Musical accompaniment: Where Did You Sleep Last Night? by Leadbelly.
I’m fascinated by opium dens. There’s something so mysterious about them. They disappeared in the early twentieth century and they’ll never return. I’m always interested when I come across a picture like this 1915 autochrome of an opium den in Vietnam, taken by Albert Kahn.
Musée Albert-Kahn
It’s a beautiful picture with vivid colors: The room is spacious, the floor looks sparkly clean, and natural light is streaming in an unseen window. A lone woman in lovely kimono is lying on the floor next to an opium pipe.
If I owned an opium den, I would probably use a picture like this as an advertisement. But if I was taken to visit an opium den and ended up in this place, I would feel massively let down. It doesn’t look at all like a proper opium den.
In my imagination, at least, opium dens are dark, seedy establishments reached via an alley or the back of a nondescript shop. They’re windowless places filled with blue smoke and beautiful rugs. They have little cloistered alcoves hidden behind heavy ornate curtains. Opium dens should be populated with sinister characters and emaciated people who can’t awaken from their dreamless sleep.
An NYC opium den
Two women passed out in an alcove at an NYC opium den
A San Francisco opium den, circa 1890
San Francisco opium den
Going back to Albert Kahn’s picture, I just don’t believe that was a legit opium den. It looks like a fancy spa that has an opium den-themed room where you sip herbal tea between your facial and manicure appointments.
old spirituals 
Our experiences create “filters” through which we think about things. Those “filters” influence our behavior and our imagination. My imagination of an opium den is the same as Kimberly’s . . . . “dark, seedy” places. I suspect that has a great deal to do with the images we have of today’s “crack house” seen in movies, TV, etc. It is possible that some opium dens were “classy” places. Could Albert Kahn have stumbled on to one?
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It’s fair to say my romanticized view of opium dens is highly influenced by books and movies!
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I doubt Vietnam had anything like that. It was probably a “set” for the photographer. From what my husband and my Vietnamese hair stylist told me about Vietnam, it’s not like that. Weren’t the French in control of Vietnam at the time of this photograph? Maybe that den was for the upper class at that time. It just wasn’t like that in the 1960’s or 21st century when my hair stylist went back with a friend. She couldn’t wait to get back home to the USA.
I’ve always thought those dens to be dirty, rat infested places. The addiction is so sad. Now our addicted people are found on the sidewalks, quivering from need of more drugs and some dying on the sidewalks. (I’ve personally seen these two instances, New York City and Venice Beach, CA). I have no tolerance for those who traffic people or drugs. I’m off my soapbox now!!!
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I agree about the drug addicts on the street. Logically I know that opium dens, if they still existed, would be part of the same culture. But in my mind they are romanticized somehow. And I absolutely think this picture is a portrayal of something rather than the real thing. The idea of a clean and sunny opium den is absurd!
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An opium den-themed room in a spa! 😂
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Right? I knew that wasn’t legit 😂
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