Sex work and the business woman....
I was recently watching a BBC documentary on the history of brothels, and anyone that knows me personally knows that I’m a sucker for a good history lesson, especially if it has something to do with sex. So in this documentary it stated that in the mid 1800-1920 Brothels were a sought after commodity in many communities because they brought business into those particular areas and the towns thrived.
In places like Storyville, which was the prostitution district of New Orleans back in the late 1800’s, everyone from the Judge to the sheriff would visit those brothels as a way of winding down and recreation. Many freed slaves after the reconstruction era would open up successful brothels where many of them became legends.
One in particular was Madame LuLu White; a freed mulatto slave who goes on and opens one of the most successful and beautiful Brothels in the south (Mahogany Hall). Lulu was one of the powerhouses of brothels back in the late 1800. She only hired women of color to work for her, and she taught them poise, confidence, and grace. Because Lulu had the best black girls in her brothels, her place was most written about in books, songs and even movies. Lulu was WAY ahead of her time. She was one of the first brothels to have “service menus” and a “chef” to cook for her clientele. Her clientele were on the wealthier side. Most of them were judges, railroad barons, or coal mine owners and would drop hundreds which was a godly amount of money in those times.
Lulu’s brothel was also one of the first to have expensive art and furniture in the parlor, and Lulu’s expensive taste in clothes made her a legend. Even the brothel workers became successful once the brothel was shut down.
Because Lulu hired mostly mulattos and Octoroons who could comfortably blend into white society, many of them went on and used their earnings to become successful Vaudeville performers or usually married a wealthy man. Lulu taught them to make the best of what they have, and do what you have to do to live well. She also taught her mulatto workers how to blend into white high society, which most of them did later in life.
Lulu was definitely a woman that was made rich courtesy of the gilded age, and the men that benefited from it. Too bad she didn’t save any of her money because legend has it that she was a Millionaire by 1919 and died broke!
In places like Storyville, which was the prostitution district of New Orleans back in the late 1800’s, everyone from the Judge to the sheriff would visit those brothels as a way of winding down and recreation. Many freed slaves after the reconstruction era would open up successful brothels where many of them became legends.
One in particular was Madame LuLu White; a freed mulatto slave who goes on and opens one of the most successful and beautiful Brothels in the south (Mahogany Hall). Lulu was one of the powerhouses of brothels back in the late 1800. She only hired women of color to work for her, and she taught them poise, confidence, and grace. Because Lulu had the best black girls in her brothels, her place was most written about in books, songs and even movies. Lulu was WAY ahead of her time. She was one of the first brothels to have “service menus” and a “chef” to cook for her clientele. Her clientele were on the wealthier side. Most of them were judges, railroad barons, or coal mine owners and would drop hundreds which was a godly amount of money in those times.
Lulu’s brothel was also one of the first to have expensive art and furniture in the parlor, and Lulu’s expensive taste in clothes made her a legend. Even the brothel workers became successful once the brothel was shut down.
Because Lulu hired mostly mulattos and Octoroons who could comfortably blend into white society, many of them went on and used their earnings to become successful Vaudeville performers or usually married a wealthy man. Lulu taught them to make the best of what they have, and do what you have to do to live well. She also taught her mulatto workers how to blend into white high society, which most of them did later in life.
Lulu was definitely a woman that was made rich courtesy of the gilded age, and the men that benefited from it. Too bad she didn’t save any of her money because legend has it that she was a Millionaire by 1919 and died broke!
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