Where does the term Tenderloin District come from and what does it mean?

When our son got married, he and his bride moved to San Francisco, renting a small apartment in what was known as the Tenderloin District. He quickly found work within walking distance at a restaurant called Soluna where one of his sandwich creations became a menu item. 

When Susie and I visited (the following year?) the attraction of big city life was apparent. Everything you need is within walking distance. Big box retailers, eateries, City Lights Bookstore, night life--it was all around you. To the untrained eye it appeared to be thriving. 

This week I was doing research on a section of Duluth called Canal Park. To my surprise, there was also an area here called the Tenderloin District, and it made me curious.

The term originated in New York City. Purportedly, it was an area where police officers could afford to eat tenderloin steak using the bribes they collected from illegal activities there. Brothels, gambling dens and other forms of vice could all be found here. 

When similar characteristics begand to emerge in Frisco, the name was adopted, covering the area from Union Square to Van Ness and Market Sreet to Geary in the north. (While visiting stores on Market Street I watched some junkies across the street shooting up. They dispersed when one of the group noticed me observing.)

Duluth's vice trade was a well-known piece of Northland lore. Grandma's Saloon and Grill was formerly a brothel in this "red light" zone. Canal Park housed our own Tenderloin District. The term "tenderloin" refers to a choice cut of meat, a symbol of the wealth associated with illicit income from vice activities. Figuratively it signifies an area where one can indulge in forms of entertainment on the edge or beyond legal bounds.

One of the streets in Canal Park, called "Whiskey Row," purportedly had 22 saloons and brothels. The Twin Ports (Duluth and Superior) was one of the most active inland ports in the world, hence the preponderance of transient workers and sailors who these facilities catered to. 

For some eye-opening stories about vice and crooked cops, check out Nevada Bob Gordon's 50 Years with the Wrong Woman. 

Photo: Creative Commons 2.0 -- Flickr

Money: What's It Really All About?

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,when the splendor of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies. --Psalm 49:16

Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

When I read this passage yesterday a number of thoughts crowded mind simultaneously. One thought was about how people tend to envy the rich, as if they have no troubles, and how much easier our lives would be if we were rich. Another idea was how easily people have been manipulated to hate the rich. 

It's character, not money, that counts. Wealthy people can be jerks or they can be very generous. The same applies to those who are poor or middle class. Ironically, rich people can also be envious of those who are richer, which is weirdly sad to me. How much is enough? I suppose for some folks the size of your bank account is the measure of all things, rather than how generous you have been.  

The third thought I had was to assemble a blog post made of quotes about money, which I've done here. As with most things in life, there are many different ways to look at a thing.

"Money makes the world go round."
--Joel Gray, Cabaret

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"Money is the source of the greatest vice, and that nation which is most rich, is most wicked."
--Frances Burney, 1768

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"If money is all that a man makes, then he will be poor — poor in happiness, poor in all that makes life worth living."
--Herbert Casson

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"To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it."
--G. K. Chesterton

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"Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody"
--Agatha Christie

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"They tell you time is money as if your life was worth its weight in gold.
All the money you make will never buy back your soul."
--Bob Dylan, When You Gonna Wake Up 

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"Money often costs too much."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"A feast is made for laughter
and wine makes life merry,
but money is the answer for everything."
--Ecclesiastes 10:19

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"Money is only a tool in business. It is just a part of the machinery. You might as well borrow 100,000 lathes as $100,000 if the trouble is inside your business. More lathes will not cure it; neither will more money. Only heavier doses of brains and thought and wise courage can cure. A business that misuses what it has will continue to misuse what it can get."
--Henry Ford

EdNote: This applies equally to governments and individuals.

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"The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money."
--Ben Franklin

* * * 

"Your lovin' gives me such a thrill
but your lovin' don't pay my bills.
Give me money, that's what I want."
--Gordy Berry / Bradford Janie

* * *

"Lost money is wept for with real tears."
--Juvenal, Roman poet 1st century A.D.

EdNote: I think here of Tommy Wilhelm in Saul Bellow's Seize the Day.

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"Money plays the largest part in determining the course of history."
--Karl Marx

* * *

"Follow the money."
--All the President's Men

* * *

"My father told me that when you're working, don't stop to count your money."
--Pele

* * *

Everyone has to make up their mind if money is money or money isn't money and sooner or later they always do decide that money is money.
--Gertrude Stein

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