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Black Maria
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Can anyone tell me why Black Marias were so called?
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Yep. My Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says:
'The police van used for the conveyance of prisoners.It is suggested that the name is derived from that of Maria Lee, a Boston negress [the Dictionary's term, not mine] who kept a lodging-house.She was of such great size that when the police required help they sent for Black Maria, who soon collared the refractory men and led them to the lock-up. The term was certainly in use in Boston in the 1840s.'.