Who's tired of hearing about the Chicken Ranch?

I'm sure some folks are tired of hearing about the Chicken Ranch, but not too many of them are voicing that concern to me. Take last week, for instance. On Thursday, I found myself in San Antonio speaking at the Stone Oak Rotary Club. What a great bunch of people they were! Dean Bentle had caught my presentation last month at the Woman's Club of San Antonio and was, I suppose, entertained enough to invite me over to regale his Rotarians. They made for an engaged, interested audience and once all was said and done, presented me with the nice certificate there to the right, along with a Rotary emblem made entirely out of chocolate! Do they know how to treat a guy right, or what?

When I wasn't speaking to the Rotarians, it seems I was speaking with Joe Holley at the Houston Chronicle, putting him in touch with various sources for his November 19 column "Will Fayette County ever outlive its Chicken Ranch history?" The short answer: No.

Some people are reporting trouble with the link, so here's my key quote from the write-up:

"I'd say 45 percent of the population think it's part of Texas history, and they should exploit it," [Blaschke] said from his office at Texas State University, where he's director of media relations. "Another 45 percent don't give it any never mind. And maybe 10 percent of the population just about spews blood out of their eyeballs if you even mention it."

The article goes on to quote County Judge Ed Janecka as opposing any public acknowledgement of the Chicken Ranch, any marketing of it as a tourist attraction. Instead, he wants tourists to come to town for the Texas Quilt Museum, Monument Hill and the Krische Brewery State Historic Site. Here's the thing: Although those are all worthy things in and of themselves, a quick Google search turns up dozens of quilt museums across the country. The National Quilt Museum is in Paducah, Kentucky. There are others in Colorado, Nebraska, Virginia, New England... How many of those has Judge Janecka personally visited? That's the thing--very few people are going to visit La Grange specifically for the attractions he and his supporters believe tourists should visit for, rather than the one famous attraction they do visit for. Even though it is long gone, the Chicken Ranch is never going away. Instead of fighting it, that 10 percent should use it as an enticement to tourists. Give them a map to a Historical Marker to look at and make them happy. That's maybe 15 minutes out of the tourist's visit, but what next? Include on that map information about Monument Hill and the Quilt Museum, plus Rohan Meadery and Rosemary's Vinyard. There's excellent dining options in La Grange, plus Weikel's Bakery serves up some pretty darn good kolaches. See where I'm going with this? Instead of complaining for 40-plus years that visitors only come to town to see the Chicken Ranch, use the Chicken Ranch to leverage their interest in all the other great things the town has to offer. It's a piece of history La Grange owns that no other city can touch, and the sooner they get over their faux-shame, the better off everyone will be. Heck, Dallas converted the Texas School Book Depository to a museum a very long time ago, and I guarantee that episode of history cast a far darker shadow over the city than the Chicken Ranch could ever match.

Enough of that soap boxing--I've got more interesting things coming up. In addition to the Houston Chronicle article, I've got another feature scheduled (I am told) to appear in the upcoming issue of Waco Today, due to be published by the Waco Tribune Herald November 23. This just happens to coincide with my book signing at the Waco Barnes and Noble 2-4 p.m. Saturday, November 26. There were some pretty strong ties between Waco and the Chicken Ranch, starting with the fact that the madam Jessie Williams, otherwise known as Fay Stewart, was born and raised in Waco. It should prove to be an entertaining afternoon, and I'm looking forward to having a good turnout. See you there!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is now available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Chicken Ranch report no. 78: The story thus far

This week has been a whirlwind. Books came in. Then the wrong books came in. And much scrambling ensued. Yesterday was especially packed--I drove to Houston in the morning for a sit-down interview at KTRK-TV, which is, of course, the home station of the late Marvin Zindler. No word on when it will run, but I'd guess sometime tonight, as I have a signing 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at Murder By The Book in Houston for Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse.

After the KTRK interview, I went to La Grange for an event at the Fayette Public Library. I got into town early, so I stopped by the Fayette County Record and Visitor's Bureau and signed all of their copies of my book--there must've been at least 60 copies, combined. The event at the library was very well attended, and I'm happy to report the library sold out of their entire stock, so that I ended up selling seven books from the just-in-case stock I brought along. And that doesn't count the half-dozen books I personalized that people brought in already signed! In just the short amount of time between my signing stock at the newspaper and visitors' bureau, folks got in there and purchased copies to bring to me for my talk. That was amazing. Want to hear something else amazing? The Fayette County Record has since messaged me that their entire stock has sold out and they're placing a new order. I lost count of how many books I signed for them, but it was a lot. And all of them sold in less than a day. Goodness gracious!

