12 Items Tagged

Prostitution

Aarhus, Denmark

Møllestien

Long before the hollyhocks and colorful facades, this lane was notorious for witch trials, infanticide, and prostitution.

Floral games and nudity were a big part of a spring festival in Ancient Rome.

Sex Work Throughout History: Our Favorite Reads

Before ‘Anora,’ there was Ancient Rome.

Roxanne Hoorn February 28, 2025

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum

The only brothel on the National Register of Historic Places.

Red Light Secrets.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Red Light Secrets

This museum housed in a former brothel explores the past and present of sex work in Amsterdam.

Bakehouse Close.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Bakehouse Close

This alley off Edinburgh's Royal Mile contains remnants of the city's seedier history.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Historians debate whether this dish actually originated with Italian sex workers.

"The Ladies of the Evening" historical marker.

Nevada City, California

'Ladies of the Evening' Marker

Hidden in a hotel parking lot is a strange historical plaque erected by an obscure fraternal society.

Statues drying in storage.

Mud Statues of Kumortuli

The potters' quarter is packed with artists sculpting clay gods with mud from the sacred Ganges river.

The Wartime Posters That Tried to Shame Soldiers Away From STDs

“You can’t beat the Axis if you get VD.”

Kelsey Kennedy July 12, 2017

Madam Lou Bunch Day

Central City, Colorado

Madam Lou Bunch Day

Central City celebrates its most famous madam by racing beds down Main Street.

A lady of Storyville, New Orleans.

Most American Cities Once Had Red-Light Districts

But they didn't last long.

Sarah Laskow March 15, 2017

The Gates of the Herbertstraße.

Hamburg, Germany

Herbertstraße

Hamburg's first legal sex work is relegated to a gated street that still does not allow pedestrian women.