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San
Antonio's Blue Book
by C.
F. Eckhardt | 
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'The
Blue Book.' Those three words stir up quite an image among those who delve into
the more esoteric history of 19th and early 20th Century America. 'The Blue Book'
is the legendary directory of a city's 'red light' district. Even the term 'The
Blue Book,' for many years, took on an unsavory meaning. To say that someone was
'in The Blue Book' was to imply a sordid, certainly immoral if not outright criminal,
lifestyle.
There actually was a 'Blue Book.' There were, in fact, at
least two major US cities in which 'Blue Books' were published in the early 20th
Century-but, so far as has been proved, only two cities ever had real 'Blue Books.'
One, of course, was the Queen City of the Big River, New Orleans, where
the first 'Blue Books' were published in the early 1900s. When a reservation for
the containment of prostitution-commonly known as 'Storyville,' much to the chagrin
of the upright city councilman named Story who was trying to contain prostitution
rather than immortalize it-was established, a directory with a blue cover, hence
'Blue Book,' was produced as a guidebook to the area.
Numerous copies of the notorious Storyville 'Blue Book' have survived. They reveal
it as quite an ambitious undertaking. Photos of the various parlor houses-and
of their lavish interiors-are inside, but none of Belloc's celebrated photographs
of New Orleans prostitutes made it within the covers. The
other city known to have a 'Blue Book' was San
Antonio. The San Antonio 'Blue Book' was a much less ambitious project. It
was a pamphlet measuring 4¼" x 6". The cover was pale blue paper. Excluding the
inside and outside covers, all of which had copy on them, it contained 28 pages.
It was titled THE BLUE BOOK FOR VISITORS AND TOURISTS AND THOSE SEEKING A GOOD
TIME WHILE IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. The date was 1911-1912, and we are assured it
was 'published annually,' but nothing indicates by whom. It was priced at 25¢
per copy-a substantial amount when most magazines sold for a dime to 15¢ and hardback
novels sold for 75¢ to a dollar.
In the edition at hand there are only two photos. The 'center spread' on pages
14-15 features a large touring car with the top down, and is an advertisement
for 'Geo. Keene, Druggist' on Military Plaza. The car is evidently Keene's delivery
vehicle, for a notation under the picture reads 'Free Automobile Delivery.' The
other photo, on the back cover, features a fleshy-faced man in a coat, stiff collar,
tie, and derby hat. It's labeled "For Information of the Red Light District Ask
Me.' Below the picture is the legend 'MEET ME AT THE BEAUTY SALOON' followed by
'For Fine Wines, Liquors, Cigars, and Cigarettes of All Kinds,' and lines informing
the reader that there is a 'First Class Restaurant in Connection,' along with
'Free Automobile Delivery, Open Day and Night.' On
page 1 inside, the Preface reads: This directory of the Sporting District is
intended as an accurate guide to those who are seeking a good time. To the stranger
and visitor while in San Antonio, this book will be welcome, because it puts him
on a proper and safe path as to where he may go and feel secure from 'Hold Ups'
and any other game usually practiced on the stranger. Anyone perusing this booklet
expecting to be regaled with lewd and obscene reading matter will be sadly disappointed,
as outside of some harmless wit or toasts it contains only what necessary information
is required to make it a directory.
This Blue Book is at this writing
the second one of its kind in the United States, (there being one in New Orleans,
La.) and is issued strictly for information purposes, nothing more. - The Publisher
DO NOT MAIL THIS BOOK
The
probable publisher of the book was William (Billy or Billie) Keilman, who was
both the proprietor of the Beauty Saloon and from time to time, depending on the
vagaries of city politics and the spoils system, a San Antonio city police officer.
The section entitled 'A Straight Steer to the Visitor Within the Gates of the
Alamo City, When the Lights are Turned On' describes the Beauty Saloon as a 'safe
and sane thirst parlor.' It seems likely that the fleshy gent whose picture is
on the back cover is Billy Keilman.
Mr. Keilman was also, apparently,
an inventor-on page 24 of the 28-page booklet, we find a half-page ad reading:
|
STOP
THAT
MERRY-GO-ROUND!
Do things revolve when you retire?
Does your room
whirl like a fly-wheel in a power-house?
Does your trunk go by like the Twentieth
Century Limited?
Do you feel as if you were looping the loop?
