Ah Toy

Ah Toy (c.1828 - 1928) was a Cantonese [cite book |last=Stephens |first=Autumn |authorlink=Autumn Stephens |title=Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era |publisher=Conari |date=1992 |pages=164 |isbn=0943233364] prostitute and madam in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush, and purportedly the first Chinese prostitute in San Francisco. [cite book |last=Asbury |first=Herbert |authorlink=Herbert Asbury |title=The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |date=2002 |pages=172 |isbn=1560254084] Arriving from Hong Kong in 1849, [cite book |last=Espiritu |first=Yen Le |authorlink=Yen Le Espiritu |title=Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=1997 |pages=32 |isbn=0803972555] she quickly became the most well-known Asian woman in the Old West.cite book |last=Okihiro |first=Gary Y. |authorlink=Gary Y. Okihiro |title=Common Ground: Reimagining American History |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=2001 |pages=99 |isbn=0691070075] She reportedly was a tall, attractive woman with bound feet. [cite book |last=Pryor |first=Alton |authorlink=Alton Pryor |title=Fascinating Women in California History |publisher=Stagecoach Publishing |date=2003 |pages=36 |isbn=0966005392]

When Ah Toy left China for the United States, she originally traveled with her husband, who died during the voyage. Toy became the mistress of the ship's captain, who showered gold upon her, so much so that by the time she arrived in San Francisco, Toy had a fair bit of money. Noticing the looks she drew from the men in her new town, she figured they would pay for a closer look. Her peep shows became quite successful, and she eventually became a high-priced prostitute. Toy then opened a chain of brothels, importing girls from China as young as eleven years old to work in them. Towards the end of her life she supposedly returned to China a wealthy woman to live the rest of her days in comfort, [cite book |last=Pryor |first=Alton |authorlink=Alton Pryor |title=The Bawdy House Girls: A Look at the Brothels of the Old West |publisher=Stagecoach Publishing |date=2006 |pages=36-38 |isbn=0974755176] but returned to California not long afterward. From 1868 until her death in 1928, she lived a quiet life in Santa Clara County, returning to public attention only upon dying three months short of her hundredth birthday in San Jose. [cite book |last=Yung |first=Judy |authorlink=Judy Yung |title=Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco |publisher=University of California Press |date=1995 |pages=34 |isbn=0520088670] [cite book |last=Smith |first=James R. |authorlink=James R. Smith |title=San Francisco's Lost Landmarks |publisher=Quill Driver Books |date=2005 |pages=76 |isbn=1884995446]

References

External links

* [http://www.outlawwomen.com/AhToy.htm Ah Toy biography at OutlawWomen.com]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/peopleevents/p_chinese.html Ah Toy mention at PBS]