A page from the Blue Book, showcasing several of the most prominent madams adverts for their given palaces.
Lulu White, circa 1900. Lulu was among the most famed and remembered madams of the Storyville era. Her palace, Mahogany Hall, so named for the favored wood that decorated the manse, was one of the last buildings in the district to be demolished. It was known for it's massive parlors and decadent, if hot gaudy, décor. Lulu was said to be something of a spectacle, dripping herself in diamonds and sporting a bright-red wig. She had frequent run-ins with the law even after the close of Storyville.
The madam’s plate was always full
with a myriad of responsibilities tied to running a successful brothel. She was teacher, friend, purveyor, clothier,
banker, and publicist. She paid off the landlords, police and authorities; she
brokered a piano ‘professor’ to provide entertainment in her parlors to appease
the waiting Johns; she had access to midwives and medics and disinfectants
meant to stave off the contraction and spread of venereal disease. She was
involved in every aspect of the girl’s lives including attire, hygiene, education
and sexual technique (5).
Life in the mansions was different than the slums known as cribs. If you pleased your madam with exemplary services and were sought after
by callers, you were treated very well. Madams were known to treat their most
lucrative girls to silk clothing, jewelry, fine foods, alcohol and drugs. As
long as her nightly performance was unsullied, she could drink rye and wine and
imbibe in cocaine, heroin or opium. She could dance all night to the sweet and
unstructured styling of the many jazz musicians who decorated the parlors of
the big houses. She could even have a boyfriend, but she needed to work every
day. If she couldn’t turn tricks due to her cycle, she worked in the house, or
was sent to the streets to coax affluent men toward the services offered by the
other girls. Madam was friend as long as it was profitable, but when a girl
became burdensome, she could be traded to another brothel, turned out, or
simply eradicated (5).
Below: A 1908 post card featuring Basin Street. Anderson Annex is the first building in the foreground, followed by several sporting houses.
Josie Arlington, famed for her red-hot temper, became a very successful Storyville madam. She was partner and paramour to Mayor Anderson until she left the District. The Arlington Annex and Café were named for her. After a fire devastated her mansion in 1905, Arlington and her girls moved into the annex, thus prompting Anderson to change it's name in her honor.
Gertrude Dix took over for Josie Arlintonton when Josie retired from Storyville. In addition to running the palace and managing the girls, she also replaced Arlington as Tom Anderson's consort.