THE HOOKER CAPITAL OF AMERICA

Back in the mid-1800s, New York was a 'whoreocracy' where sex was sold openly as street food and a woman could make six figures - but also risk her life

You thought the ’70s were bad? Tell that to a New Yorker from the 19th century, when prostitution, along with many other vices, was just a normal part of life in the city. In this excerpt from his new book, “Law & Disorder: The Chaotic Birth of the NYPD” (St. Martin’s), out Tuesday, historian BRUCE CHADWICK reveals the callgirl scene in mid-1800s New York, in shocking detail . . .

THE bloody slaying of hooker Helen Jewett in the spring of 1836 did not end prostitution in New York City; it energized it. Five years after Helen was butchered with an ax, anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 prostitutes worked in a community of whorehouses, on street corners and even in the balconies of exquisite theaters, where they thought nothing of propositioning men in front of their wives.

Numerous prostitutes saved room money by servicing clients in their business offices. Many staked out territories such as particular saloons or docks. One enterprising 15-year-old girl became the prize hooker for men who worked on a particular coal barge.

Prostitution was very profitable. Women who worked in high-end brothels in Midtown New York west of Broadway, or in expensive “parlor houses” such as the one on Thomas Street where Jewett died, could clear, after fees to madams and room and board, close to $50 a week, or some $300,000 a year in today’s money. Even dirty street-urchin girls could earn 50 cents for quickie masturbations, or more than $100 a trick in today’s money. A girl who relieved three men a day — not uncommon — could earn the equivalent of $100,000 a year.

The work was not easy for hookers, though, in whatever era they worked. One study done in the early years of the 20th century showed that a woman in a slum whorehouse coupled with 19 men a day for a week and on one day slept with 28. Two other hookers in that house had sex with between 120 and 150 men a week, and one day one of them had sex with 49 men. Some young girls would have sex with 15 to 20 men in a three-hour period. Many of the girls were 12 and 13 and traveled the streets with a young sister, holding hands to ward off the chilly air and sometimes exchanging shoes because one pair was cut up and cold.

A whore’s career was usually shortlived. Women who began selling their bodies at age 20 often stopped when they turned 30 just because their looks started to fade. Men who had known them for years tired of them. Younger hookers stole their business. The biggest reason for leaving “the game” was that many women wanted to become “normal,” to marry and have a family, and could not do that while living in a house of ill repute.

MADAMS’ careers never ended, though, and were often prosperous. The high-class madams kept beautiful brothels. Johns entered the home through a lobby and went to a large living room, where they met the women of the house, chose one and sat back to listen to a woman play a piano. Madams of some of the more luxurious houses earned $1 million a year, in today’s money, and paid no income tax. Some, such as Maria Williamson, owned half a dozen houses of prostitution. Others, like “Princess” Julia Brown, legendary for playing the piano at her brothel, were frequent guests at parties and receptions hosted by the finest families in town. Brown paid for pews at different churches in the city, had season tickets to two different theaters and contributed heavily to local