There was a lot of great conversation and discussion that occurred at the library, but one woman came up and told me something that really struck a tone. She said, "Thank you for making it so we can talk about this again." Before, she said, the Chicken Ranch was a taboo subject even among the residents who thought it an interesting piece of history that should be embraced. Now, by publishing a high-profile book that treats it as serious history and not salacious or gossipy, those people are able to have an open discussion about its place in local history. I don't know about you, but for me, that's profoundly humbling.

I've been fortunate to have received a considerable amount of media coverage these past few weeks, so it seemed appropriate I put together a quick round-up of those stories here:

"San Marcos Author Reveals 'The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse'" WOAI-AM
• "Nonfiction book on Chicken Ranch hits shelves this week" Fayette County Record
• "Photos: Tell-all of rise and fall of famous Texas whorehouse to hit shelves August 1" San Antonio Express-News
• "Jayme Lynn Blaschke Ventures Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch" San Antonio Current
• "VIDEO: 'Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch' Explores THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE's Country Place" BroadwayWorld.com
  
• "Texas Matters: The History Of The Chicken Ranch" Texas Public Radio
  
• "Historisches US-Bordell: Texas' berüchtigtstes Freudenhaus" Spiegel Online
  
  "Historic US brothel: Texas' most notorious House of Pleasure" Google translate
• "Author explores true story behind ‘Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’" San Antonio Express-News
  
• "Author Jayme Blaschke Is Setting the Record Straight on Texas' Most Famous Brothel" Dallas Observer
• "abc13 revisits the Chicken Ranch 43 years later" KTRK-TV ABC13

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is now listed on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com for pre-order.

Title: Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse
Author: Jayme Lynn Blaschke
ISBN: 978.1.46713.563.4

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch is still available:

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch by Jayme Blaschke & Lisa Blaschke

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Chicken Ranch report: Rotary!

Good grief! I wholly intended to write up this report of my trip to La Grange last Thursday, but a whole herd of Distractions with a capital D afflicted me and, well, here we are.

My presentation to the Rotarians went swimmingly. There was a packed house, and I overheard more than one person say they'd come that day specifically for my talk. I had a full half hour to use this time, and I like to think I put it to good use. I went through my slide show--which is always popular, as I have some of the only existing photos of the inside of the Chicken Ranch--and then read my paper from the East Texas Historical Association conference, which audiences seem to find moving. After that, we had a lively Q&A session in which I learned something new that somehow hadn't come up before in my research. It seems that the first madam, Jessie Williams, was known locally as Aunt Jessie as opposed to the Miss Jessie I'd been using all this time. Which just goes to show that there are always new details and facts waiting to be uncovered.

This marked the fifth presentation I've given in La Grange on the defunct Chicken Ranch brothel in the past couple of years, and every single time there has been a significant percentage of those in the audience that regard me with wary civility. These are, invariably, the people who lived through the final years of the Chicken Ranch and suffered through the Marvin Zindler-led media circus that led to its closing. Lots of inaccurate and outright wrong things have been written about it in the ensuing years, and even more rumors and whispered stories. So it's understandable that they view me, an outsider, with no small amount of suspicion, expecting me to just repeat those old, tired stories based more in a Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton fiction than in reality. Each time, I've won them over. I've had reports of elderly ladies planning to "set me right" only to depart with smiles and laughter. I've received emails thanking me and offering suggestions of additional sources. Following the Rotary presentation, I had folks come up and commend me for my extensive research far beyond what they thought possible--bearing in mind that this is for a 30 minute audio-visual presentation. The history book itself is 110,000 words long! But more than that, the Rotarians wanted to reminisce. I heard stories of visiting the short-lived restaurant in Dallas, scribbling down license plate numbers in the parking lot to see if any classmates were "visiting" the brothel, others whose fathers and mothers as local merchants did brisk business with the Chicken Ranch and all the philanthropic gifts Aunt Jessie and later Miss Edna made that improved the quality of life for everyone in La Grange. I also confirmed that H-E-B's "Texas Chicken Ranch Eggs" are indeed available in town.

But do you know what really topped the day off? Their presenting me with the Speaker Appreciation Award. Oh, I know it's not a Nobel or Pulitzer, but is a kind and considerate gesture and I appreciate it deeply. It's hanging on my office wall as I write this. You know, a fellow could get used to this public speaking stuff...

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Chicken Ranch report no. 52: Lions!

I returned to La Grange today to give a Chicken Ranch presentation to the Noon Lions Club. This marks the fourth time in the past 18 months that I've been invited to that town to speak about the infamous brothel. Since many of these people lived through the events I've researched and written about, I have to believe I'm doing something right for them to keep bringing me back!

