[ApplegateRanch]

it was a symbol that the services of a prostitute were available.

"Hooker" derives from the Hooked X? I thought the term came from General Hooker. *<];-)

[SunkenCiv]

Heh... the red light district of DC during the Civil War was known as “Hooker’s Division”, but apparently the euphemism is older than that, and he had the misfortune of rising to prominence with a suggestive surname. Same thing happened in World War One to Fokker.