An original, impressively researched, and intriguing urban history
- winner of the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American
Historians - that explores the intersection of sex and the market
in the Big Apple of the 19th century. Making extensive use of
demographic analysis, land records, and newspaper accounts of the
era, Gilfoyle (History/Loyola Univ.) demonstrates how N.Y.C.,
considered free of vice in the infant days of the republic, was
rapidly transformed into a free-floating sexual emporium after the
War of 1812. In a boom-and-bust economy fueled by immigrants and
emerging industries, prostitution provided madams and hookers with
a chance to become the best-paid female workers of the city,
landlords with a lucrative and dependable source of income, and
"sporting males" with an outlet for sexual activity outside
marriage. It was a profession in remarkable flux: from early
streetwalkers who occasionally solicited to supplement meager
factory or domestic salaries, to a structured institution that
advertised in guidebooks and business cards and that was visible
all over the city in brothels, masked balls, music halls, saloons,
and even the "third floor" of theaters. Gilfoyle masterfully
recreates the culture that grew up around the profession: the
"whorearchy" of pimps, madams, and brothel owners (including such
illustrious names as Livingston, Fish, and Hearst); Tammany ward
bosses and cops on the take who skimmed off brothel profits; and
stripteasing "model artists," abortionists, distributors of
contraceptives, and pornographers. Ultimately, the institution was
driven underground in the Progressive Era less by the muckrakers,
civic reformers, social hygienists, and anti-vice crusaders who
fought it than by urban redevelopment, changing attitudes toward
marriage, and better salaries for women. A revealing peek at a
Gotham that exceeded our own in anything-goes sexual license and
urban misery. (Kirkus Reviews)
New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1970–1920
Winner of the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians and the New York State Historical Association Manuscript Prize
"A wonderful book. The research is overwhelming in breadth, precision, and imagination. City of Eros beautifully portrays an aspect of social and urban, as well as economic history, which we can no longer ignore." —Mary P. Ryan, University of California, Berkeley
"Gilfoyle has tied together into one package the interrelationship between the role and status of women, American ideas about sex, the effects of urbanization and immigration, real estate speculation, vigilantism, and politics. . . . In short, he has effectively brought issues of sexuality into social history. . . . Deserving of the highest praise." — Vern L. Bullough, Historian
"A fascinating study. . . . Gilfoyle does not simply catalogue the omnipresence of the postitutes. He situates their trade in the economic life of the city. . . . City of Eros is social history at its best, beautifully written, with a mosaic of rich detail that informs but does not overwhelm the narrative line." —David Nasaw, New York Times Book Review
"Remarkable. . . . [A] clear and fascinating narrative . . . [that] opens up plenty of new lines of inquiry. . . . A major contribution to the history of gender, popular culture, and the life of New York City." —Elliott J. Gorn, Journal of American History
"The first careful analysis of the politics, geography, and business of prostitution in the nation's metropolis. With grace and style, Timothy Gilfoyle has moved the subject from the shadows to the light." —Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University
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