In the 1930s, a new industry arose to cater to men seeking female companionship for a price. In a city notorious for prostitution and sex work of all kinds, the Girl Guides was another industry that blurred the lines between sex work and sociability. Like the cabaret hostesses, who are also mentioned in this article. the Girl Guides were young women who served as companions for hire, only they were more mobile than their cabaret sisters who worked in the confines of the city's ballroom dance halls. To be sure, cabaret hostesses could also go out on dates with men, but this was informal, whereas the Girl Guide agencies formalized and monetized the pleasure of taking girls out on the town. This tongue-and-cheek article, clearly written by a Chinese gentleman, satirizes and criticizes the city's obsession for female entertainment.

The Girl Guides

BY T. S. YOUNG

(THE CHINA WEEKLY REVIEW November 7, 1936)

Shanghai is going mad after girls.  By instinct, men love pretty girls, but this love as expressed by Shanghai men is more sensual than aesthetic.  Any girl with an oval face, bright eyes, fair complexion, and a wasp-like waist can come to this port and make a small fortune by “selling” her love at a price which no Shanghai tightwads and misers would consider too exorbitant to pay. The arrival of a high Government official would scarcely arouse any pubic interest, but the visit of the “Beauty Fish” would be considered a very great event.  Any exhibition of arts would attract but a handful of visitors, but the hula dance contest and the showing of such sexy pictures as “Ecstasy” would always be assured of full houses.  While Shanghai men may turn a deaf ear to the appeals of charity, they would pay high prices to see the “Beauty Fish” in one-piece bathing suit, hula dance contests and any sexy pictures.

Shanghai’s love for girls has made it a free hunting ground for enterprising girls to seek fame and fortune.  Any girl with a good-looking face can go into the motion picture business and call herself a “star”; and as a “star”, she can have the honor of dining at the same table with “great men” and of being invited together with them to sponsor any ceremonies from the opening of a small grocery store to the launching of money-raising campaigns.  And any girl, blessed with a pair of nimble legs, can secure employment from the numerous cabarets as a dancing partner, and as such, she can use her coquetry and caprice to assail the heart as well as the purse of unsophisticated college student or corpulent merchants, thereby enabling her to draw a monthly income as large as that of much-respected and much-admired big bankers.  Look, even the onion-smelling and rustic looking “jump-jump” play actresses, whose acts and singing have hitherto been considered as being too uncouth and sexy to appeal to the refined taste of the people above the proletarian class in Peiping, are now playing to the packed houses of Shanghai bourgeoisie.

“Shanghai Men Are Curious Creatures”

What curious creatures are Shanghai men!  National crises and business depressions can not become grave enough to dampen their girl-madness and make them insensible to feminine charms.  While in one section of the city, the terror-stricken people are making a hasty evacuation as if the dogs of war were barking at their very door, in other sections, the girl-crazy men are either applauding their worshipped movie “stars” on the screen, or hugging their favorite dancing partners under dim lights in the cabarets, or relishing the sex-intimating acts of the newly-idolized “jump-jump” play actresses.  Shanghai is said to have been smitten hard by business depression; but who can believe it, if one looks at the crowds in the cinema houses, cabarets and theaters?  In a word, Shangahi men whose mind has been so much obsessed with the charms of “stars” and “queens” can not make themselves interested in such insipid matters as a national crisis and business depression; and they will gladly let the rest of the world go by, so long as they can have the “stars” and “queens” to entertain them and frolic with them.

Shanghai’s madness for girls will not suffer a relapse, for new attractions have been from time to time introduced by matter-of-fact money-making persons to stimulate the appetites of Shanghai men, just as new cooks have always concocted new dishes to stimulate the appetites of epicureans.  The matter-of-fact money-making persons have always kept their finger on the pulse of Shanghai men, and can tell unmistakably what they are longing for.  With the advent of “modern times,” they have found out that a sing-song house is too aristocratic and exclusive to cater to the popular demand, and so they have brought into being a new style of feminine entertainment in the form of cabarets, where even men of little means can afford to quench their thirst for feminine beauty and charms.  But there are still a multitude of men who would find dancing too vulgar a pastime and too strenuous an exercise to suit their refined taste, and would prefer to have a tete-a-tete dinner or tea with a good-looking girl in a cozy room or to seek pleasure and relaxation from “hills and waters” under the guidance of a female companion.  This poetic taste, which finds its presence in the mind of many of our people, especially the middle-aged men, gives rise to a new need, which the sing-song girls and taxi dancers can not be expected to meet.  This need calls for a new form of feminine entertainment, hence the birth of the so-called girl guide house.

