I'm early 20s and I'm really curious about the history of hobbying in the U.S.

So if you'd indulge my interest, would be grateful!!

1) When did the yellow pages start including an "adult entertainment" section? When did they start publishing escort advertisements? What about alternative newspaper classifieds?

2) How did you find providers pre-internet?

3) How have 'donation' levels changed over the years?

4) What about the history of TER (and other review/discussion boards?) When did you learn about TER and how?

5) Any changes in provider quality throughout the years?

6) When did RS2K/Date-Check, etc. pop up? How was screening handled in the past?


[Sorry, so many questions. Have been musing for the past two years or so, and questions certainly do accumulate].

Mwah! Thanks a billion!

L

Hi Liz_Beth,

Maybe if enough guys respond we can answer all your questions.

1. I can't say when the Yellow Pages started with an adult section, but in the LA area, I know it went back at least to the early 1980's, because that's when I first checked them out.

My first experience with alternative newspaper classifieds ads for escorts goes back the early 1970's.  They probably go back to about the mid to late 60's, because that's when most of those alternative papers first started showing up. Although, lower quality rags have been around for a lot longer.

2. Well, you named the main one- the alternative newspaper classifieds were probably the best source.  Word-of-mouth too, but that was always tough because you had to know someone who knew someone.  But it did act as a form of early screening because the assumption was a good client would only pass along your name/number to someone who would be OK as a client.

To show the problem with word of mouth, I met a provider that told me 10 years earlier, she'd worked in a brothel house in a nice residential neighborhood about 2 miles from my house, but I had no idea it was there.  It would have saved me a lot of trouble had I known!

3. When I first started looking for escorts in the early 1990's in the LA area, $100 would buy you an  hour's time with a beautiful woman.  You had a lot of options at that price, though some obviously charged more.  By the mid-90's, I was still paying $100, but only as a regular.  The going rate was closer $150-200.

Once TER started around 1999, and the internet became the dominant means of finding escorts, there were still plenty of escorts charging $200, but the prices started moving fairly quickly towards $250, and the more expensive ones were at $300.  Lots of high quality ladies could still  be found at $200, however, if you did your homework.

Perhaps due to the bad economy of the last few years, thankfully, prices have somewhat stabilized around the $300 level on average.  Of course, others charge more, sometimes a lot more, but I'm trying to give you an apples-to-apples comparison as much as possible.

I just remembered my very first encounter with an escort while typing this.  It was back in 1976 in San Francisco at an expensive hotel.  She ran past security and jumped into my elevator.  I had no idea she was a hooker.  Security stopped the elevator and asked me for my room key.  I still had no idea what was going on.  Then she propositioned me in the elevator after security left.  She charged $75 for a quick BJ and I thought that was outrageously expensive at that time, (and it really was, but I was wearing a business suit so maybe the price reflected that.  I was married until 1984 kept busy with GF's, so I didn't see another escort for about 18 years.

4. I first discovered TER in December of 1999, but I didn't start posting for a while.  I think I registered as a member in 2000 or early 2001.  I checked a couple other boards, but thought TER was the class of the field so I've stuck here.

I found it by doing an internet search for escorts just to see what would come up.  I'd been burned so many times by classified ads that TER seemed like a big improvement- and it was.

5. Provider quality is very subjective, but I'd say the trend has been toward better selection and more attractive ladies.  There were some great women working pre-internet, and some of them were very attractive, too.  But the communication provided by TER and the internet, including the advertising sites, has really made things better for providers.  This, in turn, has attracted more and better quality women.

I also think the communication has fostered an increased level of professionalism with the ladies, and definitely helped guys know how to behave and what is expected of them.  Informal group standards and expectations have emerged for both the men and women- mainly from discussion boards, but also reviews.

So if I had to summarize, I'd say the internet resulted in prices going up, as well as quality.  The main thing is TER and the internet removed a lot of the uncertainty.  I saw a few beautiful escorts before the internet, but it was hit or miss and I missed far too many times.

6. Screening is fairly new and didn't become the norm until about 5-6 years ago.  Nobody that I saw was screening 10 years ago, although I think I was asked to show a DL for the first time around then.  I don't know the history of RS2K or Date-Check.

I hope that helps.

Thank you so much, Haley!!