What a great bunch of people! I met so many friendly and enthusiastic folks today that everyone's names just became a big jumble once all was said and done. The running joke of the day was that I was going to ask everyone who'd visited the Chicken Ranch as a customer to stand up. I never put that question to the group, but I believe just about every other person who stood up to talk did! Since this was a lunch meeting and the membership presumably had jobs and lives to get back to, I had only a 15 minute time slot to work with. Anyone who's seen my full presentation knows I can easily fill an hour with lots of content to spare. So, rather than do my usual reading and discussion, I opted for a condensed slide show. Good call. The rare photos got a lot of attention and we had a lively talk about the various fake Chicken Ranch memorabilia available online. The ensuing Q&A session ran over long, so we cut it short, wrapped up the meeting, and then I stayed on for another half hour answering the eager questions from the club members who didn't have to get back to work. I sold a few books in the parking lot and a huge stack of my Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch postcards vanished as just about everyone present took one. Many made me promise to let them know once my actual history book on the Chicken Ranch becomes available.

After the dust settled, I had a nice long sit-down with author Joy Jones, who is writing a historical novel featuring some of the characters from events surrounding the Chicken Ranch closure, and was looking to nail down some details about them and their lives. I was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing her novel when it comes out.

Finally, on the drive back to New Braunfels, I saw a blimp flying over Flatonia. It was too hazy for me to make out any details, but the mere sight of such a massive airship floating in the sky was enough to get my heart thumping. Yes, I've got a serious thing for dirigibles, and would very much love to see a cruise industry emerge based around the enormous passenger liners like the Graf Zeppelin. At any rate, I took the blimp sighting as a good omen and smiled the rest of the way home.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary (plus news): Miss Edna (1928-2012)

It is officially official: the publisher accepted my withdrawal of my manuscript this morning, so my book is officially back on the market. That's not exactly good news, but it is better than signing a bad contract that would essentially tie up all rights and interest in the book with that publisher forever. If they were offering an outrageous advance, that'd be one thing, but they weren't. Life goes on.

And speaking of going on, and on, and on, I have accepted an invitation to be a guest speaker at the Noon Lions Club in La Grange on March 19. Time is limited, so I won't be giving my full-blown dog-and-pony show, but I'll bring along some rare photographs and copies of Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch for anyone so interested. It should be a lively Q&A session--this is the first time men from La Grange have invited me to speak, as my previous three appearances were for women of the town. And if anyone knows of organizations or libraries in need of speakers, I am available.

As for the anniversary, on this date in 2012, Edna Milton Chadwell, better known as Miss Edna, passed away at the age of 84 in Phoenix, Arizona, where she'd lived a life of quiet anonymity since the early 1980s. She would've been 87 this year.

Her final days were tragic. The previous October (or September--my memory is imprecise) she was involved in a car wreck that left her hospitalized with an array of injuries. From what I understand, her memory was affected, and her brain stopped converting short-term memory into long. In practical terms, it meant somebody could introduce themselves and begin a conversation with her, but five minutes later she'd have no recollection. Over the previous three years I feel I've gotten to know her as much as any person alive today who wasn't related to her. She enthusiastically supported my book project and graciously invited my wife and myself into her home for hours of interviews. It is my everlasting regret that I did not complete the book in time for her to have her own copy.

She never lived the kind of life she'd wanted, but she still carved out a place in Texas history for herself. For that, her memory will endure.

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Chicken Ranch: Of Sheriff Flournoy and Scarlett Hens

On this date in Chicken Ranch history, 1902 to be exact, J.T. "Big Jim" Flournoy, the larger-than-life Fayette County sheriff in the center of the epic Chicken Ranch dust-up of legend, was born. Happy birthday to Big Jim, who passed away in 1982. As the saying goes, they don't make 'em like him anymore.

Marking Sheriff Jim's birthday isn't the only Chicken Ranch news of late--no, sadly I don't have a publishing deal yet. Rather, I've developed something of a speaking career as the go-to authority on the infamous brothel. Those of you keeping score at home may remember I gave presentations ("lectures" seems too pretentious a word, doesn't it?) at the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus, the San Antonio Writers Guild and the Fayette Public Library in La Grange. I've honed my presentation to the point where it's pretty doggone tight. Through trial and error, I've gotten a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't, and the audience responds.

