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Red Lights On The Prairies
An unconventional social history, Red Lights on the Prairies takes a lively look at the history of prostitution in prairie cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
This lighthearted yet insightful book tells how the West became overrun with brothels when huge tides of immigrants- mostly unattached young men in the prime of life- swept into the region as settlers. Unlike many histories of this era, it focuses on the prairie cities and towns that were home to the bars, brothels and poolrooms, and describes the efforts of the police, clergy and moral reformers, who were periodically outraged by the rowdy behaviour in the bawdy houses.
In this ground-breaking book, James Gray draws upon local newspapers of the time, the accounts of several former madams, and the reminiscences of old-timers who had been youths at the turn of the century to produce a vivid and authentic book at a colourful and offbeat aspect of our past.
Like its companion book, Booze, also by James Gray, Red Lights on the Prairies was a huge success when it was first published, selling more than 100,000 copies throughout North America
This lighthearted yet insightful book tells how the West became overrun with brothels when huge tides of immigrants- mostly unattached young men in the prime of life- swept into the region as settlers. Unlike many histories of this era, it focuses on the prairie cities and towns that were home to the bars, brothels and poolrooms, and describes the efforts of the police, clergy and moral reformers, who were periodically outraged by the rowdy behaviour in the bawdy houses.
In this ground-breaking book, James Gray draws upon local newspapers of the time, the accounts of several former madams, and the reminiscences of old-timers who had been youths at the turn of the century to produce a vivid and authentic book at a colourful and offbeat aspect of our past.
Like its companion book, Booze, also by James Gray, Red Lights on the Prairies was a huge success when it was first published, selling more than 100,000 copies throughout North America
- GenresNonfictionHistoryCanada
225 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 7, 2019
Popular social history is seldom this good. The professor of an undergraduate history course that I took in second year at U of T devoted roughly half of a lecture to it. It was not however required reading. The problem that academics have with prostitution is that it is hard to research using the conventional sources and methods of the historical profession. The same problems exist with illegal the sale of illegal drugs, bootlegging, protection rackets and other activities carried on by organized crime.
October 27, 2019
I am entering a new phase of research.... for a possible new project. This has led me to research prostitution on the prairies. This book was rather interesting, as it reads like an oral history.
The cities covered in this book are Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Lethbridge. All had their share of prostitutes, and the history was interesting. I ended up with a lot of questions. For example, how was there a Japanese brothel in Saskatoon in the early 1900s?
I will soon be reading more of James H Gray's books. I need to dive into the archives. I thought it was also fascinating that sex workers were the ones who gave money or who helped out when there were huge crises or problems in the town. Sex and booze were tied to one another, and things like prohibition and the First World War also had major impacts on prostitution. In some communities, the brothels and the immigrant communities were close together.
I have ordered myself a copy of this book.
The cities covered in this book are Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Lethbridge. All had their share of prostitutes, and the history was interesting. I ended up with a lot of questions. For example, how was there a Japanese brothel in Saskatoon in the early 1900s?
I will soon be reading more of James H Gray's books. I need to dive into the archives. I thought it was also fascinating that sex workers were the ones who gave money or who helped out when there were huge crises or problems in the town. Sex and booze were tied to one another, and things like prohibition and the First World War also had major impacts on prostitution. In some communities, the brothels and the immigrant communities were close together.
I have ordered myself a copy of this book.
February 1, 2025
The problem with Canadian history is that we do such a terrible job of telling it. All the interesting bits are neutered by academia and all the boring parts are preserved because they make white people look good. *Red Lights on the Prairies* is one of the few works on Canadian history that not just highlights our salacious history, but revels in it.
It’s helpful that James H. Grey is not an historian, but rather a mid-century journalist and understands intuitively that cynical truism, “If it bleeds, it leads.” If anything, Grey’s book is possibly still sanitized because he was writing in a time and place not yet tempered by post-colonialism, meaning the true stories of minorities were still considered unimportant. Grey mentions that prostitutes in Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon were primarily black, while the miners of Lethbridge seemed to prefer Asian women. The stories of these individual women—while admittedly difficult to obtain—are noticeably absent, while the hard-scrabble lives of European courtesans are described in stark detail. It stands to reason that the narrative of western Canadian prostitution, as grim as it is already, would be even more shocking if women of colour were more properly represented.
I don’t mean all this as a negative criticism, however; Grey is writing using the tools at his disposal, which in this case are heavily biased colonial newspapers and eyewitness accounts. Grey was writing at a time where there were still old-timers who remembered driving cattle from the foothills to Lethbridge to go to market. These accounts are both tempered and elaborated by Grey’s journalistic pragmatism, and together they paint a realer image of the west than whatever we learned in social studies or at the countless small town museums filled with contextless artifacts.
This book remains significant in the landscape of Canadian historical studies because no one else has written an updated book or even necessarily wants to. While it is flawed due its own historiography, it’s still a rippin’ read.
