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.