In many ways, Polly Adler’s rags to riches tale is exemplary of the American Dream. Who was she?
When Dorothy Parker , Robert Benchley and other members ofThe Roundtableleft the Algonquin Hotel , they could often be overheard say they ’d be “ going to Polly ’s ” later that evening . To the untrained spike , it might have sounded like they were headed to a friend ’s for a dinner party .
In a means , that was true : the Polly of whom they talk was Polly Adler , and she did throw lavish company almost every night , hold not just writer like Parker and Benchley , but celebrities , rabble bosses , and other New York City elite group . The party , however infamous , were very exclusive : they take home at Madam Adler ’s bawdyhouse at 215 West 75th Street .
Their protagonist Polly was the most well - known ma’am in New York City and run not just one , but several high - end house of prostitution in New York City . But who was this womanhood and how did she find oneself herself at the height of the Big Apple ’s social biography as a theater female parent to the city ’s prostitutes ?
Pearl Adler was born on April 16 , 1900 in Belorussia , but was transport to America as a young adult female beforehand of the rest of her family , who planned to immigrate . When she arrived she verbalize much no English , had very few work - connect skill and with the exclusion of a few extended family members , knew no one . She was able to get a chore process in a shirt - make factory , but was raped by the boss .
When she detect she was pregnant , she was thrust into the city to find someone to perform an miscarriage . Thrown out by her relative , she moved to Manhattan with a few young woman from the factory . What she did n’t realise was that the girls were heavy involved in the sexual urge industry , and they immediately inaugurate her to their pimp .
When she initiate in the sex industry , Polly quite of course developed her skill in pimp female child and organise them . She was also fearless when it came to standing up against node to protect her girls . When Polly Adler realized that she could be successful as a procuress , she proclaimed to her roommate that she want to be “ the best goddamn madam in all of America . ” Pretty soon she was pretend $ 1,100 a week .
By the former 1920s , Polly had established her first brothel . It promptly became the center of the city ’s Nox life , in large part because it was n’t only about the girls : there was always plenty to deplete and drink , a library stocked with books from Parker and Benchley , who were dear friends , and party that center on as much around euphony and dance as they did sex . Polly ’s , as a destination , was truly “ a party menage ” in every sentience of the word .
Her first stoppage occur in 1922 , but the economic success of her sporting house , combined with her overall savvy line of work nature , convinced much of the natural law enforcement to enter into bribes with her that keep her in process well into the Great Depression . Her girls still managed to pull in $ 20 a nighttime per guest , which when adjusting for inflation would be around $ 250 in today ’s money .
While sexual urge continued to deal amid the economical downswing , the legal age of her income in those long time came from bootleg liquor . She was ill-famed throughout all of New York state , running a peculiar in high spirits - end brothel in Sarasota Springs . Her brothels all had conceal stairways and door so that customer could leave without being seen , either in the midst of a binge or , in the case of celebrities or politicians , just the need to be circumspect .
Polly Adler ’s connections with various gangsters made her an enticing watcher , but she managed to weasel her way out of many high profile cases by name “ poor computer storage ” – which may well have been root in truth , since she ran such an extensive business with more patrons than she could reasonably remember .
She survived the Great Depression by fell under the radiolocation as much as possible while other line of work collapsed around her . Soon she was known to the entire East Coast as the “ Queen of Tarts ” and was well on her direction to achieving her end of being the best brothel keeper in the United States .
In her autobiographyA House is Not a family , she writes :
“ If I was to make my living as a ma’am , I could not be refer either with the rightness or incorrectness of prostitution , considered either from a moral or criminological stand . I had to look at it simply as a part of life , which be today as it existed yesterday … The operation of any business is dependent upon on the law of supplying and requirement , and if there were no customer , there certainly would be no bawdyhouse . Prostitution live because workforce are willing to compensate for intimate gratification , and whatever men are unforced to pay for , someone will put up . ”
Polly Adler was halt for the last metre in 1943 , at which time she decide it was time to crawl in from the business . choose her net profit she take flight to the West Coast , settling into a small home in Burbank , California . She went back to school and finished not just her GED , but her bachelor ’s as well ( jestingly come to to herself as Madam Emeritus ) . She lived in California until her expiry in 1962 .
Two old age later , a film of her life ( based heavy on her book , which had sold well ) was produced and star Shelley Winters . Even after Polly left her life in New York City and , as she might have say “ clean up her act , ” she maintained that harlotry was a relatively simple business organization modeling that , like most things , relied on supply and requirement .
Morally , she had no misgiving about the oeuvre , and only like that her girls ( of whom she was fiercely protective , since she never married or had children of her own ) were good and well looked after .
In her own words , Polly Adler makes it quite absolved that harlotry was to her always a business ; and , in her case , a successful venture :
“ What it comes down to is this : the grocer , the fuckup , the bread maker , the merchant , the landlord , the druggist , the liquor bargainer , the policeman , the doctor , the city father and the politician — these are the people who make money out of harlotry , these are the veridical reapers of the wages of sin . ”
