Hand holding couples

Our theme for Wednesday is couple holding hands.  

This early 70's color number came to me with no information.

This Barrington photo of two unknown models holding hands is of his 

typical marginal picture quality, yet it still manages to pleas.

These two hand holders are unknown, as is the photographer.

Larry Carr and Tom Matthews are featured in this Kovert of Hollywood photo.

This AMG photo of an interracial couple uncharacteristically shows 

Bob Mizer's shadow in the lower right corner.

No matter where you are or how you celebrate it, I wish  you all a very 

Happy New Year from the Islands of Aloha!

New Years' Party Time!

One thing I've noticed since moving to Blogger from tumblr is that more of my viewers are European and Australian than before.  That makes the timing of holiday posts a bit tricky, especially on New Years.  Anyway, our theme for it has to be "party time."  We start with three hairy guys having fun.

Yes, people do celebrate New Years on the beach here in Hawaii.  These guys, however, are German naturists, or nudists to most Americans.

In an appropriate holdover from yesterday's defunct magazine theme, 

this is Philip from the January, 1971 edition of Vector.

While there's definitely some sort of party going on here, I strongly suspect that this was the set of a late 1960's porn film.  I mean, really, wall to wall beds?

OK, so we're having this sweet little party and everybody is getting really comfortable . . . except for the Mormon missionary at left.

Butch Magazine 1968

I recently mentioned having acquired a relatively large collection of scans of now defunct magazines from the late 1960's and early 70's.  That was when the U.S. obscenity laws were in the process of being liberalized, and a host of short lived magazines sprang up.  Today I am featuring Issue #13 of Butch Magazine from 1968, although I am pretty sure they didn't have 

that many issues.  This is the unnamed cover man.

Edited to add:  Thanks to Uncle Duke's Barn for pointing out 

in the comments that this is Jerome Thomas.

I included this page because it actually has some publisher's information, that being DSI of Burbank, California.  I wish the text were easier to read, but try to make it out as it is somewhat interesting.  And the young man's derriere is nice, too.  (Bill Corey)

This is Gerome Thomas.

Issue #13 of Butch Magazine devoted quite a bit of space to Tom Russell for obvious reasons, and so am I . . . this being accompanied in today's set by a twofer.

This is Bill Corey, and I can't tell if he's getting into or out of his pants.

 

Yes, I'm sure Tom was very successful and had lots of "friends."

Down the mines for Sunday, Part 2

Sticking with miners' showers (mostly) for our Sunday G-rated posts.

I always enjoy these "helping hands" shower photos, but I have to wonder 

why they didn't wash their faces first. 

I really like this photo of an older miner, plus there's an added bonus for you underwear fans.

There's probably an uncropped version of this photo somewhere that most of us would like to see.

These miners seem to be getting all cozy while enjoying a pre-shower smoke together.

Down the mines for Sunday

Miners in the showers is one of my favorite themes, so here we go with a set that includes a short GIF.  (I'll follow up later with some G-rated shower scenes in a second set.)  We start with some guys in a variety of positions and showering techniques.

These Dutch miners seem to have been caught off guard by a flash photographer, except for the guy at center who is staring straight at the camera man.  Credit:  Nederlands Fotomuseum

The miner in the foreground's face and feet seem to be most in need of a cleanup.  How did he get coal dust on his toes?  Don't they wear boots in coal mines?

OK, this GIF was almost certainly made after 1975, my cutoff year for vintage, but it was so cute, I just had to include it.  If anyone knows the source, please let me know, and I will credit them.  Edited to add:  Viewer Fabio sent me a note explaining that this scene is from a BBC documentary titled "The Last Miners" which aired in 2016.  Thanks!

These two haven't made it into the showers yet, but they are ready with dirty faces, soap, and a towel.

Norman Tousley

It's all Norman Tousley today on the blog.  He was a successful bodybuilder and prolific physique model who worked with a number of the best photographers of his era, including Denny Denfield, Russ Warner, Bob Mizer of AMG, Bob Delmonteque, and Dave Martin who took this photo.

Norm was a successful competitive bodybuilder for a time, and this magazine cover by Bob Delmonteque was from that period.  Delmonteque was a bodybuilder and model before he took up photography himself, having worked most notably for Douglas of Detroit.

Russ Warner did some body building magazine covers of Tousley in trunks plus some 

pretty good nudes.  This is my favorite. 

I find it odd that the only really good derriere photo I have of Norman Tousley is by an unknown artist.  I can't believe that all the great photographers who worked with him didn't manage 

to get some great shots of his very fine backside.

All five of my Denny Denfield photos of Tousley are in color, not unusual given that Denfield was known for his pioneering use of color in physique photography.

This is the only photo of Norm in my collection that is attributed to AMG.  I can't imaging Bob Mizer only taking one photo of this great model. so I need to get busy and find more.

No, you're not seeing double . . . or quadruple. And yes, I'm stuck in 19th Century mode today.

Our Friday art lesson is literally about art lessons, only with a twist this time.  I recently came across a large collection of 1870's French academic drawings and some of them showed two (or more) artists' take on the same model in the same session.  On the old tumblr blog, I posted several photos and even a painting or two of such sessions, but these are the first actual output from them that I can document, so I made these side by side composites to show them off.  We start with two 1876 renditions of a seated model by Coquelett (left) and Goldstein.

These two academic works from 1875 by Durand (left) and Thevenot show what I think are the two most contrasting parallel pieces of the series.  Despite being drawn from a very similar angle, Thevenot's version has a more narrow body and better formed legs.  The face is rather different, too.

And here we have double double with no less than four takes on the same model from an 1879 session.  I love the way these drawings show how a number of students around a large studio would record the model from different angles.  These are by, clockwise from the top left, Hierle, Lacaille, Leroy, and Lançon.

I've been wondering why they put the models arm in a strap for this one.  Was it to prevent fatigue in a long posing session?  And were the students so literal that they drew in the strap? 

These are by Girardet (left) and Quesnet.

These 1877 drawings from the same modeling session show differing versions of the subject's face.  They are by Lacaille (left) and Perdrielle.  Lacaille was apparently a student from at least 1877 through 1879 because one of his 1879 drawing is also featured in today's series.

Back to the Gay '90s

Heading back to the late 19th Century for today's posts, none of which I have any sort of real identifying information for.  Any help would be appreciated.  This guy looks like an athlete, and I did find him in a group of mostly, but not all, French photos.

Here we have a trio for the Bum Brigade.  

See today's other trio for my notes on the set from which they come.

This one is just silly, but why not?

This one is the second today from a series of at least half a dozen using the same models by an unknown (to me anyway) photographer.  Several Google Image searches only produced only some vague references to the 1890-1910 era and Classical representation.  Oh, well.

The only information that came with this one was "1890."  If he wasn't a boxer, he was doing a pretty good impession of one . . . or of a guy trying to look somewhat tough.

Mass Nudity All Male Extravaganza . . . Right here! Today!

It's mass nudity day, and we start with a group from a noteworthy series in my collection that I wish I knew more about.  Any info would be much appreciated.
Click or expand for larger image.

Just a few dozen naked guys wandering around on the lawn.

This was one of the more popular photos on the old blog.  I think they are Germans, but I'm not sure just what they are doing.  Four bashful fellows have their pants on.
Click or expand for larger image.

This is today's offering for the Bum Brigade, and it's part of a series I have that appears to be an outdoor nude mass free-for-all.  At least one other of today's photos is from the same group.

At first glance, I thought this was a military photo, but I'm not completely sure.  

Those clothes on the ground don't look much like uniforms to me, but I could be wrong.  

I've been wrong before . . . lots of times.
Click or expand for larger image.

The Brighton Swimming Club . . . in the Winter

The Brighton Swimming Club is known for its cold weather forays into the chilly waters of the English Channel.  (More than a few members have actually swum the Channel for that matter.)  Anyway, it's a bit chilly in Hawaii today, so here is some early 20th Century winter swim action for our Wednesday lagniappe G-rated series.  We start with this 1910 photo which included a dog.

This 1929 photo in the snow lists all the club members brave enough to have a go in the snow.