Names and Terms

Question: I am familiar with the terms “ladies of the night” and “call girls.”  In your era, the early 20th century, what other terms were used for working ladies?

Answer: There were quite a few colorful ones! Some terms alluded to prostitutes, rather than spelling it out, for example, jeweled birds, soiled dove, frail sister, fallen angel, sisters of the underworld.  And here’s the one I find especially amusing, Good Time Daisy!

Other terms made it very clear: Painted hussy, lady of the lamplight, wanton woman, and harlot (That last one goes back to the 1100s).

There were ladies of the night, painted ladies, fallen ladies, shady lady, sisters of the underworld, fallen angel. The names point to their places of work, where they can be found, or how they advertise.

Today the term brothel or escort is used generally, and while there are around 20 legal brothels in Nevada today, in the early 20th century our country had hundreds, some cities had 40 plus.  There was a class system based on the establishment and the women who worked there.

In high-end brothels (or parlor homes), and mid-range brothels (bordellos), women were called boarders since they paid for room and board. In common and volume brothels (bawdy houses, cathouses, and cribs next to a saloon), terms like shady lady or painted sister was common.

Today women working in ‘the industry’ are called escorts, agency women, call girl, casino girl - their names still pointing to where and what. An escort might escort her client a date and a call girl reached by calling an agency.

The hierarchy traces back to ancient eastern civilization. Egypt, Greek and Roman empires had a class system. The Hetairai were educated and paid for companionship, while the Hierodoules and porne were paid for individual service acts. The demimonde in 1400s Renaissance Italy were educated prostitutes who participated in literary salons and were fashion trendsetters. Even the term courtesan derives from ‘companions’ in the courts.

Some say prostitution is the oldest profession, and well, it’s almost as old as time -  its right up there with midwives and silversmiths, cooks and shoemakers.