Ten years is a long time. Maybe not in the grand scheme of life and the existence of the universe, but I’ve not had a good many things last ten years. To celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, the mister and I went to New Orleans for a few days.
We did a couple museums, walked Bourbon St after 10pm, went to iconic bars like the Vampire Cafe, Fritzels, and the Carousel Bar, and had iconic drinks. Absinthe, whiskey, gin – all of the New Orleans favorites. We also drank a $300 bottle of wine, but that’s because we’re indulgent creatures on special occasions.
We went to a State History museum located right next to St. Louis (photo above), featuring the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina and the exorbitance of Mardis Gras costumes (photo above) from bygone eras. We also went to the National World War II museum – probably should have spent more than a couple hours in there, but we were on a bit of a schedule with dinner plans and such. On our last day, we visited the Storyville Museum, which is fairly new.
Now, I knew about Storyville because I have a psychological horror WIP about vampires and part of it takes place in Storyville/New Orleans. And, of course, Storyville is prominently featured in season 1 of AMC’s version of IWTV. Naturally, I wanted to visit the new museum and learn a bit more about the life of sex workers in Storyville – and why wouldn’t I? Madame Sterling is a sex worker, runs her own house and saloon, and if it weren’t for the businesswomen of eras past, she might have been written as someone completely different. Below are some photos of the two Minnies I learned about & an ad for whiskey I found rather fun (because Whiskey Springs, from my book).
If some of the above information looks familiar, it’s because brothels and sex work were fairly ubiquitous across the nation during the 1800s-1900s. Minnie Starling’s job as a sex worker where she first meets Marshal Lawrence is heavily inspired by the sex workers who utilized cribs for clients. The dancehall where they meet, where it’s customary for a man to buy her time & her drinks, is also common for that era. I was pleased to see that my weeks of research and care put into writing a sex worker of the 1800’s was accurate and reflective of not only the world I built for Madame Sterling, but the real world as well.
While the Madame’s story is almost assuredly over, the trip to New Orleans was inspiring and rejuvenating. I can’t wait to get back to writing Minerva’s next adventure!
Eliza Nix 