Studying the materials left by those who were "in the life" you learn that even in the days of bawdy houses and madams, when men were men and women knew it, the girls died of overdose, violence, disease and even exposure.

The "best cities" for prostitution were St. Louis and Fairbanks (approximately 1900). There the girls were medically checked and the police kept a check on rapacious madams, making sure that the girls got a decent deal for the work they did -- and servicing 30 men in one night was not unusual in either city. In these cities the girls could even go to work for themselves, even OWN their own house and home!

However, the do-gooders (one of which was the US Army) forced the closure of these red light districts. The houses were raided, the girls were dispersed or jailed. No longer could the police find "real" criminals by checking out the longer houses. No longer were the girls checked medically, and there were no more checks upon pimps and madams.

Back in those days, the "house" was more than a place for sex -- it also functioned as a sort of social club (yes, like in the movie "Cheyenne Social Club"), a place men (often alone) went to spend less time being lonely and to have some fun (and it didn't always involve sex). Look how many jazzmen started in sportin' houses....

It was a different time in American history, a culture so different that if you were suddenly sent there you'd get a shock similar to one of being set down unexpectedly in a primitive country. That is NOT to say that it was better for the girls -- far from it! Read the police reports of the period, or the obituaries if they were printed at all.

Now, the girls are preyed upon and the "good" madam is all but nonexistent. It would take a fundamental change in American (and I suspect British) society to "decriminalize" prostitution.

Besides, those little bugs have bigger bugs upon their backs...as they say, follow the money.