The Other Painted Ladies of the Old West
howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas! The
Cattle Drives came right through our neighborhood on the way to the
famous Cow towns like Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas.
I talked about the Painted Ladies of the Cow towns yesterday and
wanted to continue talking a little about the saloon culture but this
time focus on the dance hall or saloon "girls".
Both the dance hall girls and the prostitutes were considered to be
totally outrageous and unacceptable to the civilized world and
especially to the 'proper" ladies in the rest of the country the Painted
Ladies were completely shocking and disgusting. It was quite a
controversy in the Eastern newspapers!
The dance hall or saloon girls were not normally prostitutes although
there were some who worked the saloons but were in and out and
not working there full time. The ladies who worked there full time
were typically upstanding ladies who were escaping from the farm
or a mill, or a widow looking for a man.
I mean back then there were few opportunities for women to make
good money and widows who lost their husbands and had no way
to bring in an income could shop for another husband and make very
good money at the same time. It was a pretty smart move.
Plus, these ladies got to wear fancy clothes with all the trimmings
and in addition to the money and clothes there was the attention.
I'm not a female psychologist but I would think that many a woman
would like being adored and sought after by dozens of young
cowboys every night! Any ladies out there who would agree with
me? That's my assumption. Plus from everything I've read it was
alot of fun with dancing, drinking, music and laughter.
Here's how it worked: the ladies were there to show the Cowboys a
good time and take every dollar he had. Ha! I know it sounds cold
but it was a business and she was hired by the saloon owner to get
as much money out of the poor cowboys that she could. And I'm
sure that after a few drinks that wasn't like pulling teeth.
She was paid about $10 a week but got commissions on all the drinks
she got him to buy and anything else like food, cigars and dances.
When the Cowboy bought her a drink, his was whiskey and her's
was colored water, sugar water or a tea of the same color as whiskey,
so they were faking the Cowboys out and playing along. It also cost
50 cents to a dollar to have a dance with a girl.
Many times the saloon girls could make $30 a night in the saloon,
the cowpokes made $30 per MONTH! for a LOT harder work. But
hey, they were both happy at the end of the night. And the way the
saloon owner lost his girls? what caused the biggest turnover?
Them leaving to marry a Cowboy! lol.
One thing that I like about cowboys is that there was a Cowboy Code
in the West and I'll do a post on that sometime but one of the main
foundations of that code is respect for women.
The cowboys had great respect for women and even in the saloons
any bad behavior towards them from a drunk cowboy was not
tolerated and in fact, insulting a saloon girl could even get you killed!
Well folks I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a colorful period of
our history, more is coming. Thanks so much and God bless you all!
-jonboy texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know, you might just be a redneck if:
the diploma hanging in your den contain the words
"trucking institute!"
When I was a kid one of my friends was obsessed with wild west movies and started up a game where we pretended to be "dance hall girls". We put on big skirts and trotted around. We really didn't understand it, of course. But looking at this article, I guess those ladies didn't have it too bad.
lol! no they made a fortune and had a great time and many found husbands! that's a funny story though, yours.
Hi Janton. Very interesting. Certain clubs I believe still operate similarly today with hostesses getting commission for drinks etc.
howdy there @cryptoandcoffee! do you mean in South Africa?
I don't know of any in this country but then I don't go to any places like that so I'm ignorant about that.
thank you sir!
I think it is like that everywhere.
it's like that all over the world and I had no idea. alrighty then, just call me naive! lol. thank you sir. have you ever been in a place that did that? most are high-class clubs of some kind?
I have about 10 years ago though.
A woman's hat is never big enough @janton!
hahaha! I stand corrected Miss angiemitchell, I know nothing about this stuff! lol. thanks for commenting so humorously.
$30 a night was sure a lot of money back then! And yes, that's a big hat, but I love it; I love the clothes back then too! :) Thanks for another interesting historical read @janton ;)
EDIT: In case you don't have ginabot set up yet, @buckaroo featured you in a post I think you'll want to see :)
howdy @lynncoyle1! hahaha! no way..you do NOT like that dang huge hat! no way...well maybe if you had a hat that big it would offset those feet! is that what you're thinking? ok then I can see why.
yeah those women were HAULING it in! they were getting rich at the poor cowboys expense, I kinda feel sorry for them but they probably figured it was worth it. my posts would be better if I had more time to spend on them. bytheway I'm dropping back on time next week because our place here needs so much work and I've been neglecting too many things so
you'll probably be nosing your way up to first place again. I'll try to do enough to stay in the top ten...or maybe try for the top 5.
