Wednesday, May 22, 2024

MADAME LOUISA

Call me strange, but I have always had a soft spot for the ole Madame's and prostitutes...Stormey Daniels, the Mayflower Madame, Madame de Pompadour, Heidi Fleiss and one Madame Lousia Bunch.  Hell, I even did Mona Stangley once in drag to Hard Candied Christmas for the Raven's closing show. It's on the blog somewhere. They always seem to be so full of life and down to earth people, easy to talk too. I don't know why society has always feared them. I read a story in a book about Louisa Bunch and she sounded like a swell lady. She was born in February of 1857, and became to date, Denver's most famous Madame, where she learned the tricks of the trade from Mattie Silks, the outgoing Madame. Around the turn of the 19th century when the gold rush was fast and heavy through the mountain community of Colorado, Pine Street was home of the city's red-light district. It's reported the lovely 300lb Madame ran the most successful brothel in the states, housing ladies of the evening, thought she said they were housekeepers, you know, like I and my "houseboys." She was also one of it's richest.  But she was also very kind, and more than just a Madame- she risked her own life to save townspeople during a huge tuberculosis outbreak. She converted more than half of her lovely mansion to a hospital and offered crucial medical and financial care to people far from getting any help. She also gave and donated tons of money to the city on many occasions to help the economy in tough times, to get back on track, and always helped back new business owners, to help the city prosper. She was also invited into other reputable homes, where she was always the life of the party.


Madame Louisa passed away in January of 1935 and was buried at Denver's Fairmont Cemetery, sharing the multiple plots she had for herself and her numerous "girls."  After her death and even up to current times, the city of Denver never forgot. Every June, they still host racing antique beds on wheels down the Main Street, followed by the annal Lousia Bunch Brunch... and will do it once again this June to pay homage to her...more than a century later. I found her story to be very heartwarming.

This one is for Madame Lousia.

23 comments:

  1. Great post and I love seeing the video again. The first time I ever heard the song I thought they said, I’m your penis!

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    1. Im sure some drag queen....for sure had done a parody of the song...and I had thought of doing it myself. I thought the same as you.

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  2. Ok, so Venus, by Bananarama??? ICONIC.
    I absolutely love that songgggggg!

    And I also love me a good whore. They're probably the most honest people. You have got to follow Whores of Yore. I'm sure they're somewhere in social media.

    XOXO

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    1. I like to think I'd been a good Madame is a past life.

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  3. Would that the trade were still acceptable, so much strife would disappear. What a wonderful person she was.
    Love the song, great choice!

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  4. Great story. Here's to Louisa 🥂

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  5. Clearly Louisa had a heart of gold!

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  6. Love Bananarama!!!
    Society fears prostitutes because they don't follow the rules set down by straight white men.

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  7. Anonymous5/22/2024

    Tundra Bunny here...

    Madame Louisa sounds like a fascinating woman who went above and beyond for her community!

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  8. I have long been fascinated by prostitutes, 'why' and 'how' and does anyone actually choose such? From what I read it is synomonous with PTSD as it now is.

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  9. Anonymous5/22/2024

    And to think a certain Catholic football player feels women should only aspire to be housewives.:( (never mind that the Catholic college he made his speech at is administered by well educated Catholic nuns and his own mother is a physicist) Madame Louisa is more accomplished than he will ever be. :-)

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    1. Said Catholic football player is an asshat and someone should tell him and those who support his view and he, that we are in the year 2024!!!! So snap out of it neanderthals.

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  10. She does sound like an interesting person! I love the stories of the "common folk" to which she can be included because in my perception the "non-common folk" are all the straight white men that have pontificated what society is to the rest of us for generations. If you take the underground tour in Seattle you'll learn about the "Seamstresses" that helped build the city and the clever way that some men got Shanghaied. Let's just say you didn't want to piss off the bartender or be mean to the ladies of the establishment and find yourself on the wrong barstool (there were trapdoors underneath.)

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    1. Another nice little slice of History.

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  11. I LOVED Bananarama back in the day!

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  12. Have you read "Cannery Row"? The brothel next door plays a prominent role in community life. As I always say, make the best of what you have to work with.

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  13. Fascinating. I think there should be a museum dedicated to the industry and its fascinating practitioners. Thanks for sharing this. I share your enthusiasm. I frequently think - in a former life - that I was a prostitute. I certainly act like one at the prairie!

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    1. Now you're preaching to the choir my dear.

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  14. the first Madame de Pompadour was a procurer who found young girls to satiate the appetite of Louis XV.

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    1. Yes....and I hear she wasn't the nicest. She despised Marie Antoinette.

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  15. love this over sized madame. here and here my tribute

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!