This girl guide house is the latest attraction of the many attractions boasted by this big city. Although it is altogether a new adventure, its popularity can be attested by the fact that within the last six months there have sprung up more than one hundred of such houses, not counting the ones which will be opened up in future.  If each house has fifteen girls on its payroll, the total number of girl guides in Shanghai at present must be over 2,000.  Look at their advertisements which have practically filled one half of the pages of some of the leading Chinese newspapers in Shanghai. The names of the girls together with their assigned numbers and sometimes their pictures, and the telephone numbers of the houses are clearly published, so that prospective customers will not make mistakes in sending for the right girls.  Just read the translations of the following advertisements, and see what is the reaction upon your good sense:

“King Mei-chur, sister-in-law of Henry Pu-Yi, Emperor of ‘Manchukuo,’ has joined our houses and will be pleased to answer any call to serve either as dancing partner or as tourist guide at the rate of two dollars per hour.  All other beautiful girls of our house can be engaged at only one dollar per hour….”

“Lily, a French returned student, has defied public censure and the objections of her family, and has consented to serve our customers either as a dancing partner or as tourist guide….”

“We have English-speaking girls in our house.  Should you need a pleasant companion as well as a capable interpreter, just give us a ring and a pretty girl will be at your disposal in less than five minutes….”

“We have beautiful foreign girls to be engaged either as dancing partners or as tourist guides. Just make a change and see how foreign beauties suit your taste….”

“Our girls carry in their pockets some ‘mysterious’ gifts to be give to our customers.  If you don’t get yours, you can search her pockets as you please….”

“We have girls of the Mae West type, of the Jean Harlow type, and of the Clara Bow type.  Choose which type you want, and we guarantee to give you satisfaction….”

“Every girl enlisted by our house is a chosen beauty, who will put Kueifei and Chaochun (noted ancient Chinese beauties) into shame.  Don’t blame us, if you should ‘lose your soul’ after having seen any one of them….”

“If you want to be friendly with ‘school queens,’ ‘movie stars’ and ‘society flowers,’ just dial our number.  You need not pay, if you are not satisfied with the girl you have sent for….”

A Puppet’s Sister-in-Law

How can a man be so numb as not to be moved after having gone through these tempting offers?  Who will not spend two dollars for the mere sake of having the honor of seeing in person a no less personage than the sister-in-law of the world-renowned puppet?  Who will deny himself the pleasure of meeting a French returned student who has so much courage as to break down all the old conventions and social prejudices?  Who will not give himself a treat by hiring a foreign beauty as his temporary companion? Who will resist the pleasure of searching the girl’s pockets for “mysterious” gifts?  Who will not be anxious to see the Chinese prototypes of Mae West, Jean Harlow and Clara Bow, who have made the motion pictures so popular with the Chinese?  And who will not be tickled to be friendly with “school queens,” “movie stars” and “society flowers”?

With the introduction of these girl guide houses, more girls can find lucrative employment, and more men can quench their thirst for feminine beauty and charms.  Those matter-of-fact money-making persons who have introduced this new form of feminine entertainment are really business geniuses; while those girls who can hire themselves out at so much per hour in defiance of old conventions and social prejudices are indeed practical girls. Why should we look at morality through a magnifying glass and raise a hue and cry over moral bankruptcy, when chances of employment for girls are so few in this man-ruled world?  It is both natural and justifiable that they should “sell” their natural endowments—beauty and charms—to the girl-crazy public as a means of livelihood.

