We Weren't Angels : A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Crime in Boston's Combat Zone.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexander, Geoff.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alexander, Geoff, 1952-.

Alexander, Geoff.

Red-light districts--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century.

Red-light districts.

Sex industry--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century.

Sex industry.

Street life--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century.

Street life.

Taxicab drivers--Massachusetts--Boston--Biography.

Taxicab drivers.

Boston (Mass.)--Biography.

Boston (Mass.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (270 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Jefferson : McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers, 2023.

Summary:

"A hub of sex, crime, and drugs, Boston's Combat Zone, the nation's largest adult entertainment district during the last half of the 20th century, lured white- and blue-collar workers, lawyers, professors, judges and cops to watch and chat up its adult performers, many of whom earned more than white-collar professionals. By 1985, its multi-decade run was over. Why did it last so long, despite constant attempts to destroy it? What drew thousands of women to perform there, despite the potential for danger? And what became of them, after the lights dimmed and the music stopped? This first comprehensive history of the Combat Zone authored by an active participant, is told through the gritty perspective of a Boston cab driver married to a star dancer. It introduces the district's strippers, club owners, transgender performers, prostitutes and cops, depicting them as neither saints nor sinners as they fought for survival and success in a time of sexual revolution and political upheaval. This is their story, much of it told in their own words"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Crashing into the zone

Claire at the cat

On the firing line

Requiem for a cabbie

New town, old city

No breaks for the famous

The Caribe Lounge

Stage flight

Into the Combat Zone

Biting on the lure of glamour

The arrival and disappearance of Debra Beckerman

Princess in paradise : the Cheyenne story

Circus at the Picc-a-dilly

The Combat Zone's Miss Exotic Dance Contest of 1979

The Two O'Clock Lounge

The girls can't help it

Switching tracks : transsexual exotics in the zone

Shooting stars : photography in the zone

Chasing chesty and the ghosts of burlesque

The Pilgrim Theatre, Chesty Morgan and the final days of burlesque

Family du jour with all the trimmings

Paradise calling

Curious customers, humiliating habits

Suicides, stiffed fares and beaten women

An evening with the bitch of Boston

Grifters and Guam

Hedy Jo Star, Combat Zone Couturière

Scollay Square, Mother Church of the Combat Zone

Crime in the Clubs

Andy and Robin

Ups and downs at the penthouse

Meeting Claire

California to Boston : a fateful letter, a barking omen

Slippery seconds : taxi sex and bookstore BJs

Death rides a medallion

Snowbunnies

Rock and a hard place

FNG : the newbie behind the wheel

From slowpokes to retahds : a maniac's Boston driving manual

Boyfriends, girlfriends, sponsors

Cab for the hab : new hustles for an old city

She who supplied it denied it

Taxi in black and white

The trouble with bubbles

Farewell to arms

Hooker in a hurry

Unbottled emotions

Pandora's end : sammy runbridge

Back into the future

Last days of the Combat Zone.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Alexander, Geoff We Weren't Angels

ISBN:

9781476649986

OCLC:

1375296597