Timmy, resident:
The numbers attributed to the bathing carts were not chosen innocently. Cart 100 is the toilet. “Je vais au cent” (I’m going to 100) was a French expression for “I’m going to the toilet”. Perhaps because of the other word sans (cent): without. Sans pantalon, without any trousers. It is no coincidence then, that Ensor drew his draft horse defecating. Bathing cart 13 has a problem with a wheel. Accident, in other words. In turn, the number 22 refers to the police. “Vingt-deux, voilà les flics” (22, here come the cops) is a phrase French speakers still use today. In that particular cart Ensor draws a prostitute showing her breasts. The poor wretch!
The funniest one, though, is the large bathing cart with the number 68. In fact, there was a 69 there first. Yep, sixty-nine, the position. We know for sure that it said 69, because the first pencil sketch of The Baths at Ostend survived, and still features the number. And if you look closely, you can even make it out from the paint on the painting.
Was Ensor a little embarrassed, so changed it to 68? Was it the shame of such an explicit sexual reference? No idea! At least there are still plenty of bare bottoms, French kissing and erotic poses in the rest of the painting. And if you look closely, you will see nines and sixes everywhere: the 6, the 9, the 99, the 96 AND the 169. Maybe he wanted his dirty joke to be more subtle? One reserved for the attentive viewer.