a company town. Back then, there were a number of towns built and run entirely by companies to house their employees. There weren't any laws prohibiting employees from having sex, though there were many ways in which it was limited. Many towns had strict guards, heavy surveillance, and "lights out" policies. Buildings were often like floppy houses described above and in the smaller towns, they were sometimes just large tents.

They could also be in some kind of strict religious college that forbade sexual activity and required chaperones to supervise interactions between the sexes.

 

[sirhugs]

have you read The Cider House Rules?

 

[emap]

I know you did not ask me but dang I do not recall.

 

[mythtrav16]

have you read The Cider House Rules?

No, I'm afraid I haven't. But I'm aware it deals with similar subject matter.

 

[mythtrav16]

Doesn't have to be the orphanage, many of the young and poor lived in floppy houses, basically an apartment building for cheap. The name is really accurate in the houses generally had more people than it should and were a little on the run down side. There would be no staff however the other residents would care if someone is getting down to that business because the walls are thin.

There were not actual laws against though the disturbing the peace laws were only loosely defined, a passing copper could have come right up and arrested both for disturbing the peace, it was known for entire houses to be arrested because of two people having sex.

Alternately, you have an orphanage, she or he just turned 18 at midnight, their lover snuck in to give them a nice welcome to 18 present of sex, possible the night after as well, orphanages kept you for your birthday and released you the day after, you are still nominally a ward of the orphanage and under all of their laws, one of them was no sex, pregnant wards of the state looks bad.

The idea of staying on as the cook is plausible. Perhaps he watched the cook or tried to help out when he lived there. It would be an easy way to get a job.

Alternately, they could be living in a company town. Back then, there were a number of towns built and run entirely by companies to house their employees. There weren't any laws prohibiting employees from having sex, though there were many ways in which it was limited. Many towns had strict guards, heavy surveillance, and "lights out" policies. Buildings were often like floppy houses described above and in the smaller towns, they were sometimes just large tents.

They could also be in some kind of strict religious college that forbade sexual activity and required chaperones to supervise interactions between the sexes.

Thanks for these ideas. They give me something to considder. I know that most everybody in the 20s/30s was a prude, but cops bursting into someone's house because they were having sex? Weird.

One thing about the "company towns", as you call them. I know back then that women didn't really have many career options. How likely would it be for a woman to take residence in a town specifically built to house company workers?

 

[emap]

They would come in if they were loud, floppy houses especially had thin walls all the way around, if say I was getting a good screwing in a floppy house the cops would come right in, I'm a noisy girl.

As for the company towns, women lived in those all the time, daughters were expected to stay with dad, the companies loved it because it put dad deeper in debt with them so he could not leave. The parents of course wanted sons so they can get enough of a stake together to blow town and find something better. Mining is seriously hard work and ended up killing alot of people. Steel mills had company towns as well though there was a city close enough that many lived there, miners were screwed all the way around, middle of nowhere get pennies a day, most of the time they married the daughter of another miner simply because there was no place to go to find a woman.

Course if you are the daughter of a miner and you have a good sex drive you are loving life. Not that dad takes it well, small towns have no secrets.

 

[mythtrav16]

They would come in if they were loud, floppy houses especially had thin walls all the way around, if say I was getting a good screwing in a floppy house the cops would come right in, I'm a noisy girl.

As for the company towns, women lived in those all the time, daughters were expected to stay with dad, the companies loved it because it put dad deeper in debt with them so he could not leave. The parents of course wanted sons so they can get enough of a stake together to blow town and find something better. Mining is seriously hard work and ended up killing alot of people. Steel mills had company towns as well though there was a city close enough that many lived there, miners were screwed all the way around, middle of nowhere get pennies a day, most of the time they married the daughter of another miner simply because there was no place to go to find a woman.

Course if you are the daughter of a miner and you have a good sex drive you are loving life. Not that dad takes it well, small towns have no secrets.

Interesting.

But seeing as how the two characters need to be orphans, that scenario doesn't really fit my story. And without giving too much away, they wouldn't really be noisy, either, as it's not that kind of sex scene. The woman would be making some soft (obviously coital) moaning sounds, and maybe the pair would be breathing heavilly, but they wouldn't really be making enough noise to summon someone in from the street. What the scene really needs is for someone to be literally walking right past the bedroom door as the woman is approaching climax.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I've got a rough layout in my mind for a story I'd like to write but before I write it, I need to sort out a part that seems a bit implausable, as I currently imagine it.

My situation is this: I need an establishment, in depression-era America, where both (young) men and women would live, and where their "nocturnal activities" would be the proprieter's business. That is, if the staff of the establishment had reason to believe that one of the residents were having hanky-panky in their room, the staff would be well within their rights to burst in and chastise the person.

The story features a sex scene between two orphans, that must be intruded upon by an older adult, who knows what's going on in the room and is obliged to end it. One of the two lovers must be 2.5/3 years older than the other. And, for obvious reasons, the minimum age of the youngest orphan is 18. Both lovers must be living either in the same building, or at least the same complex/property.

The simplest setting for this scenario would be the orphanage itself. As it would explain why both these people are living under the same roof. Also, the staff of an orphanage would certainly be obliged to put an end to any sexual activity between its wards. But the problem with this is the lovers' ages. You could say that the 18 year old simply hasn't moved out of the orphanage yet, and that might sound somewhat pausable, but what about the 21 year old?

I was thinking about doing this by explaining that (s)he grew up in the orphanage, and stayed on as the cook after (s)he grew up, but I'm just wondering if that sounds like a flimsy explanation.

Does anyone else have a better setting for this scenario that fits the following criteria?