[I feel guilty - but I searched the gen discussion forum in-between and found your post under a thread called pre-1990s: "I'm on the prowl for new friends"= adorable. 1-3 line ads can be fun, I think...]

Thanks, Keystone.

I also read something written in '65 on call girls - also $20. Also no GFE to new clients; only with repeat clients they'd grown to like.

G2 - Thank you - that was incredibly helpful.

Re. - "
I also think the communication has fostered an increased level of professionalism with the ladies, and definitely helped guys know how to behave and what is expected of them.  Informal group standards and expectations have emerged for both the men and women- mainly from discussion boards, but also reviews...The main thing is TER and the internet removed a lot of the uncertainty.  I saw a few beautiful escorts before the internet, but it was hit or miss and I missed far too many times."

I really do wonder whether that [less uncertainty, more trust between a client and a provider who'd never met face-to-face before allowed for the GFE-ing of the industry. (Or at least, I don't think I'd want to kiss and cuddle a stranger if I'd had a series of bad experiences previously...)

Thanks again for your time - really appreciated it!

Thank you G2 & Haley -

Yeah, that confirmed the only source of info I'd found. It's sort of funny, so thought I'd share:

"In 1969 the [Village] Voice became the target of protests after it refused to run ads for a gay dating service. After considering the issue, the paper reversed its decision. The Voice was now publishing many classified ads for escort services and unlicensed massage parlors, generally considered fronts for prostitution. Although these were temporarily banished in the early 1970s, they would return with a vengeance in the 1980s and 1990s."

Read this and made me laugh. A time when erotic classifieds were more acceptable than gay classifieds...lol.

It was rare 20 years ago for escorts to want to get into anything that you'd call affectionate behavior like GFE.  In fact, in my first experience with the BJ in San Francisco that I mentioned above, I remember stroking the woman's hair just out of habit (I wasn't used to the rules of P4P) and she grabbed my hand and pushed it away.  I know that seems ridiculous when you think of what goes on today, but that's what happened.

But that incident wasn't unusual.  The joke about P4P was you can fuck me, but don't you dare try to kiss me!  A lot of women didn't even like to be hugged, let alone participate in anything else that could be construed as intimacy.  

So I guess it's not too much of a stretch to say that GFE was a market demand just waiting to be filled and the internet, reviews and provider sites allowed enough information to be exchanged to make that sort of interaction more comfortable.

what bar to go to in order to find a provider. You went in, sat at a booth and within 5 minutes or so, sometimes before the drinks arrived, a lady or two would come and sit next to you. You discussed what you wanted and then she went in your vehicle to a sleezy motel and you did the deed.

#3--back in the late 70's, you could get a suck and fuck for $20--No GFE and only one pop. In the same area a decent provider is $250 and up but you could find someone on bp in the 200 range although that is not my cup of tea.

#4 Part 2--I learned about TER through a provider I met in a massage parlor that said I should look at her ad on Eros for the full menu. From Eros, some ladies had "see my reviews on TER." This was about 12 years ago.

#5--I thoroughly enjoy the GFE aspect of the hobby. Back in the late 70's, there was little kissing or cuddling or foreplay just get hard, stick it in and cum fast so you would leave and the next would get his turn.

#5$

Underground newspapers started back in the 70's with 1 to 3 line ads with phone numbers. Girls picked up the phone and it's a land line. No answering machine,pager or cell so it was tough to make a connection again once you met a keeper. At that point ladies would have 2 land lines. One for ads and one for friends they have seen. That was advanced thinking in the 70's.

Now i'll let someone else answer one of your other questions

Kisses Haley

that and MPs.

What was your handle back in the 70s-80s?

One thing I know is that I saw a bunch of Ashleys back then.  (And Brandys too.)

