Male street prostitutes solicited clients in specific areas which became known for the trade. Well-known areas for street “hustlers” have included: parts of 53rd Street in New York City; Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles;

Cypruss Street in Atlanta; Piccadilly Circus in London; “The Wall” in Sydney’s Darlinghurst; The Drug Store and Rue Sainte-Anne in Paris; Polk Street Gulch in San Francisco; and Taksim Square in Istanbul. Bars such as Cowboys and Cowgirls and Rounds in New York City, Numbers in Los Angeles, and certain go-go bars in Patpong, Thailand were popular venues where male prostitutes offered their services.

A table in Larry Townsend‘s The Leatherman’s Handbook II (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) which is generally considered authoritative states that a green handkerchief is a symbol for prostitution in the handkerchief code, which is employed usually among gay male casual-sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Wearing the handkerchief on the left indicates the top, dominant, or active partner; right the bottom, submissive, or passive partner. However, negotiation with a prospective partner remains important because, as Townsend noted, people may wear hankies of any color “only because the idea of the hankie turns them on” or “may not even know what it means”