Imaginary lovers: Yours for six bits

Back in the early 1920s, a lousy seventy-five cents was enough to hire "skimpy-skirted sirens who twine their arms fondly around strange gentlemen's necks or cuddle cutely on their laps."
These pictures were taken at The Penny World Arcade located at 320 St. Lawrence Blvd. -- about where Chinatown is today.

  The Arcade also had mystics who could tell your future and other such fun,
The "pert little girl with the bobbed hair" was the star of the establishment "and the general favorite with the visiting gentlemen." To the right, this "bored looking male ... appears to be suffering from the weight of his temporary ladyfriend." Apparently, the place was a favourite with jilted guys, who sent the phoney-couple shots to their exes in order to convince them that they were doing just fine.