From The Telegraph:
Edna Milton Chadwell
“The Chicken Ranch served the men of La Grange — a town of several thousand people between the Texan cities of Houston and Austin — from 1915 to 1973. The establishment had got its name during the Depression, when clients who had no money paid for the girls’ services in farm produce, notably with chickens which were then used for egg production. It was said to be the oldest operating brothel in America when, in August 1973, it was closed down as a result of an exposé on Houston’s KTRK-TV by the investigative journalist Marvin Zindler.

(snip)

The brothel apparently enjoyed a roaring trade among local businessmen and students from the University of Texas and Texas A and M; it is even said that a nearby military base laid on a helicopter to ferry soldiers to and from their trysts. “We weren’t ostracised one bit,” Edna Milton claimed. “It was just as if I had a grocery store or an office or a restaurant.””

My mother loved musicals and Dolly Parton so I grew up singing the songs from “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”. Looking back I don’t think I fully grasped what a whorehouse was. To me it seemed more just like a house of women roommates. I loved the songs and the pretty dresses and how the women lived communally.

Years ago I found one of the Chicken Ranch tip boxes on Ebay. Determined to win it I bid a large amount but ended up winning it for a bargain. I use it as my jewelry box and it’s one of my prized possessions.

I particularly like Chadwell’s quote about the casual acceptance of the Chicken Ranch in the community. I’d like to see a future where sex work businesses are seen as just that-businesses.

Posted by Vixen in News, Sex Workers