If so you
can flag the merry-go-round with one of
Billy Keilman's Patent Plugs For Pifflicated
People
One of these, inserted anywhere in the wall, will bring things to a
standstill, or, put in place before
retiring, will insure a quiet night's
rest. |
Despite
an assiduous search by this writer-who has numerous acquaintances who would on
occasion benefit from the device-no example of Billy Keilman's Patent Plugs For
Pifflicated People has yet come to light.
Apart
from the introduction, which describes the boundaries of the 'reservation' or
designated red-light district-"south on South Santa Rosa Street for three blocks,
beginning at Dolorosa Street, thence from the 100 block to the end of the 500
block on Matamoras Street, thence from the 200 block to the 500 block on South
Concho Street, and lastly the 100 block on Monterey Street. This is the boundary
within which the women are compelled to live according to law.
Take I&GN
and San Fernando cars."-the majority of the book's 28 pages plus covers are taken
up by advertisement. There are 12 saloons, four restaurants, two wholesale liquor
dealers (one of whom advertises Old Crow whiskey at $1 per quart); a half-page
ad illustrated with a cut of a Ballantine's Beer bottle and mentioning Sunny Brook
Whiskey, Ballantine's Beer, Piper Heidseck Champagne (specifically the Brut);
Cuesta Rey, Manuel Lopez, and Tom Moore cigars, and Apollinaris mineral water-the
ad is not attributed to any specific business-two hotels, one drugstore, one bowling
alley, one pool hall 'For Smokers and Poolists,' two livery stables, one taxicab
company, three cab stands, Crystal Turf Exchange (a bookie joint) and eight business-card
size ads of 'establishments' within the reservation.
Otherwise the booklet
contains a half-dozen or so somewhat tame jokes, the 'straight steer' section
which describes saloons and similar places of refreshment, the 1911 schedule for
the San Antonio Texas League baseball team, the addresses of two cockfight pits
in the city (both on South Santa Rosa), a directory of Road Houses (saloons outside
the downtown area), and, of course, the purpose of the book, a DIRECTORY OF HOUSES
AND WOMEN. In all, 17 1/3 pages of the booklet's 28-plus-covers-better than ½
the booklet-are taken up with ads in no way connected with the avowed purpose
of the publication.
In
the directory there are 106 separate listings, though several listings give the
same address and telephone number. The listings are divided into Class A, Class
B, and Class C. According to an elderly informant-who wishes to remain anonymous-Class
A meant "$5 up," Class B was "$2.50 to $5, depending on the woman and what you
wanted," and Class C was "whatever change you had in your pocket and anything
you could think of."
There are 24 separate listings under Class A, though
The Arlington at 507 Matamoras (the name obviously borrowed from Josie Arlington's
famous pleasure palace in New Orleans) and Mildred Clifton had the same address
and telephone, as did Emma Wiley and Marguerite Williams at 316 South Concho.
Beatrice Benedict is listed three times-at 421 Matamoras, 309 South Pecos, and
501 Durango-with a different telephone at each address. Unless there were three
Beatrice Benedicts in the 'profession' in San Antonio in 1911-1912, Beatrice Benedict
was a very busy woman.
It is, of course, relatively certain that
many of the names were assumed. Only a few women used their legal names in the
trade, but 'catch names'-like the 1940s prostitute in El
Paso who billed herself 'Pearle Harbour'-are notably absent. Only two such
names appear, both Class C. A Class A woman calling herself Evelyn Thaw obviously
assumed her nom d'amour in imitation of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw of New York
and Harry K. Thaw-Stanford White murder fame. She was the most notorious prostitute
in the US in the early 1900s. She is listed at 316 South Concho.
Under
Class B there are 20 listings, again with some duplication. The Saint Paul, El
Toro, Edith Raymond, and The Three Twins are all listed at 309 South Pecos, and
only The Saint Paul has a different telephone number. Belle St. Clair and the
Silver Slipper are both listed at 410 Matamoras and have the same telephone, while
Myrtle Singleton and Frances Pruitt shared quarters and a phone at 317 South Santa
Rosa. Every Class A listing was telephone equipped. Only four Class B listings
were without telephone service.
