I sometimes wonder if the articles on exercise, art, and other topics were meant to be
genuinely informative or were just a cover for the fact that the magazine was pitched to gays.
Possibly both, I suppose. On the other side, we have some ads for French briefs, back issues,
and a toga that could double as a beach towel. The toga vendor was Artcraft which was also
a photo studio. They probably sent out a beefcake catalog with every toga order, lol.
Mr Lon's advert for French Briefs is proof positive that much of the more adventurous male underwear of the time was sold by mail order and manufactured for gymnasia and private designers. This eventually spilled over into competition bodybuilding. Having split my time between England and France as a boy, I can quite assure everyone that whatever the international reputation, Frenchmen were not, at the time, wearing briefs of this design!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping you'd comment on the undies ads, Julian. Thanks!
DeleteIf you look at old Pathe news reels from Europe (look-up male fashions 1951 on you tube) and some 1950s movies (like Wet Asphalt w/ Horst Buchholz) you will see some swimwear similar to those French briefs. I had relatives in France at that time (My Spanish grandfather's siblings, thanks to Franco and the Spanish Civil War) And though some Frenchmen would wear regular shorts, others were quite daring to say the least in the swimwear department.
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