Philatelic References

The First Wave: 1904-1915
• 1904, Morley. Catalogue of the Revenue Stamps of South America. This listing of the 1894 stamp seems to be the first philatelic reference to servicio sanitario stamps.
• 1915, Forbin. Catalogue de Timbres-Fiscaux. Forbin provided the first comprehensive listing of the stamps, describing the issues from 1894 to 1914.

The Second Wave: 1991-1995
• 1991, Barata. The Cancellations on the Prostitute Sanitary Inspection Fee Stamps of Rosario de Santa Fe. Paolo Barata's article is the first I've found that explains the purpose for which the servicio sanitario stamps were intended and describes the various cancellations in detail.
• 1992, Lowe & Akerman. Argentina—Servicio Sanitario, with an Addendum on Cancellations
• 1993, Barata. Additions to The Cancellations on the Prostitute Sanitary Inspection Fee Stamps of Rosario de Santa Fe
• 1994, Triggle. Sanitary Inspection Fee Stamps of Rosario, Argentina (exhibit pages from 1994 Ropex show)
• 1995, Akerman. Argentina—Rosario Servicio Sanitario. A follow up to the 1992 article with material from the first issue.
• Akerman Exhibition Collection of Medical Examination Stamps. The Servicio Sanitario pages from Clive Akerman's Gold Medal Collections of the Revenue Stamps of Argentina.

Continued Interest: 1999-2010
• 1999, Riga. Red-light revenues from the city of Rosario. A very entertaining article from Stamp Collector magazine.
• 1999-2002, Akerman. The Revenue Stamps of Argentina, in five volumes. Volume V contains the servicio sanitario listing, which includes an extensive article by the late Donald Duston. Any serious sanitario collector needs a copy, just as any collector of Argentine revenues needs the entire five-volume set. The well-written books contain a almost overwhelming amount of information.
• 2009, Termini. Prostitute Revenue Stamps. A well-written introduction to sanitarios from a stamp club magazine.

General Philatelic Resources
• StampBoards. This bulletin board, founded and run by Australian dealer Glen Stephens, is undoubtedly the best place on the web for general philatelic queries. The membership is large, the expertise immense, and the helpfulness astounding. It's free, and even allows buying and selling.
• The Fundamentals of Printing Stamps By Lithography. This article by Les Molnar is part of his website about the stamps of Victoria. His description of process of creating a printing stone and printing stamps is clear and detailed. Stones for the sanitarios appear to have been produced by direct transfer, and some issues show evidence of squeezed transfers.

Non-Philatelic Sources

• Héctor Nicolás Zinni y Rafael Oscar Ielpi. Prostitución y Rufianismo. Homo Sapiens Ediciones, 2004. Originally published in 1974, this seems to me the single best source regarding the world that called forth the Servicio Sanitario stamps. It includes a great deal of information about the regulations, and this 4th edition even has a small appendix about the stamps. Unfortunately, this last section, though well-written and entertaining, is a summary of the state of knowledge 15 years ago.
• María Luisa Múgica. Cuerpos Fabricados en Reglamentos. Estudios Sociales, Revista Universitaria Semestral, 1997. This fourteen-page article outlines the obligations and prohibitions imposed by law upon the prostitutes of Rosario at the turn of the 19th century. This forms the basis of chapter three of her larger work, below. It includes tantalizing -- but incomplete -- information about the fees, and suggests (to my mind) the reason for the high denomination stamps.
• María Luisa Múgica. Saxo Bajo Control: La prostitución reglementada. Rosario enter 1900 y 1912. Editorial de la Universidad Naciónal de Rosario, 2001. Professor Múgica's work provides a detailed explanation of the regulations that included the fiscal stamps. With regards the sanitarios, the only shortcomings are that it doesn't include the full text of the laws — it does make frequent reference to them — and that it focuses on only a portion of the period during which the stamps were issued. It was published in an edition of only 500 copies, but is still available.
• Donna J. Guy. White Slavery, Public Health, and the Socialist Position on Legalized Prostitution. Latin American Research Review, Vol. 23, No. 3. (1988). This well-written and informative article provides an overview of the development of regulated prostitution in Argentina. Though focused on Buenos Aires, much of the information applies equally to Rosario de Santa Fe, where the system of licensed bordellos had a parallel history.
• Roberto Julio Gómez. La Prostitución En Argentina (1870 a 1940). This short paper — 33 pages — gives a good overview of the development of regulated prostitution in Argentina. The primary focus is on Buenos Aires, but chapter V deals with other cities. The discussion of Rosario focuses on café waitresses and explains why it was considered necessary to group them with licensed prostitutes. The article also explains the situation in Cordoba, and confirms that medical exams and libretas sanitarias were also required in that city.
• Donna J Guy. Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family and Nation in Argentina. University of Nebraska Press, 1995. The system of regulated prostitution that led to the Servicio Sanitario stamps existed in at least a half-dozen Argentine cities. This book provides an excellent background of both the legalities and the society which brought them into being. Though focused on Buenos Aires, the situation in Rosario is frequently mentioned. This is also one of few resources written in English.
• Madam Sappho. The most famous brothel in Rosario is now a hotel. Their website gives an idea of the luxury of the high-end establishments.
• Cuando el Safo se llamaba Paraíso. An article about Madam Sappho's from La Capital, one of Argentina's leading newspapers.
• La ciudad de los burdeles. The title -- The City of Brothels -- nicely sums up this article from a website about Barrio Pichincha, the neighborhood in Rosario where all brothels were located after 1913.