The remaining 62 listings, all in the
200 to 400 block of South Concho, 200 block of Matamoras, 200 and 300 blocks of
South Santa Rosa, and 100 block of Monterey are Class C. Apparently there were
a number of one-room 'cribs' here, but in a number of cases we find women sharing
quarters. Anita Dupree and Marian Durant are at 320 South Concho, Pebble Denman
and Ada Davis at 224 South Concho, May Lomax and 'Maxine' at 403 South Concho,
May Burkhart, Ione Marion, and Helen Jones at 205 Matamoras; Rafaela Cantu and
Theresa Carrejo at 323 South Santa Rosa, Sallie Brewer and 'Legal Tender' at 216
South Concho, and Anita Stockbridge and Maria Rodriguez at 313 South Santa Rosa.
The directory reveals that telephone service was extremely important
to the business of prostitution even as early as 1911-1912. Many Class C women
shared telephones. Though 21 entries are followed by telephone numbers, only nine
numbers are listed in the Class C section. Only Aleese Duval at 307 South Concho,
Julia Garcia at 216 Matamoras, and Catarina Rey at 114 Monterey had telephones
to themselves. Anita Stockbridge and Maria Lopez, at 313 and 315 South Santa Rosa,
shared a phone, as did Sallie Brewer at 316 South Concho and Anita Dupree at 320.
Marian Durant, who shared quarters with Anita Dupree, had a different
telephone, which she shared with Grace Jennings at 305 and Lea Mack at 303. May
Lomax and 'Maxine' at 403 shared their phone with Bessie Edwards at 405 and Crickett
Sullivan at 407.
Both the Spanish Club at 316 South Santa Rosa and The
Dixie at 209 Matamoras had telephones, but the Spanish Club's was also listed
to Adele B. Rice at the same address, while The Dixie's phone was also listed
to Belle Wilson, who had the same address as the club. In all likelihood these
women were the madams.
Of the 24 Class A listings, four are houses or
clubs. Of the 20 women, none has an ethnicity-revealing name. Of the 20 Class
B listings, there are four positive houses or clubs and one inconclusive that
may or may not be-The Three Twins. Of the 15 women listed by name, only two have
names that are even vaguely ethnicity-revealing.
In Class C only two houses
or clubs are listed. Of the remaining 60 listings, 'Legal Tender' and 'Maxine'
are certainly noms d'amour. Twelve-slightly more than a fifth-of the remaining
58 are definitely Hispanic, while two-Tama Kato and Sada Yoshima-seem to be Japanese.
About 1910 there was an influx of Chinese into San
Antonio, driven north by the 1910 Mexican Revolution. These two women may
have been ethnic Chinese who adopted Japanese-sounding names to disguise their
actual ethnicity and avoid loss-of-face for their families. It would be extremely
unlikely that any patron of a Class C prostitute in San Antonio in 1911-1912 would
be able to distinguish between Chinese and Japanese.
Among the ethnically-uncertain
names-they may belong to Anglo or Black women-by far the largest majority are
native to Britain, with France running a close second. Many of the French names
may be noms d'amour. The use of a French name-and often a faked French
accent as well-was very popular among prostitutes in the period. Three names-Mary
Schwartz, Annie Schneider, and May Burkhart, are identifiably German. Two, Vera
Meyer (Class B) and Rosie Friedman (Class C), may have been Jewish.
Proprietors
of the bars and other establishments advertising in the 'Blue Book,' though, are
about equally divided between the British Isles and Germany, reflecting the majority
of the non-Hispanic population of San
Antonio. Only two real outsiders, both Italian, appear. Some rather surprising
business partnerships for the era do turn up, as in the Elite Hotel at Main Plaza
and Commerce, owned by Kehoe (Irish) and Limburger (German, likely Jewish). The
German Kitchen at 117 Avenue C, entirely outside the reservation, was certainly
a Jewish restaurant. The proprietors were Jacobson and Ginsburg. In addition to
listing 'a full line of cold meats and delicatessen,' it offered 'Special Dishes
at Noon,' which would be kosher food.
Documents like 'The Blue Books' are
invaluable to historical study. These documents, called 'ephemera' by collectors,
help build an accurate picture of life as it really was in what is, all things
considered, a poorly studied, usually badly documented part of society-for reasons
of the moral standards of the period. Things like 'The Blue Book' and their associated
paper and solid artifacts are slowly helping to build an accurate picture of a
side of life well known to those who lived in the era, but often deliberately
denied and artfully concealed by the era's survivors. It is a pity so few such
artifacts survive today. | |
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