Thesis of Painted Women and Patrons
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THESIS OF PAINTED WOMEN AND PATRONS: AN ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL ITEMS AND IDENTITY AT A VICTORIAN-ERA RED LIGHT DISTRICT IN OURAY, COLORADO Submitted by Kristin A. Gensmer Department of Anthropology In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2012 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Mary Van Buren Linda Carlson Lynn Kwiatkowski Copyright by Kristin A. Gensmer 2012 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT OF PAINTED WOMEN AND PATRONS: AN ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL ITEMS AND IDENTITY AT A VICTORIAN-ERA RED LIGHT DISTRICT IN OURAY, COLORADO Archaeological investigations of prostitution tend to focus on identifying the presence of females in male spaces and differentiating brothel assemblages from surrounding households. These approaches often focus on upper-class establishments and define prostitutes solely by their labor. Additionally, these scholars neglect the fact that prostitution could not exist without customers. Although often ignored, personal items represent one of the few means of addressing such oversights. In this thesis, I analyze a sample of 948 personal items recovered from the Vanoli Site (5OR30) in conjunction with data gleaned from historic documents including censuses and photographs in order to discuss Victorian-era prostitution in Ouray, Colorado. This project was designed to 1) explore the premise that the prostitute was a performative identity constructed through the manipulation of clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and hygiene by sex workers as part of their work; 2) examine the similarities between prostitutes and other working- class women in Ouray, 3) provide information about the otherwise invisible customers. The personal items and documentary evidence indicate that women and men on the Vanoli block were presenting a clean, well-groomed, and thoroughly working-class appearance. This study concludes that the male patrons defined their larger identities through their labor, and their identities as customers through their interactions with the sex workers, and therefore did not alter their appearances specifically to participate in leisure culture. Furthermore, while prostitutes were using perfumes and hygiene-products to construct a sweet-smelling, healthy appearance, they were not wearing specialized make up or clothing as part of their labor. Instead of using personal items to alter their physical appearance to create the performative identity of the ii prostitute, these women constructed their identities in leisure culture through their participation in prostitution and through their work. My results emphasize the importance of including personal items in examinations of prostitution in order to further dispel the stereotypical image of the Wild West. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The assistance and support of a number of people aided me in the completion of this thesis. I especially would like to express my appreciation to my advisor, Mary Van Buren, and committee members, Linda Carlson and Lynn Kwiatkowski, who provided invaluable guidance and support throughout the project. Linda Carlson advised me in the care and rehabilitation of archaeological textiles, and generously allowed me the use of her facilities and equipment. Lynn Kwiatkowski listened to my ideas and helped me navigate the complexities of theory. I would also like to thank Steven G. Baker who saw the enormous archaeological and historical potential in a condemned red light district and preserved it for the future. Together, he and Mary Van Buren are responsible for making the Vanoli Collection available to students and allowing me to complete this project. Thank you to Stephen Sherman for designing our project database, to L. Neil Smith who kindly volunteered to use his expertise to provide invaluable information regarding the ordnance, and to Cathy L. Z. Smith, the hard-working practicum student who transcribed Neil’s narratives and who entered all of the tobacco and ordnance artifacts into our database. I would also like to thank the members of CSU’s anthropology department who have assisted and supported me throughout my academic career. This thesis was funded in part by a grant from the State Historical Fund and scholarships from the Mount Rosa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Loveland Archaeological Society. I have also relied heavily on the support of my family and friends throughout this process. My parents, Richard and Linda Gensmer, my brother, Steven Gensmer, and my grandmother, Kathleen Bascombe, have my eternal gratitude for always believing in me and offering support and advice whenever I asked. To my boyfriend, Jason Martorano, thank you for always listening to me and, when necessary, for reminding me to take a deep breath and take a iv step back from whatever wall I had just hit. My friends and cohort-mates Rebecca Simon and Alexis Knee provided much needed support, outings, and sounding boards whenever I needed them. Also, thank you to all of my friends and co-workers who helped me work through ideas, provided much-needed distractions, and got me out of my own head when it was needed. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 The Prostitute .............................................................................................................................. 2 The Personal Item........................................................................................................................ 3 Archaeological Investigations of Prostitution ............................................................................. 5 The Vanoli Collection ................................................................................................................. 6 Summary of Chapters .................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2: Ouray, the Vanoli Block, and Prostitution: An Overview ............................................ 9 Red Light Districts and Rocky Mountain Mining Towns ........................................................... 9 Victorian-era Prostitution .......................................................................................................... 11 The Women ........................................................................................................................... 14 The Men ................................................................................................................................. 17 Ouray ......................................................................................................................................... 18 The Vanoli Block ...................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3: Prostitution and Appearance ....................................................................................... 28 Prostitution and Appearance ......................................................................................................... 28 Theoretical Perspective ............................................................................................................. 28 An Introduction to Appearance and Costume ........................................................................... 33 Working-Class Appearance....................................................................................................... 44 Archaeological Traces of Appearance ...................................................................................... 58 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 4: Methods ....................................................................................................................... 62 The Excavation of the Vanoli Site (5OR30) ............................................................................. 63 Operation Sampling................................................................................................................... 65 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter 5: Prostitution and Demographics: An Analysis of Ouray Census Data......................... 74 vi Women, Sex Workers, and Potential Customers in Ouray ....................................................... 76 Women in the Ouray Censuses .............................................................................................. 77 Prostitutes in the Ouray Censuses ......................................................................................... 81 Men in the Ouray Censuses ..................................................................................................