This sparked a memory of something I'd all but forgotten about...
 
>
> >I am trying to assemble a small paper on the facts behind the
> >stories/legends/myths/recycled gossip that circulate on the subject of
> >chastity belts. However, I am finding it almost impossible to find any
> >primary or reliable secondary information on the subject. This may well
> >be because I'm in Australia, which would explain the lack of primary
> >info, but I can't find *anything* beyond salacious stories, bad jokes and
> >allegorical cartoons.
>
>
>  As far as I can establish, the damned things never
> >existed - which will make the paper a very small one indeed!
 
 
I was doing fieldwork/research at the Dorchester Museum in Dorchester,
England (in 1987, I think).  I had dinner at a local place on the main
street (name escapes me), and was joined by rep for the Small Business
Council--the gov't body responsible for overseeing funding, operations etc..
for local small business or cottage industries.  They are mostly to provide
assistance and keep an eye on regulations.
 
Anyway, he started telling me about his clients (Dorset was his area)--and
one of them made chastity belts.  He was a blacksmith in the Dorchester
area, and the chastity belts were a "hot item."  His wife modeled them at
the local craft shows for him.
 
I have no idea who bought them (London bankers?).  But somewhere, the
business should be listed.
 
Ann Morton
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