A License for Prostitution in 1899 was $2.50 for 3 months

[IcyPeas]

$2.50 in 1899 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $81.08 today. The license was only good for 3 months.

So back in 1899 it was approximately $325.00 a year for a prostitute just to work. That was an expensive license.

Link to tweet

https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1899?amount=10

[underpants]

1. Nice!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. $325 is like 1 hour for an escort ... pretty sure every sex worker in the US would happily shell

out $325 for a license that makes their trade legal ... that lasts an entire year.

Just sayin'

[IcyPeas]

3. $325 in 1899 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $10,540.77 today

we're talkin' 1899 here.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. I don't think you're reading the OP correctly :) nt

[Volaris]

17. Beat me to it.

[RainCaster]

4. How much does Joe Manchin get paid?

It is a fair comparison.

[keithbvadu2]

6. Arizona - Mark Lindsay - 1969

[brooklynite]

7. Nevada Brothel License today: $6,000 +

https://www.lyon-county.org/DocumentCenter/View/6755/Brothel-Application?bidId=

[roamer65]

8. Arizona wasn't a state in 1899.

It was a territory.

The Twitter account has it wrong in their description.

It was a territorial license for prostitution.

We definitely need to go the route Australia has on prostitution.

[Captain Zero]

15. I would imagine Australia's route on prostitution would have something to do with

Down and Under.

[roamer65]

18. LOL...

[DemocraticPatriot]

9. That picture of the woman, looks an awful lot like one I have seen of Josephine Earp,

Wyatt Earp's second wife....

I would check, but it is somewhere in one of my 12 tubs of books that have not been unpacked yet...

Anyway, she was an actress, not a prostitute.

[Hekate]

11. The veiled woman is certainly gorgeous, whoever she was nt

[orleans]

16. i believe you have a BINGO!

https://pixels.com/featured/josephine-earp-richard-jenkins.html

[NotASurfer]

20. License from 1899. Josephine Earp born 1861

The woman in that photo doesn't look like she's seen almost 4 decades of frontier life. I think Antiques Roadshow figured out the photograph of the woman in question was produced in NJ by a novelty company in 1914.

(Thought I ought to ask Google after I typed that, "Kaloma" photograph, here's a link:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/12/louisville-ky/appraisals/1914-pastime-novelty-co-kaloma-photo--200704A23/

[Hekate]

10. My take is so different from many: first & foremost a license is a legal document...

…which means that sex-work had a legal basis. I’m not sure how this is a bad thing, on its face, especially when you consider what harsh and punitive measures have typically been taken against women and girls who worked as prostitutes where it is illegal — fines, prison, loss of children if any, beatings, rape — but seldom levied of their customers or their pimps.

Without doing a fair amount of research, I don’t know how the fee of $2.50 per quarter compares to 1899 licenses for other occupations, activities, and so forth — but it is a good place to start, isn’t it?

The other question I would ask is how long it would take for the typical lady of negotiable affection to earn $2.50 in 1899, given that the license covered 3 months, ie 1/4 of a year.

I am curious,
Hekate

[IcyPeas]

13. I am also curious as to the prices of her (his) services.

And how many hours of work it would take to pay the fee. I hope this gave them some protections -- like from the local sheriff.

"negotiable affections"

[Nexus2]

12. Expensive license

Especially considering a license to practice dentistry was about...free.

[ansible]

14. Banning prostitution is one of the last few things left both political sides agree to

It will never be legal on a national level

[TheBlackAdder]

19. If $2.50 equates to $about $82, when was Two Bits a thing?