There is, unfortunately, a scarcity of statistical data on prostitution in the United States in the 1800s. One of the only large-scale studies was “The History of Prostitution” by William F. Sanger, MD, published in 1858. Sanger interviewed 2,000 female prostitutes in New York City, asking them more than three dozen questions, including “Why did you become a prostitute?”
A remote Western boom town atmosphere obviously contrasted with New York’s urban setting. While we can draw few conclusions about Park City based on Sanger’s data, the information he gathered provides general insights on the trade in the mid-1800s.
The ages of the women Sanger interviewed ranged from 15 to 77 years. The median age was 21 years. About 80 percent of the cohort was between the ages of 17 and 27. For time spent in the profession, the median career was just under four years. In the Sanger cohort, 643 had been turning tricks for less than a year.
Nearly two-thirds of the prostitutes interviewed – 1,238 – were born in other countries. In the top three, women of Irish birth numbered 706, German birth 249, and English birth 104.
Sanger asked the foreign-born women: “What induced you to emigrate to the United States?” The most frequent answers were:
- Came with relatives or to join relatives already here: 619
- Came to improve their condition: 411
In contrast to a common Victorian Era belief that most prostitutes had been lured into the career, only 39 said they accompanied their seducers to the United States.
In terms of literacy, a quarter of the respondents (521) could not read or write. Some 219 could only read, and 546 claimed they could read and write “imperfectly.” A third (714) stated they were fully literate.
Sanger asked if his respondents were single, married or divorced. Some 1,216 were single, 490 were married, and 294 were divorced. Of the married prostitutes, only 71 lived with their husbands. Causes of separation for the other married women included “Ill Usage,” “Desertion” and “Intemperance.”
Just under half (947) of the respondents stated they had children. About 30 percent of the single women, 73 percent of the married, and 79 percent of the widowed made up this group.
Disease was rampant. Some 821 (41 percent) reported at least one attack of syphilis, gonorrhea, or both, due to their trade. That 1,179 respondents did not report venereal disease might be questionable, but one can understand reticence to answer the question fully.
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Raye Ringholz Collection
As mentioned above, Sanger’s study looked at why these 2,000 women got into the profession. Sanger was a reformer hoping to irradicate prostitution, and his beliefs may have made it difficult for him to recognize the possibility that women of his time could be sexual beings and who appreciated the autonomy and financial control that prostitution presented.
While Sanger’s narrative underscores the Victorian picture of seduced and fallen women filling the ranks of prostitutes, the statistics do not. Only 15 percent (309) of the cohort indicated seduction and violation as the cause of their becoming ladies of the night. Alcoholism accounted for another 181, or 9 percent.
In contrast, about a quarter of the respondents (513) said they had an inclination toward prostitution. Some 124 noted it was “an easy life.” Further, another 71 were persuaded to enter the profession by the example of other prostitutes. Another 26 percent (528) were driven by economic circumstances – “Destitution” – a reflection of the limited job opportunities presented to women in the 1800s.
Sanger asked: “What trade or calling did you follow before you became a prostitute?” The largest group (933) had been household servants. Another 326 had been dressmakers, tailors, seamstresses, and milliners. Of the 837 respondents who told Sanger what their wages in those lines of work had been, 600 had earned $3 or less a week, another indication of the limited opportunities for women of that time. While Sanger did not ask what the prostitutes earned, he estimated weekly revenue at between $10 and $50, multiples higher than other common occupations.
As a side note, Anne M. Butler argues convincingly in “Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery” that prostitutes of the time had corresponding expenses such as municipal fines and exorbitant rents that kept many of them in poverty despite the higher incomes.
What do we know about Park City’s prostitution business? The “soiled doves” were young and often immigrants, much as Sanger’s study indicates. They too earned well above what domestics, teachers, and nurses made. It was a tough lifestyle, as the suicides and murders reported in the Park Record over the years reveal. Much beyond that we only have anecdotal stories and Sanger’s flawed but important study for context.
While the study was undertaken on the other side of the country, Park City’s well-known houses of ill-repute likely would have produced similar results, though on a much smaller scale. If only a study had been done here.
The Park City Museum and Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History are hosting a lecture titled “Queen of the Soiled Doves: Mother Urban,” given by Sandy Brumley on Wednesday, March 5 from 5-6 p.m. held at their Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive.