Portal:Prostitution

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.

The area was developed from farmland by Henry VIII in 1536, when it became a royal park. It became a parish in its own right in the late 17th century, when buildings started to be developed for the upper class, including the laying out of Soho Square in the 1680s. St Anne's Church was established during the late 17th century, and remains a significant local landmark; other churches are the Church of our Lady of the Assumption and Saint Gregory and St Patrick's Church in Soho Square. The aristocracy had mostly moved away by the mid-19th century, when Soho was particularly badly hit by an outbreak of cholera in 1854. For much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation as a base for the sex industry in addition to its night life and its location for the headquarters of leading film companies. (read more ...)

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Catherine Walters, also known as "Skittles" (13 June 1839 – 5 August 1920), was a fashion trendsetter and one of the last of the great courtesans of Victorian London. Walters' benefactors are rumoured to have included intellectuals, leaders of political parties, aristocrats and a member of the British Royal Family.

During her life as a courtesan, her discretion and loyalty to her benefactors became the focal point of her career. There were many rumours about her being involved with certain wealthy men of the time, but she never confirmed or denied these rumours. This gave her great weight in the courtesan lifestyle, and made her a sought-after companion. It also gave long life to her career, and helped her to retire a wealthy woman of society around 1890. (read more...)

• ... that art historians often find it difficult to judge whether 17th-century merry company paintings (example illustrated) show scenes of prostitution?
• ... that Peg Plunkett, brothel keeper, had the leader of the Pinking Dindies gang sent to jail after she lost her baby?
• ... that clam juice and aspirin were served at the Everleigh Club brothel as a starter for breakfast, which began at 2:00 in the afternoon?
• ... that taekwondo practitioner Logan Campbell has opened a brothel to fund his bid to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
• ... that the brothel Bon Ton is described by BBC as "an ideal showcase for New Zealand-style liberalisation"?

• 3rd
  • 1888: Death of Mattie Blaylock, prostitute and common-law wife of Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp.
• 8th
  • 1845: Birth of Al Swearengen, an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, in Deadwood, South Dakota, in the late 19th century.
• 13th
  • 1941: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law a federal ban on prostitution near naval and army bases
• 16th
  • 1788: Execution of Elisabeth Gassner, an infamous German pickpocket, thief and prostitute, known as Schwarze Lies (Black Lisa).
• 25th
  • 1951: The United Nations' Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others came into force.
• 29th
  • 1910: Death of Valtesse de La Bigne, French courtesan and demi-mondaine.

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