Tales of Jennie’s Girls and other ramblings from an unknown Author

The Ladies skirts were called “Street Sweepers” One might see a wearer of one of these dragnets watching the wooden sidewalks for protruding nails. It being natural for nails to work through the worn boards, the only time a watcher of ladies underpinnings might catch a glimpse of a limb or ankle was when navigating around the protruding nails or crossing a dusty or muddy street.

As colorful as were their clothes, so were the names of some of the happy female vendors of light love. Crazy-Horse-Nell, Gold Tooth Mae, Little Marie, Kitty Wampus; the latter most likely, was not the name recorded in the old family Bible when Kitty was three days old. There were many others, of course. Dirty Gert, stands out in my memory. She earned her pseudonym honestly, for her name in the Sacred volume was Gertrude; close enough for anybody. Also she was dirty. That is, her Old Mother Hubbard-like dress was Withal. (extremely dirty) She was friendly and good natured and bulged toward being fat. Easy going and helpful, she sewed the buttons back on my shirt when the Chinese Laundryman had gleefully pried them off with his charcoal iron. She only offered these services when business was bad between paydays.

BELGIAN JENNIE, of all the honky-tonks deserves to have her name spelled out in capitals. Her place of business was built like any other rooming house of that period. With a large reception room across the front and a wide front door, glazed and with a concealing lace curtain over the glass. As it was told to me, On entering, one was met by a trim maid in spangled short skirt and a revealing bodice. She wore net stockings, whose tops were hidden up underneath her waist line. She would take the customer’s hat and coat and brush the snow or dust off with a little whisk broom bearing around its handle a big bow of vivid pink ribbon. The ribbon matched the one in her hair.

The back wall of the reception room was pierced with a door where a rich velvet drape hid from prying eyes a softly-lighted hallway giving to private rooms on either side. It was also told to me, that one whispered a name to the maid, and was either ushered in behind the concealing drape or was told to wait as “Midgie” or another was “busy” and please be seated.

Easy chairs partly hidden behind folding screens gave the caller a sense of being “Special”. As he drank his double priced whiskey in partial seclusion, Jennie herself might darken the cubicle with her well-stacked figure, and pass the time of day, and even ask about the waiting one’s health. If Midgie was too long “busy” Jennie would “buy” the visitor a drink and parlay her “take” with him buying another to keep even with his gracious Madam Hostess while his desire for Midgie, increased as his blood rushed faster to inflame his needs. Plenty of time was of the essence at Jennie’s Place.

When Jennie’s birthday parties were in full swing, she would always insist on buying every other round of drinks “on the house”. At the rear of the long hall, an out-stair furnished with stout handrails led to an undecorated out-building which did service of primitive dry plumbing. It could also be used by any departing guest as a means of egress when one wished to avoid meeting someone entering the front door. That the outhouse was supplemented by other means, was public-proven one night when her place caught fire. Pursued by raging flames, Jennie dashed out of the front door bearing in either hand large one-handled pots such as were to be found in any well-ordered human abode. An inquiring busy-body gave out the information that Jennie herself was the cause of the blaze. And all because in a moment of anger, she forgot to be the perfect Hostess.

One of her casual customers had asked where the “Little Boys” room might be found. Jennie had pointed to the rear, and he refused to go outside in his lone under-shirt. Just as he was about to befoul her hall carpet, Jennie got so mad, she bopped him over the head with a lighted kerosene lamp she had just filled and was taking to one of the rooms. It took thirty minutes to douse the fire and return operations to normal.

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