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Prostitute License and Photo from Tombstone, Arizona [135881]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Prostitute License and Photo from Tombstone, Arizona  [135881]
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Professionally framed and mounted CDV of a woman and a signed City License issued in 1898 to a prostitute named Amelia by officials of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. (Arizona did not become a state until 1912).

This extremely rare Tombstone City License, is dated Feb. 1, 1898, and it reads // Received from Amelia / Four dollars / for License on the business of / Ill Fame / for the / month ending Feb 28th, 1898 /. It is signed by James F. Duncan, City Clerk, and A.H. Emanuel, mayor. The license number in the upper left corner is 724, originally written in red ink but now significantly faded. The Emanuel signature is by rubber stamp, now also significantly faded. Professional document mounts have yellowed with age.

We carefully opened the back to examine the license document separate from the mounts. The reverse has been photographed. It is absolutely original, with a vertical fold line with dirty hand oil along the upper portions, with “Amelia” at the top, second line “delinquent,” and the third line the date of Feb. 28, 1898. This is exactly the style of a period piece, whether license or billhead, folded vertically for filing. We also carefully removed the CDV from its mounts. The reverse has “Amelia Corster” written lightly in pencil. The photographer is nowhere noted, and no one by her name was found in a search of the contemporary census. Close-up examination of the obverse yields small foxing on the lower surface.

Of particular note in the photo is Amelia's clothing -- a black choker collar and white lace, draped at the shoulders, revealing her full neck and nearly bare shoulders. It has been suggested by several authors that white was a normal color for prostitutes, particularly along with the black collar, suggestive of fancy undergarments. In contrast, most early photos of actresses show darker colored clothing.

Information on early twentieth century prostitutes in the American West is scarce. While the trade was common in the“wild west” days -- well illustrated by Rosa Mae of Virginia City in the 1860s , and Big Nose Kate in the 1880s -- information on the post-1900 brothel business is greatly lacking. Every major mining camp had brothels -- Goldfield, Reno, Virginia City, Tucson, Tombstone, Bisbee -- and most were well organized. This lack of information suggests that the oldest business in the world was generally regarded as acceptable -- and it was back in that day. While it remained “hush hush” with little to no advertising, the prostitution business flourished until Prohibition interests drove it out of American business circles. It was so “hush- hush,” that major author-historians such as Sam Davis, who wrote the History of Nevada published in 1912, does not mention the subject of prostitution, and that word (as well as brothel) does not occur in the newly published index.

So, this lot is an extraordinarily fine and exceedingly rare piece of historical evidence of what was once a prevalent but obscured business throughout the American West. It is beautifully matted with gold-rimmed frames inside the cutouts, giving the items the illusion of floating within the openings. The gold-toned frame is approx 14 x 17 inches, the license itself is about 7 x 4 inches, and Amelia's photo is about 2-1/4 x 3-3/4 inches. The back paper has been carefully sliced open to conduct the research described here. It can be easily replaced.

Date: 1898
Country (if not USA):
State: Arizona
City: Tombstone
Provenance: