Hobbying Pre-Internet Days

S-Man's Avatar
  • S-Man
  • 05-05-2010, 09:47 PM
The posts in the streetwalker thread got me curious. In the late 70s & early 80s (before the Internet & dial-up CompuServe), how did clients find escorts? I doubt everyone sought out streetwalker at the neighborhood corner. Did alternative papers like the Observer host their ads? Or they bump into them at the neighborhood block party?
drez63's Avatar
The Observer was my lifeline. As well, as the Dallas Times Herald classified. You had to read between the lines and make a lot of veiled phone calls but its what we had to work with in the early '80's. I don't remember a lot of incall providers,but I do remember meeting at the hot tub clubs on Greenville and Lovers.....and the Executive Spa near 35 and Walnut Hill. And if all else failed, a trip to Frisco to see who was working at Aprils, Tub Cub, or any of the other mobile homes with fioil in the windows. Simpler times.....still a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!!
Nitwitboy's Avatar
My first was a direct result of an ALT board. In fact, I think ASPD took over that board so I was an internet guy. I am young though. I do remember in Los Angeles, pre internet they had a magazine called LA-Xpress. I jerked to that many a night. I just never had the balls. I was terrified of being arrested or beaten. I suppose it was sights like TER, ASPD etc that made it possible for me. I never do this while I am in a relationship, so given my age and the fact that the internet did not exist when I was younger it all fell into place. My father who is now 60 talks about the Vegas of old when the Mafia ran it. Those must have been good times. In 1988 I was in the military on leave in New York. A friend was taking us around and we went to 42Nd Street. They had coin operated booths that you could slip a few dollars into and watch girls do deviant things. When I was done with the booth, a guy approached me and asked me if i wanted to see a live sex show upstairs...20 Dollars. I was game as were my friends and it changed things for me. Up until that point sex was this accomplishment or the end of the rainbow. I had put too much weight on it. I was 17 and I thought that it was about a few dates, getting to know the other person etc. I had never seen something like this. It was a defining moment. My first paid experience was terrible, but I realized that it was mechanical and served both our needs. After that i went on to study at a few different universities and one included 6 months in Amsterdam. Still pre internet so to speak, but a gold rush in escort activity. It got to the point that we would rather smoke hash than visit the Red Light district. Still very mechanical. I am from Los Angeles and it always felt mechanical till I got here. This is a treasure trove of escorts. I have never had intercourse with an escort so i am usually a massage guy. This limits my temptation and at the same time the L2 is incredible. I do not post reviews. I do not have premium access. It is a consequence I suppose. I cannot imagine this hobby without the internet. I feel for you old timers. I would never drive down a street and solicit. I am still amazed about the strip club forum where guys are getting activities there. Perhaps I am shy or my game is off. I go to a strip club to get boobies in my face. At Baby dolls they no longer have a smoking area so I find it amusing to see what the girls look like in the sun. I am an amateur in the grand scheme of things I suppose. i do wish I could have seen the Vegas my Dad saw. sorry for the rant.
TexTushHog's Avatar
Yellow pages when you were on the road. Thoughtful hobbyists would annotate the yellow page listings for escorts and mention whether they got a good girl from a given agency. Sometimes that was all you had to go on in a new town. Sometimes, less than that.