I don't know, depends on how involved I get in the outside work, I have a problem with multi-tasking, I'd make a terrible female. one thing at a time I'm great but can't juggle things like females can.
oh wow, yes I was blushing again! buckaroo commented on that post and told me what she did, I was like what the??? very very kind of her. turns out she is a big fan and is fascinated by the Old West also even though she's in Africa so I thought that was so interesting!
of course I don't have ginabot set up yet! I spend all my time trying to answer all your comments! lol. I love it.
hahaha yes, the hat would balance my feet for sure. That's why I was so sad when bell bottoms went out of style and skinny jeans came in :)
I'm glad you saw that about buckaroo! I'm one of the judges in that contest and was pleased to see you featured. You're really making a name for yourself buddy :)
Sometimes real life gets in the way of our steemit fun, doesn't it? :)
hey @lynncoyle1! ......is there a place on steemit that has contests for the funniest lines of the week? if there isn't then you should start one. no swearing or curse words though. anyone doing that?
because that line about the Bell Bottom Jeans was hilarious! lol. those skinny jeans just accentuated your feet size!haha! oh man you're too funny.
you're a judge on that contest? of course you are. What AREN'T you involved in? either you're cloned or Steemit isn't as big as I thought it was. is there a prize in that contest or just more exposure?
my sp is pitiful and I keep hearing that you can't get to 500 sp unless you buy steem from outside funds and then power up, is that your opinion?
Witty and no wine...yet :) I thought you might like that one haha
The prize is a @steembasicmembership(sbi); we judges pay 1 steem for the winner to get one and sbi gives you upvotes for life on your posts. The more of those you get, the higher their upvotes from them. My upvote from them on every post i write is about .20 now. So it's worth it.
I've never bought steem and choose to grow organically. Takes time, but it's possible. Through things like asher's contest, I've been able to power up a lot of steem, as I'm assuming you do too?
howdy back again @lynncoyle1...so if you're already that witty without wine I can hardly wait until you have some wine! but then we won't know who's talking the wine or the woman? wine, women and song, that's what those cowboys were after, basically.
so I'm not sure I understand this statement.."The more of those you get, the higher their upvotes from them. " the more sbi's I get? where do I get them? isn't that just buying votes that half the people on here are so against?
yes Ma'am I power up but it looks pitiful..but alot of people that I talk to have 500+ or even thousands in sp so it feels like I ain't got squat! lol.
do you have 500 yet? they say that when you hit 500 sp things get easier and when you hit a rep of 60 things get easier, what say you? or the wine, either one.
Ok, sbi first:
This is their profile : Social Experiment to provide every Steemian with Basic Income
It's not a bot, but run by one nice guy ;) By supporting others, you also support yourself. So for example, let's say you win the Pay It Forward Contest (pifc), as one of the judges, I purchase one sbi for you, but by doing that, it also gives one to me. That's how mine is big already. It's actually a really nice idea. I don't know if you can actually buy them for yourself.
I had a look in your wallet (heehee) and I'd say you are doing very well for joining so recently. I find it's a slow and steady wins the race kind of thing here. I have about 375 SP myself, but have been fortunately delegated to by a few different people, so it's higher. But they can undelegate (take their SP back) at any time. @danielsaori runs a great comment challenge contest with some great prizes; you should check it out. Here's the latest winner's post; have a look at third place and all the prizes :)
Getting to 500 SP allows you to use a percentage slider, so every one of your votes doesn't have to be 100% . It does make it easier to have your voting power last longer. If you use steemworld.org, there's a way to do that even it you don't have 500 SP. Let me know if you want more information on that :)
howdy back Lynn...I read that contest winner's comment and wow, that's some great writing, out of my league. lol. I mean really, I'm not gifted like that. but those prizes are amazing, do you guys have to submit a comment that you think is good?
yeah I joined in Feb but I didn't start posting or working until the third week in April so I reckon that's not too bad for that period of time.
Like a lot of people my wife and I are trying to figure out if I should stay with it because it appears to be a large gamble. and we could use some income.
I have used steemworld to check for mentions and things, does it have a slider for votes on there somewhere?
Amazing. These were not cowgirls but ladies surviving in the wild west. You have a light and personal touch to American history. I'm curious to read about the code of the West. Maybe some gentlemen in our times can learn something from it.
howdy there mineopoly! well sir I think my next post will be about the Code. I've lived in alot of states but Texas has come closer to any I've been in as far as having ALOT of real men. and they treat women with more respect than I've seen anywhere else.
thank you sir for your kind words, my biggest struggle, besides finding good, authentic photos is making history less boring and being a bunch of dates and figures so that's what I'm trying to improve.
