or -den, -house, subs. phr. (common).—A brothel specially fitted for robbery. A woman picking up a stranger takes him to a PANEL-HOUSE, known also as a BADGER or TOUCH-CRIB, or a SHAKEDOWN. The room has means of secret ingress—door frames, moveable panels, and the backs of wardrobes—swinging noiselessly on oiled hinges. The woman engages her victim, an accomplice enters the room, rifles his pockets, and retires. Then, coming to the door he knocks, and demands admission. The victim hastily dresses, leaves by another exit, and discovers that the whole thing is a PLANT (q.v.). Hence PANEL-GAME and PANEL-DODGE: cf. PANNY. For synonyms, see NANNY-SHOP.—BARTLETT (1848); FARMER (1888).
1882. J. D. MCCABE, New York by Sunlight and Gaslight, xxx. 487. Many of the street walkers are in the regular employ of the ‘PANEL HOUSES.’
1885. BURTON, The Thousand Nights and a Night, i. 323. The PANEL-DODGE is common throughout the East—a man found in the house of another is helpless.
1899. Reynolds, 22 Jan., 8, 3. PANEL Robberies [Title].