8o)

This spring will be my four year anniversary hobbying so reading about the " old" days was very interesting, that said I nominate this thread for " the thread of the year"

my only experience back then is when I went to DC for a convention in 1978, I was having a drink in the hotel lobby when a very pretty blonde came over and sat next to me, she asked what I was there for and when I asked her what she did she replied " visiting from NY you must have some idea what I do". ( man was I naive ) she then told me it would be 50 bucks to stay the night with me

and often looked at the Yellow Pages for adult clubs & escorts (mostly out of curiosity, though I did go to the clubs a bit).  One thing I learned was that the extent to which such ads did or did not appear varied greatly with location.  Apparently the YP folks allowed whatever ads they felt wouldn't offend the local business community which was the source of most of their funding.  In some more 'cosmopolitan' big cities (I rememeber Atlanta & SanDiego) there were pages of ads for adult clubs with illustrations featuring sexy ladies, and also quite a few escort service ads.  In some more out-of-the-way places there were only a few and usually just name, address & phone number, no art.  Of course in these out-of-the-way places there weren't many clubs to be advertising.  Again, I think it was a reflection of he collective local morality of the business community.

I got married in the early 70's and moved to Boston to get my masters degree.  To say that we were broke wouldn't begin to describe the severity of the situation.

On Friday nights, we'd pick up the latest Boston After Dark and read the classified ads for a good laugh- sort of a poor man's version of the Penthouse Forum letters.  You'll recall back then there were lots of ads for alternative lifestyles, BDSM, TS etc., so it was pretty colorful reading.

Usually, we'd end up having great sex afterwards, so it turned out to be both cheap entertainment and foreplay.  Ah... simpler times.

let's say before the 90's and can remember how many men would be awe struck on the way out my door. I didn't know any different myself and really did enjoy the company from a variety of different types of men but the men I saw followed me for a long time.

I had a girlfriend who shared an apartment with me in Boston years ago who could never understand why gentlemen would wait hours to see me or come back another day instead of seeing her. She was much more attractive than me but had a menu from a fast food burger joint. I tried to tell her but she just didn't get it.

Kisses Haley

I ran my very first ad in that paper so many years ago. Seems like yesterday and what great memories I have of the old days. I always enjoyed my friends and got to know them. Now looking back i'm thinking of people and seeing their face wondering how much they must have changed. I was very young but saw men 30.s to 70.s back then and remember greeting them at the door with a pair of dungaree cutoffs, little tee shirt no bra,clean face with no makeup at all, long blonde hair ala natural and bare feet. I would greet everyone with a long passionate kiss which I still do.

My little ad read

I'm on the prowl for new friends please come play with me .... Kisses Haley  and my phone number

It is so much  a part of what makes the sex beautiful that I can't even imagine that I would have found hobbying an acceptable option. I need the emotional warmth to fulfill my physical potential and like to believe that there is at least a part of something genuine in GFE. I am fascinated by the history but glad I'm living in the present, not the past. Thanks for the thread, Liz Beth

now that would be a hoot if we saw each other way back when. I have run into people over the years who called me from a hotel and when I arrived we found an old friend at the door. Oder but still very warm and affectionate.

Kisses Haley

I didn't hobby back then but I remember in the 80's and 90's seeing escort agency ads in the sports section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They were usually in the bottom right corner of the last page. There were never more than 2 or 3 as I recall.

1970's. Girls would stand on the sidewalk and try to pull you in as you walked by.

I remember in the early 90's in NYC finding an escort in the classified section of New York Magazine(not a particularly known area to look for an escort). She was expensive at the time ($200) but well worth it and we are still friends today. She taught me so many things, introduced me to sensual dom and taught me how to pleasure her properly. We eventually became friends and the cash transactions ceased but the good sex didn't. I consider myself a very lucky guy for this experience.

And who can forget Manhattan in the late 70's with all the 'Massage Parlors'.  And the guys on the street handing out the advertising flyers: "Check it out, check it out". Probably right next to the three card Monte games. And some may remember "Show World", the sex emporium on 8th ave. You could see live sex shows there. Pretty amazing stuff.

In the begining, there was Deja-vous.  It was called a "news group" back then and one of there planks was "ASP" which you had to know was "Alternative Sex/Prostitution".  That ended, evolving into a private e-group "ASP", and into ASPD/eRAPS, TER, DOGGIE, and many lesser knows but these were the big 3.  ASPD/eRAPS was either hacked or LE shut down and the owners were tired of the harassment and the membership seem to split into a new and "improved" eRAPS (which doesn't see alot of traffic) and ECCIE.

Wish I could give more specific time frames but I'm working on memmory here (not Memoix) and I hope I've added to your knowledge.

'rock'