Paul Andrews and ACME via Cambria

Canadian paratrooper Paul Andrews was an unlikely candidate to be a character in a pivotal moment in the history of free expression (and gay history, for that matter) in the USA.  Thanks to generous contributor and diligent researcher Cambria, we have a photo spread he did for ACME in 1967.  At the time, the legality of male frontal nudity in American publications was not fully established.  ACME shot both posing strap and frontal nudes, probably in hope of being able to use them all eventually. 

 So today, I'm proud to present some very good photos with a story behind them.

Many thanks to Cambria for his generous help and donation.

 

How'd they hold that up

This one left me wondering how they held up that posing strap.  

As you'll see later, that may (or may not) have been a problem.

 

Almost innocent

At first glance, Paul looks almost innocent here, but on closer 

examination we see the beginnings of an erection.  I wonder

how long they had to wait to publish this one.

 

Centerfold

This is Paul's centerfold with the artist's rendition of a paratrooper mentioned in the lead-in.

You'll see a fully nude version of this later, probably shot at the same time.  I have a feeling that was done while ACME was waiting to see how the legal environment sorted out.

 

Nicely tanned

We get a good look at Paul's suntan in this one.

 

Catalog Item

The numbering makes me think this may have been used in a sales ad or catalog.  It also 

a reminder of the tenuous nature of frontal nude legality at the time.  ACME made a nearly 

identical posing strap version of the same pose that we saw earlier in today's series.

 

Wardrobe malfunction?

This photo looks like Paul is trying his best to avert a wardrobe malfunction involving his posing strap.  Or is he symbolically taking it off?  Either way, it makes me like the photo even more.

 

Hockey or baseball

In the text lead-in to the Paul Andrews magazine piece, ACME indicated that he was 

a hockey player.  They then proceed to show him with a baseball bat, a broken Classical 

column, and Granny's bedspread.  Oh well, I guess they had to use whatever props 

were available at the time of the photo shoot.

 

And now that moment in history

This is the image that made Canadian Paul Andrews a figure in the history of free 

expression in the USA.  While it wasn't one of those instances where a single legal case

 overturned an entire system of law, it was part of a group of cases that made distributing

 male frontal nudes legal.  The uncropped original version is shown below.

My deepest appreciation goes out to Cambria for providing todays photos.

 

Leads and Leftovers from Larry

It's time for a military series, and all of today's photos were either contributed by Larry K or found though leads and links he provided me.  We start with some First World War American inductees getting showered.  There's a link to Larry's blog in the last panel of today's series.

 

Camp Devens

Here we have WWI inductees being examined for infectious diseases

 and "vermin" at Camp Devens (late Fort Devens) in Massachusetts.

 

Iraq 1917

These are British soldiers having a splash in what is now Iraq in World War I.

 

Captured facility

This US Army Signal Corps photo was taken at a delousing facility in Belgium 

that had been originally built and operated by the Germans.

 

Demobilization

Sgt. McGarrigle took this photo of US troops showering

 prior to being demobilized at the end of World War I.

 

Leyte 1944

Carl Mydans took this on Leyte in 1944.

 

Early Cold War

Fritz Goro took this photo of two technicians at the Bikini A-bomb test in 1947.

The one at right looks a lot like my high school science teacher.

 

Mydans I - Refugee

I cropped this from a larger scene of US military men alongside Korean civilians.  This elderly 

man has just crossed the river and is still casually walking nude from the waist down.  Others 

were covering themselves or getting dressed after the crossing, but he just moved along.

 

Rougier

Michael Rougier took this picture of US soldiers having fun in Korea, 1951.

 

Mydans Korea II

Our last military photo is another Korean War shot by Carl Mydans.

Many thanks to Larry K for his contributions.  See his blog at:

https://unashamedmale.blogspot.com/?zx=c8c5246be935601f

 

Seven Models in Seven Days, Part 7 - Keith Stephan

For the last day of our Seven Models week, we have Keith Stephan, who looks 

quite impressive against what looks like Bruce of LA's trademark corrugated metal 

background painted white.  Is this the original color or a later redo. 

 

Ranchito I

Bruce did a lot of Western themed work at a rural property he owned outside LA.  "Ranchito" was the term he used for it.  Keith Stephan has visible thatch creeping out of his posing strap here.

 

Ranchito II

This derriere photo may have been made at the same time as today's earlier "ranchito" shot.

 

September 1952

Keith Stephan posed for this magazine cover after he had placed in,

 but not won, several bodybuilding competitions.

 

Pat Milo

My source said this photo of Keith Stephan is by Pat Milo.

 

Frisby Ad

As you will see shortly, Lyle Frisby did photograph Keith Stephan frontally nude.  This catalog sheet, however, shows posing straps.  Are they drawn on?  I can't tell, even with enlargement.

 

By Lyle Frisby

According to the online auction site where I found this, it was photographed 

by Lyle Frisby, but printed and distributed later by Pat Milo.  You might have already 

noticed that it was not in the Lyle Frisby catalog page featured just now.