* Can be set in depression-era America.
* Multiple (young) men and women living in the same building.
* Building has an authority figure that has the right/obligation to prevent the residents having sex.
* It is plausable that both an 18 year old and a 21 year old would be living there.
* It is also plausable that (if the setting is not an orphanage) two orphans who grew up in the same orphanage together would be likely to both end up living in this building at the same time, even if they didn't deliberately seek each other out.

A few suggestions:

1. A boarding school. The 21 year old is a teacher, the 18 year old is on staff in some other capacity (kitchen, janitorial, etc.). The school provides a dormitory for its staff.

2. A seminary. The 21 year old is training to be a priest. The 18 year old is training to be a nun. Or, again, she could be on the kitchen or janitorial staff.

3. A resort, with housing for unmarried staff.

4. A circus, or some other traveling entertainment company.

5. Staff for a traveling evangelist.

Let me know if anyting helps, I could do this all night.

 

[sirhugs]

No, I'm afraid I haven't. But I'm aware it deals with similar subject matter.

Orphanage. All the other children get adopted but the protagonist, at 18, has no place to go to - returned by every prospective parent. so he stays as the caretaker/apprentice to the kindly doctor who runs it.

 

[mythtrav16]

Orphanage. All the other children get adopted but the protagonist, at 18, has no place to go to - returned by every prospective parent. so he stays as the caretaker/apprentice to the kindly doctor who runs it.

Thanks. I wikipedia-ed it when you mentioned it earlier.

A few suggestions:

1. A boarding school. The 21 year old is a teacher, the 18 year old is on staff in some other capacity (kitchen, janitorial, etc.). The school provides a dormitory for its staff.

2. A seminary. The 21 year old is training to be a priest. The 18 year old is training to be a nun. Or, again, she could be on the kitchen or janitorial staff.

3. A resort, with housing for unmarried staff.

4. A circus, or some other traveling entertainment company.

5. Staff for a traveling evangelist.

Let me know if anyting helps, I could do this all night.

The school idea is interesting. Did they have boarding schools that were also orphanages? The characters I have need to be orphans, not just neglected kids that get dumped at a school by their parents. And by orphans, I mean no known living relatives/guardians at all. So no Harry Potter storylines where the mean old uncle sends the adopted nephew he doesn't like off to boarding school for nine months a year.

Does a resort really work in a depression-era setting? I was under the impression that most of those places went bankrupt during that period, because nobody could spare money for holidays. In fact, a later part of my story hinges on that idea.

The seminary/evangelist lines just don't really work with this storyline (but they are good suggestions considdering what I've disclosed about the story). Safe to say that these characters just aren't the type to go down that path.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[emap]

Resorts did not all fold up during the depression, several lasted through it. They key trick though was the staff took less pay, many were fired because the visiting people were less. See this is the part everyone seems to forget, the great depression did not render everyone homeless and living off what the bread lines handed out. The people who made it through fine are not what you hear about, you only hear about thousands waiting in line to get a free meal, most of the diners would hand out the stuff they find extra, a whole meal could be had for pennies. The problem was never there was no food, the problem was it was hard to get a job, orphans or not it is possible they ended up with a job or selling apples on the street.

Heck, it was also possible to find a young woman staying with a single man in a floppy house and paying her rent on her back and cooking for him. They didn't love each other it was simply so she had a roof and a meal every day. Suppose for a second, she is with this other guy, and is making ends meet by screwing this guy, or guys it happened. Say he does not know she is so she has to be careful.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

Resorts did not all fold up during the depression, ... selling apples on the street. ...

You have the advantage of having lived through the era?

... Heck, it was also possible to find a young woman staying with a single man in a floppy house and paying her rent on her back and cooking for him. They didn't love each other it was simply so she had a roof and a meal every day. Suppose for a second, she is with this other guy, and is making ends meet by screwing this guy, or guys it happened. Say he does not know she is so she has to be careful.

Autobiography?

 

[emap]

No snoopy I am not your age.

I have paid attention however and it was brought up in history class, I did not just have sex during high school. The teacher told us of all the things that still happened, not all of the banks closed, the stock market did not stop going, well it did but only for a few days while they said hang on let us fix this. The stories of the time point out that diners and restaurants would give food out, prices actually dropped even, instead of five cents for dinner it was a penny and so forth. Many places adopted a pay if you can policy, it is all documented if you look hard enough.

 

[squarejohn]

How about a hobo "jungle" or a railroad switching yard? Back then, a hell of a lot of people were hopping freight trains to get to another city in hope of getting a job. The girl could have short hair and wear men's work clothes. They could be screwing at night say, behind a stack of railroad ties. A railroad cop, making his rounds, is walking by just as the female cries out.

 

[Cold_Eyes]

No snoopy I am not your age.

I have paid attention however and it was brought up in history class, I did not just have sex during high school. The teacher told us of all the things that still happened, not all of the banks closed, the stock market did not stop going, well it did but only for a few days while they said hang on let us fix this. The stories of the time point out that diners and restaurants would give food out, prices actually dropped even, instead of five cents for dinner it was a penny and so forth. Many places adopted a pay if you can policy, it is all documented if you look hard enough.

Yeah, in fact quite a few people got rich during the crash by selling short on stock.

 

[JRaven]

My favorite example of a company town.
Hershey, PA
I could definitely see a gal moving there in the '30's.

Jenny

 

[sirhugs]

My favorite example of a company town.
Hershey, PA
I could definitely see a gal moving there in the '30's.

Jenny

and chocolate is a wonderful aphrodisiac

 

[JRaven]

and chocolate is a wonderful aphrodisiac

Really? You and I will have to test that out sometime.