“Hell’s Bedroom” is a 1970s variant of Hell’s Kitchen. In the 1970s, Eighth Avenue in Manhattan was filled with prostitutes and called the Minnesota Strip. Gail Sheehy wrote two pieces about the prostitution business for New York magazine:
“Cleaning Up Hell’s Bedroom,” New York magazine, Nov. 13, 1972, pp.50-66
“The Landlords of Hell’s Bedroom,” New York magazine, Nov. 20, 1972, pp.67-80
The name “Hell’s Bedroom” was seldom used outside of these two articles and is largely historical today.
Wikipedia: Gail Sheehy
Gail Sheehy (b. November 27, 1937) is an American writer and lecturer, most notable for her books on life and the life cycle. She is also a contributor to Vanity Fair (magazine).
18 June 1933, New York (NY) Times, “Fighting Tammany: Parkhurst’s Story” by Charles H. Parkhurst, pg. SM7:
It hurt my feelings—yes, and it made me good and mad, too—when newspapers printed nasty insinuations regarding my inspection of hell’s kitchen, hell’s dining-room and hell’s bedroom.
10 August 1973, New York (NY) Times, “A Report on Prositution” book review by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, pg. 29:
HUSTLING: Prostitution in Our Wide Open Society. By Gail Sheehy. 273 pages. Delacorte. $7.95.
(...)
And sufficient to inflame the social consciousness of us all is the tinder she has scraped together by identifying “The Landlords of Hell’s Bedroom” (those remote real estate interest that must be held ultimately responsible for the present state of Manhattan’s midtown area) and the sparks she has struck by exposing their indifference.
New York (NY) Times
A Seedy Strip Slowly Gives Way To Assaults of the Squeaky Clean
By THOMAS J. LUECK
Published: June 20, 1997
To some, it was the Wild Side, to others, Hell’s Bedroom. At a particularly low point in the 1970’s, it became the Minnesota Strip, a bleak reference to Midwestern girls who had hoped for careers on the Broadway stage, only to become Eighth Avenue street walkers.
Now, the notorious strip of the avenue running 10 blocks north of Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Depot is coming out of the shadows. As the unprecedented transformation of Times Square spreads, Eighth Avenue has become its front line.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“Welcome to growing older. Where all the foods and drinks you’ve loved for years suddenly seem determined to destroy you” (4/17)
•“Date someone who drinks with you instead of complaining that you drink” (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP18 (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP17 (4/17)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/17)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.