They were employed by the nightclub to amuse the lonely males. And men in the West were famously lonesome. Throughout most places, they dominated the women three to one. In the 1800s, the inhabitants of California were 90% masculine! It was the bar girls’ responsibility to sing with the men. Desperate for female company, the saloon lady would croon for such men, perform with men, and converse with them, enticing people to stay in the saloon, buy a drink, and play a game.
A Western tavern is a type of tavern unique to the American West. Fur hunters, ranchers, warriors, roughnecks, entrepreneurs, law enforcers, criminals, workers, and bettors frequented bars.
Not all parlors utilized saloon girls, such as at Dodge City’s northern side of Front Street, known as the “honorable” portion, in which both bar girls and gambling were forbidden and offered opera and snooker as the major diversions to accompany alcohol. Most saloon ladies were agricultural or factory workers who were lured in by billboards and flyers and posters promoting high earnings, simple work, and nice apparel. Many were mourners or impoverished ladies with decent ethics who were obliged to work in a period when women had few options. Most cabaret girls were regarded as “excellent” women by a man with whom they sang and conversed, and they frequently received costly presents from fans. The propriety of addressing bar girls as “lady” was rigidly enforced in most locales, equally since Western men were inclined to respect all women as as a result of the fact that women or the bar-keeper expected it. Any guy who abused these ladies would become a social misfit immediately, and if he ridiculed one, he would almost certainly be murdered.
In terms of “honorable ladies,” the bar girls were seldom engaged in the views of the dreary, industrious women who were prepared to criticize them. In fact, they couldn’t comprehend why all those women didn’t get the foresight to stay sleeping themselves to life. Saloon girls are commonly associated with prostitution. While this was going on, most saloon ladies were merely there to amuse the men to encourage them to stay and purchase more booze, which equaled they made greater expenditures. Many bar ladies were widowed with no other financial resources or young girls looking for something besides laboring on their family ranch. The girls were instructed to perform with the men & convince them to buy them alcohol. The guys would shell out the full amount for the girl’s drink, unaware that it was actually tea or colored water. The girls were paid a weekly salary as well as a tiny percentage of the number of beverages they sold. Many ‘dance-hall girls’ or saloon girls received greater compensation. All this information can be got from salonglendas.com
