[adrianN]

Historically it was not uncommon for beds to be rented out to multiple people.

[bredren]

The word for this type of boarding is “flophouse.”

This is the type of place one might be “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Which carries a variety of potential meanings in this moment of AI.

Tangentially related: Mack and the boys lived in the “Palace Flophouse and Grill” in Cannery Row.

I suppose I must have looked up flophouse when reading all the Steinbeck I could get my hands on and it’s stuck w me.

[eecc]

It is unfortunately still common practice among irregular agricultural workers in many parts of the world (I’m Italian so I definitely remember news about busts in southern Italy)

[consp]

See military submarines, for a modern version.

[AdamN]

Yeah there are good accounts of this in Down and Out in Paris and London and also one of Hemingway's books - forgot which one.