The economics of being a prostitute
VD tests alone cost $13 which is about $280 in today's dollars.
The “sporting girls” had business costs that were unique to Honolulu.
The money was good. Most women serviced 100 men per day, 20 days per month. Of the $3 the men paid, the girls kept $2. You do the math, it paid well but few women had the stamina to work for the duration of the war.
The average prostitute made $40,000 per year (about $850,000 in today’s dollars). The madams cleared an average of $160,000 per year. Most of the girls lived in the brothels. Room and board was $100 per month. They also had to tip the housemaids who cleaned their service cubicles, linen services—changed after each customer—maids, and unofficial women who acted as security. VD tests were $13 per week.
During the war, the blackouts and curfews made 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the prime business hours where hundreds of men lined the streets of Chinatown to “climb the stairs” to The Senator Hotel, The Bronx Rooms, the Rex Rooms, the Rainbow Hotels among others.
During the first part of the war, schools were closed. Ambitious local boys gave shoe shines to men in line. Young girls lured men into tattoo parlors and barber shops.
Once at the top of the stairs, the man paid the madam (behind a cage window) $3 in exchange for a token. Past the booth, they sat on benches in the hallways waiting their turn. The man went into a room, undressed, washed, and went into the next room where the waiting prostitute had a three-minute timer. But, from various stories, three minutes were rarely necessary.
Some men trooped down the steps and waited in line at a tattoo parlor where they could get inked for the standard price of $3.
To contact Dorothea, check out her website at: https://www.dorotheabuckingham.com
