Brothels, Bordellos, and Bad Girls

Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930

By: Jan MacKell, Thomas J. Noel (Foreword by)

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Paperback | 1 October 2007

At a Glance

Paperback
320 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 15.24 x 2.54

Paperback

$71.11

Aims to ship in 7 to 10 business days

Prostitution thrived in pioneer Colorado. Mining was the principal occupation and men outnumbered women more than twenty to one. Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview of the business between 1860 and 1930, focusing her research on the mining towns of Cripple Creek, Salida, Colorado City, and similar boomtown communities. She used census data, Sanborn maps, city directories, property records, marriage records, and court records to document and trace the movements of the women over the course of their careers, uncovering work histories, medical problems, and numerous relocations from town to town. She traces many to their graves, through years filled with abuse, disease, narcotics, and violence.

MacKell has unearthed numerous colorful and often touching stories, like that of the boy raised in a brothel who was invited to play with a neighbor's children and replied, "No, my mother is a whore and says I am to stay at home."

"Delicacy, humor, respect, and compassion are among the merits of this book. Although other authors have flirted with Colorado's commercial sex, Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview. She has been researching these elusive women for the last fifteen years. Such persistence allows her to offer rich detail on shady ladies who rarely used their real names or even stuck with the same professional name for long."--Thomas J. Noel, from the Introduction

Industry Reviews

BROTHELS, BORDELLOS, AND BAD GIRLS is a fascinating book because it puts a human face on prostitution. There are stories of Silver Heels, a prostitute who epitomized the 'Whore with the Heart of Gold' and Ella Wellington, who abandoned a husband and two children, and committed suicide after a visit from old friends talking of how happy her ex-husband and children were. - Roundup Magazine ""With 15 years of research to her credit, author Jan MacKell gets into the 'whys and wherefores' of prostitution. She wants to find out the background, desires, and expectations of these women (aged anywhere from 15 to 50)."" - Cortez (CO) Journal ""Brothels, Bordellos, and Bad Girls is an interesting piece of Colorado's popular history and enhances our understanding of some of the social relations that formed within the state's numerous mining communities."" - History ""There is a huge trove of information in this book, which makes it a real contribution to Colorado history."" - Denver Post

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