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Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West (Women of the West)
 
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Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West (Women of the West) (Paperback)

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3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

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  • This item: Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West (Women of the West) by Anne Seagraves

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 175 pages
  • Publisher: Wesanne Publications; First Edition edition (February 1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 096190884X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0961908843
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #40 in  Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > History
    #49 in  Books > History > United States > 19th Century > Old West

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Anne Seagraves
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Customer Reviews

32 Reviews
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4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
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 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting view of prostitution in the Wild West, June 21, 2000
By M. Desoer (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This book provides a glimpse into a fairly unusual topic: prositution in the "Wild West" of the 1800's. It covers the gamut, from the elite sophisticated brothels with the top-notch "girls," to the hovels near the mining towns and the Chinese slave-girls which catered to men near Chinatown of San Francisco. It is chock-full of photographs, excerpts from old newspaper articles and other interesting side-bars.

This is not a dense, academic study, but an easy-to-read overview. At times it is a tad disorganized, but it is such a quick read that this does detract much. The only criticism that I have is that the writer waffles between glamorizing the life of some of the "luckier" prostitutes, and asserting that they most led lives that ended with suicide.

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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Soiled Doves is an enlightening view of 1800s prostitution, April 16, 1998
Soiled Doves was a well written and informative view of 19th century prostitution in the United States. Readers will smile, cry, and become angry, as each of the stories unfold. "The Love Story of Lottie Johl" is a haunting story which relates the full spectrum of the human condition, and relates how humanity can be so incredibly cruel to others, those individuals that were simply trying to make a way for themselves in the west. The lives of many women were explored in Soiled Doves. The stories were tastefully written and a delight to read. After reading Soiled Doves, one develops a different, more forgiving, view of prostitution and the ladies who were employed in it during the 1800s. Soiled Doves is a "must read" if the reader has an appreciation for American History and the role prostitution played in its development.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Red light districts of the frontier. . ., July 14, 2004
The author's list of acknowledgements fills a page at the opening of this historical account of prostitution in the early West. She has clearly done her research. And her book is a window into a subject often alluded to in the literature of the frontier but seldom if ever revealed in any depth.

The West was a man's world where, according to Seagrave, men often outnumbered women 50 to 1. Employment opportunities being few for uneducated young women, a great many found their way to the brothels in the red light districts of cities, cow towns and mining camps. The author describes these establishments from the most genteel down to the most squalid. She also characterizes the role of the madam, an entrepreneur whose business contributed to the local economy while being at the same time illegal and an object of outrage among the community's socially respectable.

Much of the book is devoted to profiles of individual madams, often known for their sharp business sense and their generosity, while contributing freely to local charitable organizations. The book includes many period photographs, including studio portraits of well established madams and the women who worked for them. One chapter is devoted to the special plight of Chinese prostitutes who lived under conditions of slavery in Western states into the early 20th century.

While the book is informative, a reader may sometimes question its accuracy as history. Myth and legend have a way of mingling with documented fact, and while all of this is interesting, the author isn't scrupulous about distinguishing between them. Because the book tends to dramatize the lives of the women it discusses, a reader looking for an analysis of prostitution in the larger picture of Western social history will probably find a lot of questions unanswered. Still, the book opens up a subject that is too seldom regarded with the historical interest it deserves.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Soiled Doves
Saw this book on display in a gift shop in New Mexico, but ordered it on Amazon at a fraction of the gift shop price! I love ordering used books on Amazon.com. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pucci

4.0 out of 5 stars Very sad and very true
This book is a fine historical study written from close research about a part of the country where female prostitution is a long "cowboy" custom and is legal. Read more
Published 10 months ago by M. Peloquin

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!!
While I was on a tour with a busload of history teachers, I found this gem in a State Historical Site bookstore. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Endoannie

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal stories from forgotten figures
I LOVE social history, and Anne Seagraves delivers. I have gone on to order most of her other books and they are just fun little reads. Read more
Published on August 17, 2007 by V. Horvath

4.0 out of 5 stars Supply and Demand
I just finished reading this book and found it quite captivating. If you want a Reader's Digest version of a Soiled Dove's environment, this will interest you. Read more
Published on April 1, 2006 by Alton J. Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars Women of the West
Soiled Doves is an uncommon view of the early American West. Author Anne Seagraves tastefully lifts the veil on prostitution -which is neither glamorized nor portrayed in such a... Read more
Published on September 4, 2005 by Robert M. Logan

4.0 out of 5 stars outside looking in
A good read about a very interesting topic. Because this is a short book, I'm sure it missed too numerous to mention other stories. Read more
Published on February 19, 2004 by Steve Kelso

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written
I had high hopes for this book based on the subject matter. The book was nothing like I expected. It reads like a 10 year old's term paper. Read more
Published on January 3, 2004 by Ronald Reagan

1.0 out of 5 stars Big disappointment.
I had hoped to read some stories - I feel like I got "People" magazine versions of these women's lives. Read more
Published on October 7, 2003 by Grandma

1.0 out of 5 stars Not much of a book
I purchased this book because the subject matter sounded interesting. It was poorly written, badly researched, and very disappointing. Read more
Published on September 20, 2003

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