So Saturday, Sept. 20, I was the guest speaker for the Queen's Confab of Texas (QCT) #16, sponsored by the La Grange Scarlett Hens chapter of the Red Hat Society. Yeah, that Red Hat Society. And I have to say I couldn't have asked for a better audience! Take a look at this crew and try telling me we didn't have a blast:

They soaked up my tour of the ruins, asking plenty of questions, and found the history of all Chicken Ranch fakes for sale interesting. But Miss Edna's story held them in thrall. What she accomplished with her life, the obstacles and setbacks she overcame, really hit home for these ladies. More than one commented that "she was a real person" as opposed to the over-the-top Dolly Parton caricature from the movie. That Miss Edna had the same hopes and dreams as a child that any of them may have had, and lived out the final decades of her life in quiet anonymity humanized her for them. One piped up from the back that she'd rather see a movie version of Miss Edna's life than watch The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas again. Many of them came up to me afterward and thanked me for the presentation, telling me how interesting and meaningful it was. And they bought copies of Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. Lots and lots of copies, so that I need to reorder. For a writer, this is always a good thing. It's nice to know when I've put together a book people want!

And I really need to get those Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch copies ordered ASAP--Oct. 9 I'm heading back to La Grange for a meeting of the Episcopal Church Women for St. James Episcopal Church. The Red Hens set the bar pretty high, but I have confidence the Episcopal women will have a good accounting of themselves.

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Chicken Ranch report no. 45: Vive La Grange!

La Grange, I love you! And I will fight anyone who says a bad thing about your town!

Folks, if you missed my Sunday presentation at the Fayette Public Library in La Grange, you missed one humdinger of a show. I am not one normally given over to hyperbole, but we had ourselves one heck of a shindig there. I stopped counting at 50 people crowding into the conference room at the library. Every single chair was taken and plenty of people took to standing in the back and sitting on side tables, with more slipping in even after I'd begun talking. I'm telling you, the people just kept coming. We taxed that poor old air conditioning system to its limits, I'm afraid. It got a wee bit warm in there with so many folks packed close together, but we made it work!

I will admit to a certain degree of uncertainty on my part going into the event. As I told the audience, it seems that 40 percent of the local populace are enthused and excited about my Chicken Ranch research, another 50 percent--those too young to remember, or newcomers to the community--are somewhat indifferent and the remaining 10 percent believe I'm an agent of Satan for daring to look into the history of the brothel. If that latter 10 percent showed up, I could've been in deep trouble. Fortunately for me, the crowed consisted exclusively of 40 percenters, and the enthusiasm and support they showed me is profoundly gratifying. One lady had severely injured herself in a fall, yet despite her obvious discomfort, she was determined to meet me and get a copy of Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. That means a lot to me. It makes me feel that all this work I've invested into this crazy research actually matters. And you know what? A lot of other folks there must've felt the same way, because I sold out of every copy I had with me. To be honest, I'd have given the presentation even without selling a single book, but that kind of positive affirmation sure does make the sky a little bluer and the sun shine a little brighter!

I had some great conversations with more than a few people who knew Miss Edna personally, and lived through those insane days back in 1973. Nobody booed me and said I got my facts wrong. Nobody threw rotten vegetables. I explained the history of the failed Chicken Ranch restaurant in Dallas (which a number of folks were curious about), the origins of the "Chicken Ranch burned down rumors" and the connections between the Chicken Ranch brothel in Nevada and the one in La Grange (there aren't any). It was a whole heck of a lot of fun, and my one regret is that it ended too quickly. Like General Douglas MacArthur, I will return some day--if not for my exhaustive history book on the Chicken Ranch, then for another go-round or two for Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. You see, after my presentation I was approached an asked if I might come back to give an encore performance for some local church groups...

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch by Jayme Blaschke & Lisa Blaschke

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Chicken Ranch report no. 44: La Grange date!

For all you folks who missed out on my presentation last month at the library in Columbus, I've got some good news for you: On Sunday, November 17, I'll be giving a presentation at the Fayette Public Library/Heritage Museum and Archives! The show starts at 2 p.m. and should wrap up around 3:30.

I will be giving a reading and book signing for Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available to purchase for anyone who is interested in getting a head start on their Christmas shopping this year!

I'm super-jazzed about this event. Sheri, and Kathy before here, have been tremendous resources and very supportive of my research efforts into the Chicken Ranch. For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, I spent most of 2009-2012 researching and writing the definitive history of the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange. This history goes way beyond the trite song and dance most people know from the motion picture version of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." It's far more complex and fascinating a history than most people--even those who lived through it--realize. 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the closure of the brothel, and my wife, professional photographer Lisa Elliott Blaschke, along with myself, edited and published a fine art book titled Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch in recognition of the anniversary. I will present a slideshow of images of the modern ruins from Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch as well as other, previously unpublished photos which will be included in the more exhaustive (and as-yet unpublished) history book. I'll read, "The Last Madam: The Unexpected Life of Edna Milton (1928-2012)" which I originally presented at the East Texas Historical Association fall conference in 2012. I'll also read some selected excerpts from the unpublished book, present a short but illuminating 11-minute video and engage in as much discussion as I'm able.

