Collezione Antonio Belletti e Case Tolleranza, La maîtresse, le “signorine”, i proprietari e l’organizzazione della casa
Lot composed of: The case with the maîtresse Irma's handbag and business cards of various houses, price list of the Irma house in Bologna, a framed passageway, a picture of the small rooms, a flit, eight marquettes of the Irma house., The maîtresse was the keeper of the house, but she was hardly the owner: she kept discipline; she knew the tastes of the customers and advised them; she was the cashier and converted the customers' marquettes to the single "girls". The "young ladies" lived in the houses and hardly ever had lascivious attitudes, despite the fact that one might believe the opposite because of their succinct clothing and the "trade" they exercised. Given the customers' preference for foreign "girls", they often used names with an exotic flavour. The owners had several houses in the area, so they always had a rich choice. They took care of the food supplies and often ate in the houses with all the staff: the maîtresse, the "girls", the maids, the seamstresses.The structure of the houses was always very similar: on the ground floor there was the entrance and sometimes the police station, to check the actual age of admission, the waiting room with erotic photos and the rules of conduct hanging on the walls, the entrance with the box on which was displayed the price list and the picture of the rooms; on the upper floor the rooms; in the basement the kitchens, the room for medical examinations and the service rooms of the staff. Depending on the category, the houses were more or less richly furnished, and in the luxury ones it was possible to consult the photo album, a sort of catalogue, while waiting for one's turn.