"Beware of All Houses Not Recommended": Sensory Experience and Commercial Success of a Nineteenth-Century Boston Brothel

Author(s): Jade W Luiz

Year: 2015

Summary

Places of organized prostitution in the nineteenth-century operated within a very particular sensory framework. In many ways male patrons were paying for ambiance and sensory experience as well as sex. Through analysis of the material remains of brothel sites, such as items related to dining, lighting, or even personal hygiene, archaeology can potentially recreate the experienced context of these spaces. Sites, such as the brothel at 27/29 Endicott Street in Boston’s North End, have the potential to reveal not only the environmental decisions being made by the brothel madams, but also how these choices were driving the brothel’s success. 

Cite this Record

"Beware of All Houses Not Recommended": Sensory Experience and Commercial Success of a Nineteenth-Century Boston Brothel. Jade W Luiz. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 434009)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 323