Apropos, some enterprising men may find it profitable to organize themselves into some man-guide houses. Such advertisement as “we have men of the Rudolph Valentino type, of the Clarke Gable type, and of the John Gilbert type to be engaged at $1.00 per hour” will certainly appeal to the psychology of our many “star”-worshipping women.  Not long ago, a rich heiress advertised for a personal secretary to accompany her on a round the world journey with salary.  Out of some 650 applicants, she picked out a good-looking American returned student with a doctorate degree.  I am sure that many other women are equally disposed to pay for the services of handsome men guides to take them to make sundry purchases or to seek pleasure and relaxation from “hills and waters.”

BY T. S. YOUNG

THE CHINA WEEKLY REVIEW November 7, 1936

Shanghai is going mad after girls.  By instinct, men love pretty girls, but this love as expressed by Shanghai men is more sensual than aesthetic.  Any girl with an oval face, bright eyes, fair complexion, and a wasp-like waist can come to this port and make a small fortune by “selling” her love at a price which no Shanghai tightwads and misers would consider too exorbitant to pay. The arrival of a high Government official would scarcely arouse any pubic interest, but the visit of the “Beauty Fish” would be considered a very great event.  Any exhibition of arts would attract but a handful of visitors, but the hula dance contest and the showing of such sexy pictures as “Ecstasy” would always be assured of full houses.  While Shanghai men may turn a deaf ear to the appeals of charity, they would pay high prices to see the “Beauty Fish” in one-piece bathing suit, hula dance contests and any sexy pictures.

Shanghai’s love for girls has made it a free hunting ground for enterprising girls to seek fame and fortune.  Any girl with a good-looking face can go into the motion picture business and call herself a “star”; and as a “star”, she can have the honor of dining at the same table with “great men” and of being invited together with them to sponsor any ceremonies from the opening of a small grocery store to the launching of money-raising campaigns.  And any girl, blessed with a pair of nimble legs, can secure employment from the numerous cabarets as a dancing partner, and as such, she can use her coquetry and caprice to assail the heart as well as the purse of unsophisticated college student or corpulent merchants, thereby enabling her to draw a monthly income as large as that of much-respected and much-admired big bankers.  Look, even the onion-smelling and rustic looking “jump-jump” play actresses, whose acts and singing have hitherto been considered as being too uncouth and sexy to appeal to the refined taste of the people above the proletarian class in Peiping, are now playing to the packed houses of Shanghai bourgeoisie.

“Shanghai Men Are Curious Creatures”

What curious creatures are Shanghai men!  National crises and business depressions can not become grave enough to dampen their girl-madness and make them insensible to feminine charms.  While in one section of the city, the terror-stricken people are making a hasty evacuation as if the dogs of war were barking at their very door, in other sections, the girl-crazy men are either applauding their worshipped movie “stars” on the screen, or hugging their favorite dancing partners under dim lights in the cabarets, or relishing the sex-intimating acts of the newly-idolized “jump-jump” play actresses.  Shanghai is said to have been smitten hard by business depression; but who can believe it, if one looks at the crowds in the cinema houses, cabarets and theaters?  In a word, Shangahi men whose mind has been so much obsessed with the charms of “stars” and “queens” can not make themselves interested in such insipid matters as a national crisis and business depression; and they will gladly let the rest of the world go by, so long as they can have the “stars” and “queens” to entertain them and frolic with them.

Shanghai’s madness for girls will not suffer a relapse, for new attractions have been from time to time introduced by matter-of-fact money-making persons to stimulate the appetites of Shanghai men, just as new cooks have always concocted new dishes to stimulate the appetites of epicureans.  The matter-of-fact money-making persons have always kept their finger on the pulse of Shanghai men, and can tell unmistakably what they are longing for.  With the advent of “modern times,” they have found out that a sing-song house is too aristocratic and exclusive to cater to the popular demand, and so they have brought into being a new style of feminine entertainment in the form of cabarets, where even men of little means can afford to quench their thirst for feminine beauty and charms.  But there are still a multitude of men who would find dancing too vulgar a pastime and too strenuous an exercise to suit their refined taste, and would prefer to have a tete-a-tete dinner or tea with a good-looking girl in a cozy room or to seek pleasure and relaxation from “hills and waters” under the guidance of a female companion.  This poetic taste, which finds its presence in the mind of many of our people, especially the middle-aged men, gives rise to a new need, which the sing-song girls and taxi dancers can not be expected to meet.  This need calls for a new form of feminine entertainment, hence the birth of the so-called girl guide house.