 

No photographer

I have no photographer attribution for this fine posing strap picture of Mr. S.

 

Quintessential Bruce

Here we get two trademark Bruce of LA elements, the sea grass floor mat and the corrugated

 metal backdrop.  Of course, Mr. Stephan would look pretty fine regardless.

 

Interesting strap

Our last photo of Keith Stephan features a type of posing strap that would 

not have been common, and I don't think they were making underwear like that 

in the early 1950s.  Or were they?  I'll defer to Calorman on that one.

 

Seven Models in Seven Days, Part 6 - Igout's Unknown Stocky Guy

Those of you who enjoy my frequent trips into 19th Century male nude photography will no doubt recognize this stocky, curly haired fellow.  He has appeared regularly here whenever I present the work of Louis Igout (1837-1881), a French photographer who produced albums of nude models for students and artists who couldn't afford life models.  Chances are that this man was hired on a short term basis and didn't make his main living this way, but he still gets attention, and today is his day.

 

Wrestling

About a third of the photos I have of this model show him paired up with another unknown 

for a series of duos that featured wrestling, fighting, Classical scenes, and simple acrobatics.  

I think this is wrestling, but I could be wrong.  I've been wrong lots of times.

 

Staff

I think every series of this type has an obligatory 

photo of a model with a staff, so here it is.

 

Self check

Our guy looks like he's checking himself out here.

 

Beefy bottom

I posted this several years as part of a composite, but it's the 

best derriere view I have of this model, so here it is again.

 

Brutal

This brutal little number shows our hero about to get walloped

in a position I don't think I've seen anywhere else.

 

Hear no evil

Igout provided our model with a nice little kneeling pad

for this photo which reminds me of "Hear no evil."

 

Fuzzy

This image is from a group that I have seen exactly one time on line,

and although the image quality isn't the best, I like it.

 

Classical

Someone who is a better student of the Classics than me will have to identify this scene.

I'm sure it relates to some ancient myth or legend, but I don't know which.

And I have to say that our model and his partner both look great here.

 

A last favorite

The last picture in today's Igout series, like the first, is one of my personal favorites of this model.   Chances are that his modeling was a one off event in which he was hired for a few days, but people are still looking at him and paying large sums of money for his photos almost 150 years on.

Is it still immortality when it's anonymous?

 

Seven Models in Seven Days, Part 5 - Whatever happened to Bill Derrick

William Robert "Bill" Derrick was born in 1928 in a farmhouse outside Ben Wheeler, Texas.  After high school, he did a tour in the U.S. Navy where he took up bodybuilding. Bill used his GI Bill benefits to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, earning a B.S. in Engineering in 1952.  During that time he won the Mr. Fort Worth title, and was runner up for Mr. Texas.  After graduation, he got a job with Todd Shipbuilding in Long Beach, California.  After arriving in the LA area, he posed for Bob Mizer of AMG for the photo above, but he moved on from there quickly, it seems.

 

By Bruce

This artfully draped rendition of Mr. Derrick is the first of three photos by Bruce of LA in my collection.  Despite having a desk job as an engineer during his time in Los Angeles-

Long Beach, he stayed in great shape.  Must have gone to the gym a lot.  

 

Full length

In the second of my three Bill Derrick photos by Bruce of LA, he is posed standing up against a wooden fence.  Despite his obvious success at bodybuilding, I could find no record of him having entered any of the numerous competitions in the LA-Long Beach area.

 

Almost a derriere shot

I don't know if Bill Derrick was simply extra modest, or if none of the three physique photographers he worked with ever thought to do a complete derriere view.  This Bruce item is a close as we get.

 

1959 Business News Photo

Bill Derrick's employer, Todd International Shipyards, thought enough of him to have this 1959 photo made and published in several West Coast newspapers, as well as Bill's hometown paper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  The reason was to announce his promotion and transfer to the company's San Francisco division.  It was there that he teamed up with Dave Martin.

 

The Dave Martin Photos

It isn't known how Bill Derrick connected with Dave Martin once his job transfer took him 

to San Francisco, but many think that Mr. Martin's photos are the best images of our model.  

I'm presenting five of them today and saving more for a later set.  In these, Bill is very 

tanned and quite a bit beefier than previously.  Works for me!

 

Head to toe

Mr. Derrick looks good from head to toe here,

and I don't even mind the oil.

 

Artistry

Although I don't know what the "furniture" is here, Dave Martin put it to good use

 in posing Mr. Derrick.  The contour lines and muscles all work together quite well.

 

Grace and strength

This Dave Martin photo of Bill Derrick shows how bulk, strength, and grace can 

somehow all exist in the same space.  A few years after this was made, Bill left his 

San Francisco job in shipbuilding to manage an air freight terminal here in Hawaii.

 

Later in life

After moving to Ventura County in 1976, Bill Derrick and his wife Datha founded 

a highly successful real estate brokerage.  He passed away in 2009 at age 80, 

and his obituary prominently mentions his bodybuilding, but not his modeling.