Ah Toy

Not to be confused with Lily Ah Toy.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Toy.

Ah Toy
Born(1829-05-18)May 18, 1829
Canton, Guangdong, Qing China
DiedFebruary 1, 1928(1928-02-01) (aged 98)
San Jose, California
NationalityQing Chinese, American
Other namesAtoy, Attoy, Achoi, Achoy
Occupation(s)sex worker, madam

Ah Toy (Chinese: 亞彩; Sidney Lau: Aa3 Coi2;[1] 18 May 1829 – 1 February 1928)[2] was a Chinese American[3] sex worker and madam in San Francisco, California during the California Gold Rush, and the first Chinese sex worker in San Francisco.[4] Arriving from Hong Kong in 1848,[5] she became the best-known Asian woman in the American frontier.[6]

  1. ^ Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: the Qing Period, 1644-1911
  2. ^ Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Lau, Clara; Stefanowska, A. D. (17 July 2015). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 1: The Qing Period, 1644-1911. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47588-0.
  3. ^ Stephens, Autumn (1992). Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era. Conari. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-943233-36-9.
  4. ^ Asbury, Herbert (2002). The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-56025-408-9.
  5. ^ Espiritu, Yen Le (1997). Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 32. ISBN 978-0-8039-7255-1.
  6. ^ Okihiro, Gary Y. (2001). Common Ground: Reimagining American History. Princeton University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-691-07007-0.