Posted by:
steve benson
(
)
Date: August 15, 2017 08:37AM
Organizing my files on Mormon-related matters, I came across the following excerpts which detail the sly and happy history of the LDS capitol's devious dance with Sodomic sins of the flesh.
Perhaps a recounting of the wink-wink toleration of certain entertainment spots in the heart and history of Salt Lake City's business district would help underscore the late LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley's insistent claim that Mormons are not a "weird" people after all and that, hey, folks should visit more often:
"[A still-standing Salt Lake building] is one of three . . . remaining on Regent Street . . . [that] were houses of prostitution in Salt Lake City's red-light district.
"From the mid-1870s until the late 1930s, Regent Street, then known as Commercial Street, operated under the tacit approval of the police department as a 'resort of gamblers and fast women.' As such, it is deeply woven into the fabric of the community and documents one aspect of the social and political history of Salt Lake.
"Native Salt Laker John Held, who became nationally known for his drawings of the 'Roaring Twenties' in the United States, provide an interesting description of Commercial Street:
"'Within the street were saloons, cafes and parlor houses, and cribs that were rented nightly to the itinerate "Ladies of the Calling." Soliciting was taboo, so these ladies sat at the top of the stairs and called their invitation to "come on up, kid."
"'The parlor houses allowed no such publicity. There was no outward display to gain entrants to a parlor house. One pushed an electric bell and was admitted by a uniformed maid or an attendant.
"'The luxury of these houses always included a "Professor" at the piano. There was none of the brashness of the mechanical piano; those were heard in the saloons and shooting galleries of the street.
"'The names of two of the madams are engraved on my memory, just as they were cut on the copper plates that Dad mmde for printing the ladies' personal cards. In Dad's engraving shop an order for cards from the madame was always welcome. They demanded the finest and most expensive engraving, and the cards were of the finest stock, pure rag vellum . . .
"'One of the madams called herself Miss Ada Wilson. Hers was a lavish house on Commerical Street. Another gave her name as Miss Helen Blazes. Her establishment catered to the big money, and in it only wine was served. In other houses beer was the popular refreshement, at one dollar a bottle, served to the guests in small whiskey glasses.'
"This building was constructed in 1898 for Gustave S. Holmes. A prominent Salt Lake City businessman, he owned the fashionable Knustford Hotel, was a director of the National Bank of the Republic, had extensive mining interests, and in 1909 was reported to be the fifth or sixth largest taxpayer in Salt Lake County.
"From the time it was built until at least the late 1910s the upper floor of the building housed a brothel, while a legitimate business, the Leader Cigar Factory, occupied the ground floor."
The Research Center of the Utah State Division of Archives and History, under the heading "Markers and Monuments," reports the following concerning the notorious past of Salt Lake City's Commercial Street biz and fizz district:
"This site [COMMERCIAL STREET 167-169 Regent Street] . . . originally housed two buildings used as brothels on Salt Lake City's busy Commercial Street during the late 1800's and early 1900's.
"Commercial Street was created in 1871, one of the first streets to be cut through Salt Lake City's large city blocks. Commercial Street originally contained legitimate businesses but by the 1880's the 'Salt Lake Tribune' referred to the street as 'a resort of gamblers and fast women' and, according to the 'Deseret News,' the occupants of Commercial Street were 'the demi-monde, the male parasite, the dope fiend, the gambler and the begger.'
"In 1893 a two-story structure was built by Gustav S. Holmes at 167 Regent Street and in 1899 a similar structure was built by Stephen Hayes at 169 Regent Street. The second floor of each building was a 'parlor house,' so named because prostitutes ordinarily received their customers in a common parlor or sitting room. The large center room was surrounded by 10 rooms, or 'cribs,' just large enough for a bed, wash stand, dresser, and a chair or two.
"The architect of the site at 169 Regent Street was Walter E. Ware, one of early Salt Lake's prominent designers. Commercial Street, now known as Regent Street, is the center for publishing of Salt Lake City's two daily newspapers. Presses have been running on the street since the early 1900's."
https://heritage.utah.gov/apps/history/markers/detailed_results.php?markerid=2775-----
Welcome to the historic wink and nod from the Church of God.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2017 10:35AM by steve benson.