The smirking prostitutes and grinning madams of Montreal: 1940s mugshots reveal the women who turned the city into a sex capital
- Montreal became known as the sex capital of North America as brothels were set up after the First World War
- Prohibition in America drove those looking for a good time over the border, and business boomed in the city
- But after Prohibition ended, the industry turned seedy, and authorities moved in to clear the prostitutes out
- Taken between 1939 and 1945, these mugshots reveal the faces of that industry as it was being dismantled
These are the faces of Montreal's seedy 20th century red-light district, when the Canadian city was known as the sex capital of North America.
The city became known as a den of iniquity shortly after the First World War, when the introduction of prohibition in the United States sent people over the border in search of drink and a good time.
Initially authorities welcomed the influx, but after America reintroduced alcohol in 1933 and following a spike in sexually transmitted infections, authorities began cracking down.
These are the women who made Montreal into a sex capital. None was more powerful than Anna Labelle. She was arrested for the last time in 1939 (pictured) but went regularly to court in a Cadillac and wrapped in mink to free her mangers
Liliane Brown, aka Ida Katz, was one of the three principal brothel-owners in Montreal during the Second World War. She kept several low-end houses on the notorious streets of Bullion and Desmarais
Lucie Delicato Bizante, pictured after being arrested in 1944. She was the third principal brothel owner alongside Brown and Labelle, and would be a crucial witness for police when it came to dismantling the city's sex industry
The properties at 1225, 1227 and 1229 Bullion street, which were three of the most notorious brothels in the city. Many of the women pictured here were arrested at one of these addresses, often multiple times
Fleurette Dubois, pictured during her arrest in 1942, ran a brothel at 1225 Bullion (pictured above). Montreal became a haven for sex workers after the First World War, when Prohibition sent Americans over the border in search of a good time
Marguerite Smith also helped run the brothel at 1225 Bullion. She was arrested multiple times in the early 1940s for being a madam and also for working as a prostitute
Blanche Martin was a maid by trade, but was arrested in 1940 for owning a brothel - showing how the underside of city life in Montreal often bled over into the 'legitimate' world
Another house of ill-repute was established here, at Clark Street. This was likely one of the properties owned by Anna Labelle, known then as the most powerful madam in the city
Jeanine Lebrun, pictured during her arrest in April 11, 1940, also ran a brothel. While authorities in Montreal initially welcome its sex tourists, after Prohibition ended in 1933 the industry turned seedy, and moves began to eradicate it
Lina Tony was another brothel owner, arrested in 1941 for running a brothel at 1244 Berger and at 1242 on the same street
Most of these mugshots were taken in the early 1940s, as the drive was getting underway, and while corruption among the police force and local authorities was still rife.
That perhaps goes some way to explaining the wry smiles on some of the women's faces, or the grimaces of disbelief as they are handcuffed - it is likely the arresting officers were clients, or were involved in the racket.
That all changed between 1949 and 1950, when Pacifique Plante, a former member of the police morality squad which had been charged with cleaning up the city, spilled the beans on the industry to a local magazine.
Alongside journalist Gerard Filion, they published 61 stories which were filled with scandalous details about the seedy underbelly of Montreal and how it functioned in cahoots with the police and courts.
Most of the women pictured here, including Ruby Taylor (pictured), were arrested in an early crackdown on the sex industry. Their smiles likely indicate that they knew the officers behind the camera, either from multiple arrests, or as clients
Gisèle Roy, who had an alias of Marie-Jeanne Lambert, pulls a face in her arrest mugshot in 1941. Attempts to clean up the city accelerated in 1950 after a series of newspaper articles by a former police chief shocked citizens
Madeleine Gagnon was also stopped at 1223 Bullion, one of the city's most notorious streets for prostitution
Two brothels are located above provision stores along Guy Street in Montreal. Former morality police officer Pacifique Plante was instrumental in getting places like this shut down after he teamed up with journalist Gerard Filion to expose them
Prostitution was not the only racket in Montreal in the 1940s. Gaming houses were also very popular with those coming to the city. Pictured is Henry Druik, who was arrested eight times in four years for running such a house
Armand Pepin, pictured in 1940, who was involved with the gaming houses. Following the publication of articles exposing this underworld, a three-year inquiry was carried out to rid the city of crime
Jack Diamond, another man arrested over gaming houses in 1940. Over the course of three years between 1950 and 1953, police officer-turned lawyer Pacifique Plante leveled 15,000 allegations at men like Diamond
A police photo shows the inside of a gaming house in Montreal toward the end of its heydey as a den in iniquity and gambling
The inside of another gaming house advertises 'dancing every Sunday night' in central Montreal during the 1940s
The articles incensed the public, and a Public Morality Committee was established with Judge Caron overseeing and Plante as the chief prosecutor, despite the fact that many of the crimes he was investigating happened while he was an officer.
The Caron Commission of Inquiry into Public Morality began on September 11, 1950, and ended on April 2, 1953, after holding 335 meetings and hearing from 373 witnesses.
In total, Plant laid 15,000 allegations before the commission, which saw multiple police officers jailed.
The same day the inquiry's report was published, Plant's deputy prosecutor Jean Drapeau launched his campaign for Mayor, which he won, while Plante was appointed chief of police.
Drapeau remained mayor for the next three decades, during which he was so determined to clean up Montreal's image, that he cut back much of the city's undergrowth to stop people sneaking off for liasons there.
Irene Lavallee was one of many suspected prostitutes picked up by police in the early 1940s in Montreal, before the Caron Commission cleared the underworld out
Mary Shepperd was one of the many women who gave Montreal's its name as a sex city. In 1953 her industry was brought down after an inquiry brought forth 15,000 allegations against brothel owners and police
Annie Parker, pictured after her arrest in 1941. She would likely have moved to the city to join its booming sex trade after the First World War, before authorities turned against it in the late 30s
In the late 30s and early 40s, prostitutes such as Germaine Giraud would be arrested dozens of times. However, official corruption and police involvement in the sex rings meant many of them went straight back to work
A brothel located on rue St-Dominique, which was one of dozens regularly raided by police in the late 30s and early 40s
While women ran and staffed the brothels, men such as James Masters, aka Gaetano Mastracchio, took care of the gambling
Eugene Caviola is one of the latest arrest mugshots from this collection, coming in 1945, shortly before the gambling industry was cleaned up by a sweeping criminal inquiry
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by Roy Vassey 461