This girl guide house is the latest attraction of the many attractions boasted by this big city. Although it is altogether a new adventure, its popularity can be attested by the fact that within the last six months there have sprung up more than one hundred of such houses, not counting the ones which will be opened up in future.  If each house has fifteen girls on its payroll, the total number of girl guides in Shanghai at present must be over 2,000.  Look at their advertisements which have practically filled one half of the pages of some of the leading Chinese newspapers in Shanghai. The names of the girls together with their assigned numbers and sometimes their pictures, and the telephone numbers of the houses are clearly published, so that prospective customers will not make mistakes in sending for the right girls.  Just read the translations of the following advertisements, and see what is the reaction upon your good sense:

“King Mei-chur, sister-in-law of Henry Pu-Yi, Emperor of ‘Manchukuo,’ has joined our houses and will be pleased to answer any call to serve either as dancing partner or as tourist guide at the rate of two dollars per hour.  All other beautiful girls of our house can be engaged at only one dollar per hour….”

“Lily, a French returned student, has defied public censure and the objections of her family, and has consented to serve our customers either as a dancing partner or as tourist guide….”

“We have English-speaking girls in our house.  Should you need a pleasant companion as well as a capable interpreter, just give us a ring and a pretty girl will be at your disposal in less than five minutes….”

“We have beautiful foreign girls to be engaged either as dancing partners or as tourist guides. Just make a change and see how foreign beauties suit your taste….”

“Our girls carry in their pockets some ‘mysterious’ gifts to be give to our customers.  If you don’t get yours, you can search her pockets as you please….”

“We have girls of the Mae West type, of the Jean Harlow type, and of the Clara Bow type.  Choose which type you want, and we guarantee to give you satisfaction….”

“Every girl enlisted by our house is a chosen beauty, who will put Kueifei and Chaochun (noted ancient Chinese beauties) into shame.  Don’t blame us, if you should ‘lose your soul’ after having seen any one of them….”

“If you want to be friendly with ‘school queens,’ ‘movie stars’ and ‘society flowers,’ just dial our number.  You need not pay, if you are not satisfied with the girl you have sent for….”

A Puppet’s Sister-in-Law

How can a man be so numb as not to be moved after having gone through these tempting offers?  Who will not spend two dollars for the mere sake of having the honor of seeing in person a no less personage than the sister-in-law of the world-renowned puppet?  Who will deny himself the pleasure of meeting a French returned student who has so much courage as to break down all the old conventions and social prejudices?  Who will not give himself a treat by hiring a foreign beauty as his temporary companion? Who will resist the pleasure of searching the girl’s pockets for “mysterious” gifts?  Who will not be anxious to see the Chinese prototypes of Mae West, Jean Harlow and Clara Bow, who have made the motion pictures so popular with the Chinese?  And who will not be tickled to be friendly with “school queens,” “movie stars” and “society flowers”?

With the introduction of these girl guide houses, more girls can find lucrative employment, and more men can quench their thirst for feminine beauty and charms.  Those matter-of-fact money-making persons who have introduced this new form of feminine entertainment are really business geniuses; while those girls who can hire themselves out at so much per hour in defiance of old conventions and social prejudices are indeed practical girls. Why should we look at morality through a magnifying glass and raise a hue and cry over moral bankruptcy, when chances of employment for girls are so few in this man-ruled world?  It is both natural and justifiable that they should “sell” their natural endowments—beauty and charms—to the girl-crazy public as a means of livelihood.

Apropos, some enterprising men may find it profitable to organize themselves into some man-guide houses. Such advertisement as “we have men of the Rudolph Valentino type, of the Clarke Gable type, and of the John Gilbert type to be engaged at $1.00 per hour” will certainly appeal to the psychology of our many “star”-worshipping women.  Not long ago, a rich heiress advertised for a personal secretary to accompany her on a round the world journey with salary.  Out of some 650 applicants, she picked out a good-looking American returned student with a doctorate degree.  I am sure that many other women are equally disposed to pay for the services of handsome men guides to take them to make sundry purchases or to seek pleasure and relaxation from “hills and waters.”