subs. (common).—1. A theatre whose speciality is the display of the female form. Hence, LEG-PIECE = a play contrived to that end; LEG-BUSINESS = the condition of a woman whose chief work is to show her legs; and LEG-SHOW = the personnel of a LEG-SHOP in action.
1871. ANNIE EDWARDS, Ought We to Visit Her? ch. xxix. ‘She was,’ says Adonis, … ‘in the LEG BUSINESS.’
1875. S. L. CLEMENS (‘Mark Twain’), Screamers, xxviii. p. 15. ‘Nothing, sir,’ was the reply; ‘only they’re playing ‘Undine’ at the Opery House, and some folks call it the LEG SHOP.’
1882. J. D. MCCABE, New York by Sunlight and Gaslight, 206. They are liberal patrons of the drama, especially the ballet and ‘the LEG BUSINESS.’