So they were escorts like geisha girls. Hell, I would have done that! Dress all fancy like, dancing and milking the man's pocket. Sounds like a dream. There must have been a catch or every woman would have been lined up at the door to play. LOL!
lol! well I don't know what the numbers were but alot of the girls left to get married so the turnover was high. And the Cow towns didn't have large populations, they basically sprang up to service the cowboys coming into town so there probably wasn't a ton of women who would do what they did because remember it was scandalous in the extreme back then!
but I agree, I think it would have been fun for most of those gals, I think everyone there mostly had a
blast, so going to work was going to a party every night except they didn't drink much alcohol on the job!
thanks so much squirrelbait, I'm glad you commented because I meant to head over to your blog earlier, going there now.
That would be rough to make $30 in a month and lose so much of it in one night. Hopefully they put some of their money into precious metals... or other savings accounts.
lol! that's too funny. you WERE trying to be funny right Blondie?
well sir they were paid in pure silver so that was their precious metals, I'm sure they didn't have any savings accounts handy and they were a long way from home.
most of them probably blew most of a month's wages in one night. first it cost to have the livery keep their horses, then they had to pay for baths and a barber for shaves and hair cuts, those things there were probably at least a dollar apiece and that was before the saloon.
I don't know what the black cowboys did because they weren't allowed in the saloons. probably the only ones that saved their money.
thank you sir!
Yes, I was trying to be funny. It's that dry pan humor.
It doesn't make sense to me to pay so much of your money for such a momentary pleasure. Yes, it's nice for a short time, but then it's gone and so is your money. I'm more of a saver... except when it comes to silver, but that's saving too, so I'm still good. ;)
Interesting that the black cowboys weren't allowed in the saloons even though they were equal everywhere else on the drive. You're probably right, they probably were the only ones who saved any money.
haha! the silver addiction is so different because even though you spend alot of money you are still being wise and investing! so you can't buy too much silver. just keep telling your wife that.
ya know, she should love this new hobby of yours and all your family should because you just became the easiest person in the world to buy gifts for, like at Christmas.
My wife is actually really happy about knowing what to get me. I've always been really difficult to shop for, but now anyone can know what to get me. Four Silver American Eagles? Sure! That's a great gift. Thank you very much! A silver ingot? That's great too! You really can't go wrong! Ha ha. :D
so true, so it's actually helping everyone, brilliant!
Oh, yeah, still not a redneck. I'm not certified by a trucking institute.
dratts! foiled again. I thought maybe that one would at least be close.
You'll get it one of these days. Like "You know you're a redneck if you eat pizza."
Bam! You'll have gotten me. I don't think eating pizza is redneck though, so bad example.
yes sir, your day is coming when you'll get nailed. I just need to find one about redneck silver!
Oh, that would be a good one. You very well could get me with one of those. I'll keep an eye out for it.
well actually you're so good creating funny stuff I was hoping you'd come up with one! lol
If I think of something, I'll let you know. The main issue is that I don't know a lot about rednecks, so I don't know what would qualify.
yeah that's just because you don't know you're part redneck!
Hi there! this was one interesting read, them cowboys were lucky i must say.
What if i tell you that even here in UAE the trend is somehow still going on, in clubs you can go watch ladies dance and they get commission on you buying drinks because of them, dancing with them or playing them a song.
howdy back @hananali! lol. the Old West in Dubai??
ha, well the principle is the same yes? men pay to have a good social experience with the ladies and sometimes both of them fall in love!
thanks for commenting, is it late at night there?
haha yeah the culture is about connected.
Time here is about 17 to 2 AM . How about there? is it early morning already? how's everything?
howdy again @hananali! well sir when you wrote this 3 hours ago it was 5pm here so you are 9 hours ahead of us. sorry I didn't see this comment or I would have replied right away.
That's fine, no problem @janton ,
Yes as I told you too, around 9 hours of difference in our places, add one more hour from next month hopefully
very good Hananali
I checked that day, Only in the US there are many time zones
How the times changed a lot since then.
These posts if yours make me want to rewatch the tv series Westworld again.
lol! howdy there @leeart! well sir I've never seen that series but I've heard that it was really good. thank you for reading and commenting!
Feel free to check it out and let us know your thoughts about it.