RUB-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And how do you think they got there?
The butcher, the baker and candlestick maker,
It was enough to make a man stare.
This is one of those nursery rhymes that we all take for granted. When looked at again, it’s a very much odder affair. At first glance, ‘Rub-a-Dub-Dub’ looks rather like a reference to a gay peep show. Indeed, history reveals that there probably was such a thing, catering especially for royalty and the nobility. There is every chance the working classes also had their own clandestine man-on-man entertainment going on in towns and cities throughout the land. However, the oldest printed version of the rhyme, dating to the fifteenth century, reveals how changing just a few words can alter a story completely, putting an entirely different complexion on it:
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three maids in a tub,
And who do you think were there?
The butcher, the baker and candlestick maker,
And all of them gone to the fair.
Peep shows were popularized by the Victorians during the nineteenth century, but their origins can be traced back much further, to Europe in the 1400s. In those days, wandering artists and entertainers came up with the idea of presenting their art or shows in a large portable wooden box. The inside could be decorated to create scenery and customers would pay to watch the action through holes in the side. It was all innocent fun in the beginning but soon developed into the perfect way of providing ‘closet’ sexual entertainment for the public without breaking too many laws. That was probably when those Victorians became so interested in them.