4/5
It’s helpful that James H. Grey is not an historian, but rather a mid-century journalist and understands intuitively that cynical truism, “If it bleeds, it leads.” If anything, Grey’s book is possibly still sanitized because he was writing in a time and place not yet tempered by post-colonialism, meaning the true stories of minorities were still considered unimportant. Grey mentions that prostitutes in Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon were primarily black, while the miners of Lethbridge seemed to prefer Asian women. The stories of these individual women—while admittedly difficult to obtain—are noticeably absent, while the hard-scrabble lives of European courtesans are described in stark detail. It stands to reason that the narrative of western Canadian prostitution, as grim as it is already, would be even more shocking if women of colour were more properly represented.
I don’t mean all this as a negative criticism, however; Grey is writing using the tools at his disposal, which in this case are heavily biased colonial newspapers and eyewitness accounts. Grey was writing at a time where there were still old-timers who remembered driving cattle from the foothills to Lethbridge to go to market. These accounts are both tempered and elaborated by Grey’s journalistic pragmatism, and together they paint a realer image of the west than whatever we learned in social studies or at the countless small town museums filled with contextless artifacts.
This book remains significant in the landscape of Canadian historical studies because no one else has written an updated book or even necessarily wants to. While it is flawed due its own historiography, it’s still a rippin’ read.
4/5
October 26, 2024
3.5⭐️
February 15, 2016
A fascinating exploration of prostitution in Western Canada's urban centres during the white settlement of the prairies. Apparently, there was a lot of it.
James Gray uses newspapers, court records and oral interviews to look at the existence of prostitutes in a west characterized by lots of hard working, hard drinking young men. These women were mostly tolerated by city officials, despite the constant attacks of the religious officials of the day. Gray examines the interactions of tax payers, liquor regulation and policing to understand how 'houses of ill repute' flourished and migrated.
Gray doesn't make a lot of arguments - this is mostly narrative. He does, however, argue that prostitution went away because of changing liquor regulation (prohibition laws made it harder for the madams to sell booze in their establishments) and the First World War normalizing gender ratios on the prairie. According to Gray, most prairie cities were not that interested in outlawing prostitution, preferring instead to segregate it.
Each of Gray's chapters cover a major city on the prairies, and each chapter is full of stories and anecdotes about what can only be termed colourful characters. My only disappointment with the book is that Gray was unable to unearth any of the prostitutes themselves. Instead, most of the accounts come from police officers or clients. Because of this lack, an essential piece of the story is missing. I also wish that Gray had been able to explore more of the racial intersections of the prostitutes themselves. Saskatoon's first three brothels, for example, were all-white, all-black and all-Japanese.
Canada's west is often characterized as the Mild West, in contrast with America's Wild West. I'd recommend this interesting look at the way that Canadians dealt with morality and vice in their cities, if you're interested in exploring that contrast. If you live in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon or Winnipeg, you can also find out where the red light districts in your city used to be, so that's pretty cool.
James Gray uses newspapers, court records and oral interviews to look at the existence of prostitutes in a west characterized by lots of hard working, hard drinking young men. These women were mostly tolerated by city officials, despite the constant attacks of the religious officials of the day. Gray examines the interactions of tax payers, liquor regulation and policing to understand how 'houses of ill repute' flourished and migrated.
Gray doesn't make a lot of arguments - this is mostly narrative. He does, however, argue that prostitution went away because of changing liquor regulation (prohibition laws made it harder for the madams to sell booze in their establishments) and the First World War normalizing gender ratios on the prairie. According to Gray, most prairie cities were not that interested in outlawing prostitution, preferring instead to segregate it.
Each of Gray's chapters cover a major city on the prairies, and each chapter is full of stories and anecdotes about what can only be termed colourful characters. My only disappointment with the book is that Gray was unable to unearth any of the prostitutes themselves. Instead, most of the accounts come from police officers or clients. Because of this lack, an essential piece of the story is missing. I also wish that Gray had been able to explore more of the racial intersections of the prostitutes themselves. Saskatoon's first three brothels, for example, were all-white, all-black and all-Japanese.
Canada's west is often characterized as the Mild West, in contrast with America's Wild West. I'd recommend this interesting look at the way that Canadians dealt with morality and vice in their cities, if you're interested in exploring that contrast. If you live in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon or Winnipeg, you can also find out where the red light districts in your city used to be, so that's pretty cool.
January 28, 2024
I admit I enjoyed this book as much as I did mainly because I spent my childhood exploring the areas detailed. It was written well, however felt disjointed and repetitive at times.
It was fun to read along with vivid memories of those areas. Of course, having grown up in Calgary I most enjoyed the last three chapters exploring Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Drumheller’s red light districts.
All told this is more of a compendium than a narrative. Well written and well sourced.
It was fun to read along with vivid memories of those areas. Of course, having grown up in Calgary I most enjoyed the last three chapters exploring Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Drumheller’s red light districts.
All told this is more of a compendium than a narrative. Well written and well sourced.
November 29, 2024
Really an interesting social history of the developing western provinces late 1800's to early 1900's. Thousands of single men swarmed across the prairies to build railroads and work the mines. A unique situation that agave rise to the early brothels and booze during prohibition. The days before government management of alcohol were, indeed, the wild, wild west!
January 11, 2011
The chapter on Saskatoon is my favourite. Love this book. No theory. Pure narrative history.
February 12, 2013
Fascinating look at the "red light districts" and the politics and sex trade of early western Canada.
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March 30, 2018Well researched. Colourful language. Very informative about real people during the settlement of the Canadian prairies.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews