112. The Brothels of Pensacola (Part III & IV)

Of course, death was not the only way out of the life style the soiled doves chose for themselves or perhaps was thrust upon them. One way to normalize their life was to marry outside their area of activity. It is estimated that at least twenty Pensacola prostitutes married respectable local men between 1900 and 1920. Some of the men were from very influential families, which I'm sure set the tongues "a-waggin!" It would have been interesting to be around the family dinner table when father or son brought their new lady home to meet the family! But not all women who conducted a trade below Government Street were necessarily "ladies of the evening."

There was also a renowned character called “Barefoot Mary” who was known for wearing no shoes, dressed in ragged attire, and since she didn’t bathe very often she had a tendency to emanate a raunchy smell. She earned her living not off of her body, but from her excellent memory. So, as soon as the sun went down Mary began prowling the red light and saloon infested areas along the waterfront, which she considered a target rich environment. The prey she was looking for was not the drunken sailors or "come-to-town" farmers. Instead she sought out the community’s respectable gentlemen who happened to be visiting any of the saloons, gambling rooms, dance halls, or sporting houses where they ought not to be. Shortly, these gentlemen would get a visit from Mary usually in a public place such as the bank lobby, out on the street, or outside their offices. A whisper in their ear from Barefoot Mary usually produced a discreet dollar or two slipping from their pocket and into her grimy hand. The payment would buy her silence on the whole affair until their next visit to the promised land. History never recorded Barefoot Mary's destiny, but perhaps she went too far one day and attempted to extort the wrong person. One day she was plying her trade and the next she was gone and soon forgotten, never to reappear!

Another interesting young lady that roamed the area about the same time was someone that everyone just called “Gypsy.” She was easily recognizable because she wore distinctive and gaudy clothing everywhere she went during the night. Unlike Barefoot Mary, this mademoiselle did nothing unusual or illegal and just spent her time walking around and watching people in their bawdy habitat. She did nothing with the information other than satisfying her own delicious curiosity!

Of course, physical gratification for money was the main purpose of the ladies and their madams. But the houses of ill repute had other collateral uses as well. The “line” also provided a way to sexually initiate young men. Pensacola High School boys often had their first sexual experience in one of these local bordellos. Whereas most older weekly customers patronized their favorite madams on "Saturday" nights, these young boys tended to visit them on a nightly basis during the first phase of their initiation.

The madams would always ask these young patrons if they were a minor. If the youth said "no" then he was allowed to enter the bordello and partake of the sexual pleasures contained within. Most mothers in the community certainly did not approve, but condoned this practice because they felt that it was better for the young boys to satisfy their carnal pleasures downtown rather than having them tarnish the morals of the “good girls” within their normal environment. The practice became so socially acceptable that young men from the elite North and East Hill section of town sometimes paid for their fun with personal checks.

First class houses, numbering about five or six out of the fifteen available, stood in the first two blocks of West Zarragosa Street with fees of $3.00 to $5.00 per trick. These finer ladies appealed to higher class customers such as ship and fishing boat captains, naval officers, prosperous business men, and even judges from Alabama and Mississippi who came over to go “sporting the line.” On one occasion an intoxicated captain of the Pensacola Police Department even had to be removed from one of the brothels by his own men. [1] Emergence of a City in the Modern South: Pensacola 1900-1945 by James R. McGovern, Painter Printing Company, Deleon Springs, Florida 1976, page 74.

Barefoot Mary, Pensacola's

Extortionist 1890