Ella Fitzgerald – "Love for Sale" (1956)

Love for sale

Who will buy?

Who would like to sample my supply?

During my most recent Cape Cod vacation, this Cape Cod Times story caught my eye:

90-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH SOLICITING PROSTITUTE

A 90-year-old Dennis Port man was arrested for soliciting a prostitute after reporting that she stole from him.

(Not the real Nicholas Salerno)

Nicholas Salerno paid Karen Proia, 48, of Route 28 in West Dennis, $100 on June 22 to perform a sex act, according to Orleans District Court documents.

He told police she used the bathroom in his house and he later noticed his necklace was missing.  He reported the alleged theft to police June 30, records show.

Police recovered the necklace at Bass River Coin, records state.

A police officer told Salerno he also would be charged with a crime, for soliciting a prostitute, to which Salerno responded, “I don’t give a (expletive). I’m 90 years old,” according to court documents.

Proia is charged with larceny and prostitution.  She and Salerno pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Tuesday.

If you're like me, you want to know exactly what sex act Mr. Salerno paid $100 for.  You also want to know exactly what expletive he used.

The answer to those questions can be found in a Dennis Police Department report that I located online.  Click here to read the report.

It's not clear from the police report whether Ms. Proia gave Mr. Salerno an AARP discount, or whether $100 is her regular fee for the specified service.

The comments on the Cape Cod Times article that were posted on the newspaper's website were pretty good.  

Here’s the comment that Phill B posted:

The American is 90 years old, and a female prostitue [sic] took advantage of this guy. The prostitue [sic] should be fined, forced community service, maybe thrown in jail.  Maybe.  Tired of the tax dollars wasted.  But No Refund for Services Rendered, or not Supplied!

(There’s a lot of food for thought in that comment, isn’t there?)

A reader named Alan Janssens had this to say:

Here is an example of when a law should be changed . . . Look at the rape and other sexual assault statistics in the U.S (I wouldn't send a daughter to most universities) . . . look a[t] the arrests for simple nudity at beaches.  U.S. culture breeds sex crimes online . . . prostitution . . . it's not illegal everywhere in the U.S. . . . and should be regulated like home nursing aides . . .  oooooops there I go again. 90 years old . . . you go boy !!!!!!

(I couldn’t have said it better myself.)

Finally, here’s a pithy comment from Jacob Aubel:

I love everything about this article.

As do I, Mr. Aubel . . . as do I.

* * * * *

Cole Porter wrote “Love for Sale” for the musical The New Yorkers, which opened on Broadway in 1930.

Not surprisingly, many people were scandalized by the song, which is sung by a prostitute offering “appetizing young love for sale” to any man who is “prepared to pay the price for a trip to paradise.”  

In response to the criticism, the show’s producers took the song away from the white singer who originally portrayed May the streetwalker and gave it to an African-American singer.  Problem solved!

The New Yorkers was based on a story by Ray Goetz and Peter Arno (a legendary cartoonist who created 99 New Yorker covers and contributed countless cartoons to the magazine).  It starred Jimmy Durante, who wrote all five of the numbers that he sang, and featured Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.  

Here’s Ella Fitzgerald's 1956 recording of “Love for Sale”:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: