Image:Strechit ca1800-1810 non-sidesaddle sailor caricature.jpg

[edit] Summary

"Stretchit", an innuendo-laden English caricature of ca. the first decade of the nineteenth century, which comments on a few young women who were daring enough to ride horses astride, rather than sidesaddle (as was considered appropriate for females during the 16th through 19th centuries). Part of the intended humor is suposed to come from the encounter between the genteel (though boldly daring or "fast") young lady and the salty British tar.

Dialogue and text in image:

Young lady

"Pray, Sir, is this the way to Stretchit?"

Signboard caption

To Stretchit ☞

Sailor (in stereotypical bell-bottoms)

"Shiver my top-sails, my Lass, if I know a better way."

(Note that the signboard is roughly shaped to resemble a hand with a pointing finger, the common directional indicator at the time — see Image:The overthrow of dr. slop.jpg for a more elaborate version — while equivalent modern signage would include an abstract arrow symbol instead.)

The main joke was that it was not expected or approved behavior at the time for women to have their legs widely spread apart in public for any reason. In other words, the sailor is commenting on her manner of riding, rather than the direction she is going; and the pun on the place name "Stretchit" with "to stretch it", implying that riding in such a way would stretch the woman's vagina.

[edit] Licensing

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement that rule of the shorter term. العربية | Asturianu | Български | Català | Česky | Dansk | Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Esperanto | Español | Euskara | فارسی | Français | Gaeilge | Galego | עברית | हिन्दी | Bahasa Indonesia | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Kurdî / كوردی | Lietuvių | Magyar | Nederlands | ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬ | Bahasa Melayu | Polski | Português | Română | Русский | Slovenčina | Slovenščina | Shqip | Suomi | Sámegiella | Türkçe | ‪中文(简体)‬ | ‪中文(繁體)‬ | 粵語 | +/-

• Sidesaddle
• Shiver my timbers
• Talk:Shiver my timbers