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Remiss

Forgive me, loyal readers, I have been remiss. In this week of anniversaries, I missed a significant one. Forty years ago yesterday, that Little Ole Band from Texas, otherwise known as ZZ Top, released its third album, Tres Hombres. This was a career-defining album for the group, a wicked blues/rock fusion that became a top 10 hit and launched them to stardom. More germane to our purposes, the lead (and only) single from the album, "La Grange," took a classic John Lee Hooker blues riff and wrapped it with growling lyrics about a certain famed brothel on the outskirts of town. It's a little-known fact that "La Grange" was release--and garnered extensive airplay--well before the album came out. Which means all of America (or at least those tuned to FM rock stations) was listening to "La Grange" in late June and all of July, well before Marvin Zindler launched his TV crusade against the Chicken Ranch. That's why the Chicken Ranch wasn't the worst-kept secret in Texas--to be a secret (even a worst-kept one) people at least have to pretend it's a secret in the first place.

As far as the album is concerned, Radio.com has a nice little writeup about it with comments from Billy Gibbons.

And as tomorrow's major milestone continues rushing at us in breakneck pace, folks here and there are starting to take notice. The Fayette County Record has two stories on the Chicken Ranch in this week's edition, which is worth noting. The stories aren't available for reading online without a subscription, but if you're passing through Fayette County this week, it might be worthwhile to stop in at Hruska's in Ellinger and gab a couple of kolaches to go with a copy of the paper.

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The Chicken Ranch: Ocho

I am shamed to admit I am remiss in my writing efforts regarding the Chicken Ranch. For these past two months, I have focused so intently on the one-month period in which Marvin Zindler's expose resulted in the shuttering of that long-standing brothel that I have utterly neglected the preceding 100-plus years of history. Although Edna Milton served as madam at the end, she was not the longest-tenured woman in that position. That title belonged to Faye Stewart, better know as Miss Jessie Williams. She is the woman who consolidated the various prostitution ventures in La Grange and moved the operation out of town. She presided over the brothel when it earned it's famous name. She established goodwill and a working relationship with the county sheriff's office. It would not be unjustified to begin this tale with her:

While the previous century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Jessie’s Fashionable Boarding House for young ladies, past the Bad Curve sign, a large farm wagon, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat farmer in sweat-stained coveralls, at the rate of four miles an hour. A black sharecropper, who reposed on the wagon behind the fat farmer, uncurled his bandy legs as soon as the equipage drew up opposite Miss Jessie’s new screen door, and as he pulled the bell at least a score of young heads were seen peering out of the narrow windows of the white clapboard house. Nay, the acute observer might have recognized the little red nose of stern-natured Miss Jessie Williams herself, stubbing out a cigarette in the window of that madam's own parlour.

As always, this is a work in progress. Feedback is always encouraged. In case you missed 'em, here are my previous installments:
Version 7
Version 6
Version 5
Version 4
Version 3
Version 2
Version 1


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Friday Night Videos

Not that I normally do requests, but since Scott asked so nicely last week, I figured I'd humor him. Don't want to disappoint the regulars, you know. So here it is, ZZ Top performing "La Grange" on the Tonight Show.



Previously on Friday Night Videos... The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

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Do you remember the Chicken Ranch?

So, there it is. Do you remember the Chicken Ranch? And by that question, I don't mean "Do you vaguely recall it existed at one point," or "Have you seen the Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." I'm looking for folks with actual, genuine first-hand knowledge of the famed brothel in La Grange, Texas. This would include former clients, former employees, post-Marvin Zindler landowners, Dallas-area restauranteurs, townsfolk, neighbors, law enforcement, relatives... anybody with a story, memory or recollection to tell regarding the history of what is, quite possibly, the world's most famous bordello.

I want to interview you. I'm not certain what form this project will ultimately take, but I'm not one for doing things half-assed.

Why am I doing this all of the sudden, when I've got far too many unfinished SFnal projects on my plate that need attention? The plain and simple fact of the matter is that if I don't do it right, nobody will. Too many of the major players in the demise of the Chicken Ranch have already departed this mortal coil, and the brothel was too much a part of Texas history for too long a time to let its memory simply weather away into dust (There's not even a historical marker in La Grange to show the nation's longest-operating brothel--predating the Civil War, fer crying out loud--ever existed). I intend to change that. But I need your help.

Feel free to spread the word.

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