How did people meet escorts in the pre-internet era?

Interestingly enough, my grandmother managed bars and nightclubs... and had her "girls". So even in the 50's/60's it was still done this way.

Miss Kitty, at the saloon, would send you upstairs to one of the rooms.... Originally Posted by Ed Highlight

Interestingly enough, my grandmother managed bars and nightclubs... and had her "girls". So even in the 50's/60's it was still done this way. Originally Posted by Solitaire

hell bars where still good in 70's 80's into the 90's in ROC Upset NY
taint so much now

Classified ads for hookers in legit newspapers? That really happened?

As for the OP, yellow pages, classified ads in the newspaper-- especially the Thur, Fri and Sat editions. Also, adult bookstores usually carried local magazines/newsletters that had advertisements for local escorts and/or brothel. Originally Posted by Cpalmson

hell bars where still good in 70's 80's into the 90's in ROC Upset NY
taint so much now Originally Posted by offshoredrilling

other than still at private mob clubs and biker bars that is

My first experience in the early 80's was with a local girl that someone told me about so I hit her up a few times.The next couple of times was at an AMP that I found in the yellow pages in Baton Rouge in 2000 I think.

Classified ads for hookers in legit newspapers? That really happened? Originally Posted by dynamitekid

Yes, almost every major city had ads in the classifieds for escorts-- usually under the "personals". Some times, they posted ads in the sports section-- usually the best time to look was Thur, Fri and Sat. I met several this way.

I'm just wondering, with everybody mentioning back in the day they used newspapers. Did they post pic's or just had to role the dice and hopefully she's close to her description.

I'm just wondering, with everybody mentioning back in the day they used newspapers. Did they post pic's or just had to role the dice and hopefully she's close to her description. Originally Posted by Worldtravler

The latter. They would give you a description on the phone if asked, but you were pretty much rolling the dice.

Agree. Newspapers were very much a "trust me" game in both directions. The guys really had no idea what to expect as far as a lady's looks, personality, or service. And the ladies had essentially no way to screen a guy from a phone call. It was very much a crap shoot.

The other option was, as mentioned, the more personal reference approach. Cab drivers, hotel staff and bell hops, even barbers some places. Once you found a good quality lady, she was sometimes a conduit to some of her friends. It certainly made things more difficult when traveling, and options were much more limited. The ladies also tended to have a guy in some capacity who was a protector of some kind. Not necessarily a pimp, but someone who whould know where she was going and when she should be back. Often a driver who she would pay a flat fee to drive her, wait somewhere, and pick her back up.

Pre-2009ish (my start was early-ish 2010 though) in my area it was chat lines, strolls, putting out business cards everywhere, yellow pages, classifieds of certain papers (Washington City Paper and Baltimore City Paper were very popular even up until about 2012ish and both still run ads).

In Texas.
We had the Chicken Ranch outside of La Grange and Sealy.

My first was Blondes, Brunettes and Redheads in the Houston Yellow Pages

Agree. Newspapers were very much a "trust me" game in both directions. The guys really had no idea what to expect as far as a lady's looks, personality, or service. And the ladies had essentially no way to screen a guy from a phone call. It was very much a crap shoot. Originally Posted by Old-T

Exactly. I arrived on two different occasions to find what I assume were sting ops. Both times the girls had pieces of paper with their menus. By selecting from the menu and saying 'I want this' I guess you would you have been making a solicitation and probably would have met some of her friends.

It was indeed a more dangerous time. But somehow that increased the allure.

Time and place: Dallas, TX, c.1978

I was relaxing after a post-work run around 7 p.m. one nice spring evening. Naturally, being a highly-testosteroned 28-year-old, I was interested in having sex every night that the opportunity availed itself. But I was getting tired of hanging out in the local clubs and discos, and very tired of all the smoke. One problem was that girls I casually dated usually wanted to spend the night, often disrupting my sleep. As I was pretty busy with work those days, I needed to get up at 6 a.m., refreshed and ready to hit the ground running.

Enter thoughts of practical expediency.

As I happened to be browsing through the classified section of The Dallas Morning News, I saw a number of personal ads. Yes, The Dallas Morning News -- that's the "newspaper of record" for Dallas.

I stumbled across these ads strictly by accident, as it never occurred to me that the "main" newspaper might have ads for P4P activities. One ad caught my eye.

"Sophisticated Lady Available for Massage and Modeling"

Well, OK then!

I was afraid this might be a ripoff, but decided to give it a try, just in case. But I was paranoid that I might be walking straight into a sting, so I called a lawyer friend who advised me how I could minimize my risk. Soon after that, I took a deep breath and called the number.

An older man who answered the phone asked for some screening info in order to minimize the risk that they were walking into a sting, and described the agency's lineup.

I was soon pleased to find that his descriptions were fairly honest. Within a couple of months, I had found three or four girls who gave me a great time, and who were as hot as most of my college girlfriends. Soon I was limiting the bulk of my club-going and civilian dating to weekends, and having a variety of girls come over at 8 or 9 p.m. on weeknights for a little fun, after which I could hit the sack early and get some sleep.

I'm 64 now, but all those thoughts of "practical expediency" never left!

We sent them smoke signals. We called them with a couple of soup cans and a string. We used the pony express. We fucked them in the back of a stagecoach. How did we connect them before the internet? Fuck do you ever go outside? Have you talked to a person face to face? Ok sorry about the rant. Some times the I can't get off my phone or my computer screen people piss me off. lol