All so that a few gentlemen can have their BMWs".
By then, though, few gentlemen were still practicing what has often been referred to as the second oldest profession.
"A few gentlemen from the government told us to stop transmission and to stop our cameras," said Salah Negm, the director of news for Al Jazeera English.
Thank heavens, then, for some of the names at the top of the leaderboard, a few gentlemen who take life very much as it comes.
During the instrumental solos on "Pennies From Heaven," she tried unsuccessfully to get a few gentlemen up to dance before her husband, Rob Pruitt, gamely stood up for a short whirl.
That means 209 million people out of work, give or take a few gentlemen of leisure.
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted : "Congrats on a great career @Brettlee_58 ... Would love to say it was great playing against you but it was frightening most of the time... ........ Andrew Flintoff, the former England all-rounder who was involved in a memorable contest with Lee during the Ashes Test at Edgbaston in 2005, tweeted: "The game has lost one of its few gentlemen.
I've heard of a few gentlemen in white robes who are fond of that idea too.
No machines, no computers, in the end, those dozens of ballot counting ladies (and a few gentlemen) were the quiet, unsung heroes of this otherwise terribly muddled election.
In a review Griswold said, "with the assistance of a few gentlemen more familiar than herself with our public and domestic experience, she has made a valuable and interesting work".
