What Did Our Parents Do?? SM in the 1950s

Thanks for inviting me to write a guest post for your wonderful blog, Roxanne. My erotic romance novel Beauty of the Beast is set in 1950s Austin, Texas. Mary Jane Andrews, the Beauty of title, is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and she was there at the time. She wanted to write this article, so take it away Mary Jane!

Thanks Carole, and thanks Roxanne. Your blog is lovely!

Does it make you squirm a little, wondering what your parents and grandparents may have been up to? Don’t worry. They likely had much the same tastes you do, genetics being what they are.

I’m what you would call elderly now, but I remember 1950, when I first met my husband, like it was yesterday. I’ll give you the scholarly background on SM first, then share a couple of personal anecdotes.

SM has been around since we were cave dwellers, I’d imagine, though the term itself wasn’t invented until the Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch started writing about their sex lives. If you’ve tried to read anything by either of them, you know that real sadism and real masochism are nasty stuff. Luckily, SM as we know it today has evolved into a mutually arousing activity for consenting adults.

If you’d like to see some photos of SM from the 1950s, please visit my Beauty of the Beast Pinterest page!

The Ranch House and the Chicken Ranch

Back in 1950, not too far from the Ranch House in Beauty of the Beast, there was a famous establishment called the Chicken Ranch. It was a house of prostitution, named for the actual chickens that formerly lived there, not as a slur to the lovely lady practitioners! The brothel first opened in 1844, and carried on a lively business up until 1973. Have you seen the movie Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? That’s the Chicken Ranch, immortalized in film.

Like the Ranch House, the Chicken Ranch catered to a wealthy clientele. The style of sex called SM, as opposed to partner or spousal abuse, was and is practiced mainly by sophisticated sexual adepts. Many clients are lawyers, doctors, businessmen and women, and politicians. While the Ranch was highly illegal, nobody was looking to shut the place down! In fact, an early local sheriff, Will Loessin, used to visit the Chicken Ranch in the late evening to learn the latest gossip about crimes in the area.

The Sheriff with a Direct Line

By my time, the sheriff was T.J. Flournoy, and he had a direct telephone line installed to save him the bother of visiting every night. T. J. was a piece of work, and no, he’s not the same hunk-of-love T. J. from Beauty of the Beast. While the SM was going on behind closed (public) bedroom doors, it was pretty much an open secret among the wealthy businessmen around town.

Like now, SM back then was one of the safer ways to enjoy sex. Just like George did at the Ranch House, Jessie Williams, the first madam at the Chicken Ranch, kept a close watch to make sure nobody got actually hurt. Legend is she roamed the halls with an iron poker in her fist!

The girls at both ranches, rumored to be (cough) University of Texas coeds, were fingerprinted and photographed by the sheriff, and received weekly medical checkups. A lot of the male clients were rumored to be (ahem) Texas A& M University students. You can meet two of them, ingenious fellows both, in Beauty of the Beast. It’s a documented fact that a nearby base helicoptered soldiers in on a regular basis.

No Exploitation, No Victims

At the Ranch House, both men and women paid for the privilege of indulging their sexual fantasies. At the Chicken Ranch, the men paid and the women earned as much as $8000 a month in today’s currency. An important aspect to note about SM, then and now, is that it’s not about exploitation and it’s not about victims!

My Own Story

You’re waiting for the personal stories, aren’t you? I’ll give you a couple of teasers. There’s a room in the Ranch House that’s set up like a doctor’s office. Hmmm. Sigh! That was a fun room! And then there’s the mechanical horse. Oh my. George found a motorized pony like you used to see outside the grocery store, and he rigged it up with a special saddle, and strapped me in, and dropped in a coin... Oh Lordy! Ride ‘em cowgirl!

If you’d like to read more, Beauty of the Beast will be released on Amazon Kindle on May 7, just six more days! You can pre-order your copy now.

Thanks again for inviting us, Roxanne. I know I speak for Carole, too, when I say how much we enjoy your blog and appreciate your hospitality! If any readers have questions or comments, we’ll be here to answer them all day.

In fact, I’d be happy to personally send a free copy of Beauty of the Beast to each commentor! All I need is your email address, which you can send to carole dot remy at hotmail dot com, if you prefer not to leave your email in a comment.

Beauty of the Beast

Carole Remy

Genre: erotic romance

Number of pages: 265

Word Count: 65,500

Tag Line

The year is 1950. The town is Austin, Texas. Young reporter Mary Jane Andrews isn’t sure what SM is, but she’s heard that it’s going on outside Austin, and she’s determined to investigate.

Book Description:

Mary Jane Andrews is what Texans call a pistol. She thinks fast, acts faster, and takes the consequences with a laugh. The year is 1950. Young reporter Mary Jane isn’t sure what SM is, but she’s heard that it’s going on outside Austin, and she’s determined to investigate. Once she meets the Master, she’s both enthralled and scared spitless.

What’s a Master to do when his hotter-than-sin sexual soul mate shows up at the door of his highly illegal sex house? Don’t worry, he has lots of ideas...

Trouble is, Mary Jane wants the story. And the Master won’t spend the rest of his natural life in jail. The sex is explosive, inventive, and addictive, both ways. Will it be bend or break for the insatiable Beauty and the masterful Beast?

 About the Author:

Carole Remy lives in Mexico with her beloved dog Gemma. When she isn’t writing and touring her novels, you can find her rescuing dogs, learning wood sculpture, and salsa dancing!

blog: http://caroleremy.blogspot.mx/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/caroleremybooks/

Twitter: @Carole_Remy

Carole Remy Author

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