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HISTORICAL WHORE
HOUSES - A NECESSARY EVIL? – MARGARET TANNER
The movie, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, was made in
1982, and featured Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. It was based on a story by
Larry King and inspired by the real life Chicken Ranch in La Grange , Texas
The Chicken Ranch was an illegal but tolerated Texan brothel
operating from 1905 until 1973. It was located in Fayette
County a couple of miles out of La Grange
The original brothel that became the Chicken Ranch opened in
1844. It was forced to close during the civil war but later re-opened.
There have numerous books published with a brothel or
bordello, as some people like to call them, as a central part of the story,
particularly in Westerns. For example. Who can forget Kitty, Marshal Matt
Dillon’s “lady friend” in the TV series Gunsmoke? She worked in a saloon. It
was never actually mentioned on the program, and I didn’t think anything
untoward either as I was young and innocent in those days, but looking back, it
is fairly obvious, that being a saloon gal, she would have been, well let’s
say, not as pure as the driven snow.
Two of my historical novels from Books We Love have brothel
scenes in them.
In Fiery Possession, there is a high class brothel known as
Glory’s. In my novel Savage Possession, there is also a high class brothel
called the Black Stallion. Both of these establishments figure prominently in
my stories. Like the old West, in frontier Australia, there was a huge single
male population but very few women.
THE 1860's BROTHEL IN FIERY POSSESSION
They passed through
the almost empty main street of town, and about half a mile further on pulled
into the drive of a large house. It was a double storied place, with delicate
cast iron lace work on the balcony. An impressive entrance door had a huge fan
light with pictorial stained glass side panels. Surely this wasn't where Glory
operated from?
In the cobbled
backyard, the man helped them down before depositing the bag on the ground.
“Thank you.”
He acknowledged this
with a nod, touched his hat, and drove towards a red brick coach house.
Glory hurried over,
her large breasts bulging from the low cut bodice of a bright green dress.
“You’re here at last! Come to Auntie
Glory.” She scooped Mark out of Jo's arms, and left her to carry the bag
inside. “I thought,” she spoke over one shoulder, “you might prefer to come in
through the back entrance because it's private.”
Inside this section
of the house, Jo was surprised to find it tastefully decorated. In the hallway
stood a seventeenth century, long case clock with marquetry inlay and a glass
'bull’s eye' at the bottom of the trunk. Entering the sitting room, she noticed
several miniatures on the walls.
“How lovely.” She
tried to hide her surprise at finding such a tasteful décor.
“Surprised, are
you?” Glory might well have been a mind
reader.
“It's different than
what I expected.”
“I've had a bath house built recently.” Glory
sounded almost childlike in her endeavor to impress. On the back lawn, almost
concealed behind tall shrubs, stood a brick building with arched windows and
doorway. The central bath had water pumped through pipes from the river.
“It's the latest
thing, Jo.”
Out in the daylight,
the thick make up could not conceal the deep wrinkles creasing Glory's face.
“It's all very nice,
but maybe a bit pretentious, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
The other woman
patted her on the shoulder, laughing uproariously. “Don't quite know about
pretentious, but I like it. So do the customers.”
They passed a large
pond with pink water lilies floating on top. Jo averted her eyes from the
centerpiece of a white marble statue of a naked woman mounted on a rearing
horse.
“Whereabouts do,
well, the girls, work from?”
“Upstairs. I'll show
you around inside now.”
The gaming room had
mahogany tables and chairs. Another room, obviously a private bar by the
numerous bottles displayed at the back of a circular counter, was upholstered
in velvet. Glory did not offer to take her out to the public bar, to Jo’s relief.
In all the rooms, Jo
noticed that the ceilings had white plasterwork and intricately crafted
cornices. Basket-shaped chandeliers formed the lighting. No expense had been
spared to cater for everyone's comfort.
The bar room
consisted of a small highly polished dance floor and a large piano set on a
raised platform. Frescoes of naked cherubs decorated the ceiling in this room,
and one wall was crafted out of beaten copper. Classy, all right, where a local
man with money might indulge himself for a few hours, or a wealthy traveler
could stay for days.
Glory explained that
the girls circulated round the tables, letting the men choose their drinks and
a partner if they felt so inclined.
