The Madam of Six-Twenty-Seven Clay Street: Bowling Green's Infamous House of Ill Repute

by Mary Lucas

One of Bowling Green's most colorful characters, Pauline Tabor was known as the Madam at 627 Clay Street for nearly twenty-five years. A single mother during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Miss Pauline entered the world's oldest profession to support both herself and her two children. However, she quickly learned that it was more profitable to be a madam than "one of the girls", and so began her career as the owner of a brother.

The Madam of Six-Twenty-Seven Clay Street tells the true story of Pauline Tabor and many interesting tales of her career in prostitution in the small town of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Genres: Nonfiction, Southern

176 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2020

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining and well researched! A lot of the information talked about in this book is something you will also learn if you manage to read a copy of Pauline’s own self titled memoirs. This does a solid job of telling more about Pauline and the events of her time as a madame of a house of prostitution.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read, interesting story! Could have benefited from better editing.

"One of Bowling Green's most colorful characters, Pauline Tabor was known as the Madam at 627 Clay Street for nearly twenty-five years. A single mother during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Miss Pauline entered the world's oldest profession to support both herself and her two children. However, she quickly learned that it was more profitable to be a madam than "one of the girls", and so began her career as the owner of a brother."

[Katina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the insights from people who knew Pauline and the portions clearly researched from first-person interviews. It's inspiring to know that the author worked on this after she retired. The historical context was not written in the same engaging manner as the anecdotes, and the book's organization could be tighter. I would still highly recommend for any people living in BG or with connections to the town. Pauline is an important cultural icon.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has me itching to find more information about the Madam. As a student of the local college a lot of the names in this book immediately stirred memories of passing by their locations when I explored the town. It's fun to know Bowling Green has some saucy past hidden away in its history.