AMPs at home.
pmdelites's Avatar
at least in 1997-2000, and even today, dallas had the ANE (adult news & entertainment [?]) magazine, found in new fine arts, strip clubs, etc. lots of ads in the back, like the observer and bp. when i visited a few women from there, the action was usually "you stay on that side of the bed and i'll stay over here, then we can each masturbate ourselves". not the best experiences i've ever had.
my 1st time ever calling an escort was out of the yellow pages.You called and asked for a girl.They would ask what your preferences were.There were no pics,reviews etc.it was a roll of the dice on what type of lady would show up at the door.I was very lucky and the lady that came to mine was great but I expect that the opposite happened quite often.
TexTushHog's Avatar
Looie, it's funny. I went the yellow page route for years while traveling. I was always surprised how often it turned out reasonably well. I'd say 40+% of the time you got a decent girl. 10% really good to spectacular. 35%, serviceable. 15% ripoff or unacceptable. Pretty good averages given that there was no way to verify at all. Frankly, I suspect that in some cities the cops ran the scam artists out of business.
DownForWhatever's Avatar
I too was a road warrior during the pre-internet days and relied on the Yellow Pages...which were hit-n-miss in some cities...and total rip offs in others...and then there was the Personals section of the local newspaper, where you had to be good at reading between the lines. And...cab drivers and consierges are not to be forgotten...and then there are just certain hotel bars that were famous for attracting the local "talent".
shortstroke's Avatar
My first experience was at the 121 Tub Club in Frisco. I was scared sh%&less on my first visit. I remember there would be a 40.00 door fee and 100.00 for the lady of your choice. There was no BBBJ and very little kissing. It was just what I needed back then.
Bushaholic's Avatar
I started in the very early 80's with SW's on Harry Hines in Dallas and Rosedale in Ft. Worth...quick 20-40 dollar HJ's or B&G's were my thing. I didn't want to mess around with SW's below-the-waist. For action with a girl below-the-waist I would hold-out and either meet girls at the cool singles apartment I lived at, be very outgoing and meet girls at malls or stores, network to meet new girls through friends, or use 80's meat market clubs (Confetti's, Studebaker's, Dallas Alley, Deep Elum, C&W clubs, etc). Once some of the well-known 80's meat market clubs started disappearing, which often produced good results most nights, I decided B&G from SW's wasn't enough to supplement my appetite. Someone told me about a nude modeling studio on the west side of HH close to 635, checked it out and it was ok, went there a lot, but can't remember the name of it. Girls would come to the front, you pick one, and then you go to the back and workout their FS rate with them. Eventually I supplemented play at that studio with escort ads in the Dallas Observer until the internet came around.
Looie, it's funny. I went the yellow page route for years while traveling. I was always surprised how often it turned out reasonably well. I'd say 40+% of the time you got a decent girl. 10% really good to spectacular. 35%, serviceable. 15% ripoff or unacceptable. Pretty good averages given that there was no way to verify at all. Frankly, I suspect that in some cities the cops ran the scam artists out of business. Originally Posted by TexTushHog
My favorite part of the yellow pages route was the sultry voiced person answering the phone who's describe all of the available ladies like she was sitting in the grotto at the Playboy mansion!

'someone dark haired? Ohhh, I have Amy. She's 5'6, 11t with a natural D cup, deep tan and ....'

Of course they were never as perfect as they sounded, but were often really good and a fun visit. I was out of town on a boys trip a few years ago. I had got a much cheaper rate to fly out the next morning so I stayed a night solo. I got bored and decided to book a session. I didn't bring the laptop and it was before smarphones I went old school with the yellow pages.

I have to admit, the anticipation of not really knowing what kinda girl would show up was a fun change of page. Turned out she was really cute and a great visit.

But I've had the other experience to, where you wait an hour and are completely disssapponted with who shows up.
texasred21's Avatar
I accidentally found the AMPS on Irving Blvd in Dallas in the early 90's just driving by . Had no idea what to expect the first time I walked in , but after that encounter I was hooked . Then in the mid 90's I found ToniGFE of Dallas in ANE papers at an Adult video store . She was amazing , I stayed pretty much exclusive with her for well over 10 years until her tragic untimely death almost a year ago .
TheBizzer's Avatar
I remember starting out and calling the yellow pages escort numbers. It took me a while to figure out that 90% of them all went to the same answering service.

I also remember using the Austin Chronicle, but that shit was extremely hit and miss. Had some great times, some ripoffs, and even got robbed once. They waited until I was naked with my dick in my hand to do it. There's not much fight in you when you get caught jerking your limp dick.
Yellow Pages, local alt-like publications, all nude strip clubs, streets like Harry Hines and AMPs that were clustered together were the most likely points of contact before the internet.
StarsFanTx's Avatar
My first ever encounter was at a modeling studio on Industrial Blvd. The front half of the building was porn store and arcade and you just walked by a couch with girls and I picked one. Once back in a room she cleaned me up with a baby wipe and gave me a BBBJ.

Soon thereafter I found the Palm Island Bath House. Had hot tubs and girls and always got lucky there. Paid the door fee and managed to get FS for another $50 (poor college student).

I visited the massage parlors south of College Station and got HJ and sometimes FS.

Eventually got married and left the hobby until 1989. By then, the internet had made the hunt much easier.