DSI Shoulder Pads

This one is from Rugged, a small format 1967 magazine put out by DSI,

a pioneering gay publishing and merchandising company.

I have no name, alas, for the handsome model.

 

Joey Singer

Troy Saxon took this photo of Joey Singer for a DSI publication.

 

Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson gives us a double peekaboo in what may be a DSI photo.

 

Ray

I've posted photos of this handsome fellow in the past, and after some research and discussion, 

we came to the conclusion that he was known only as Ray and was photographed by DSI.

 

Joey Singer

The final image in our Troy Saxon is of Joey Singer.  My source reports that it was licensed

 by Mr. Saxon to pioneering gay entrepreneurs DSI for use in one of their publications.

 

The Tim T. Collection - Butch Magazine, Issue No. 4

By 1966 when DSI published the fourth edition of Butch, the legal status of male nude photography was in a state of flux across the USA.  As early as 1962 that great pioneer of expressive freedom and gay rights, Chuck Renslow of Kris Studio, had won a court case based on the fact that a nude photo he published had pretty much the same content as a Chicago museum piece.  That opened doors, but only in the parts of the country where the Chicago Circuit Court of Appeals had jurisdiction.  There was a confusing patchwork of legality when DSI put out the magazine that I am posting in it's entirety today.  There is full frontal nudity, but there are also posing strap photos, semi-nudes, and quite a bit of text justifying freedom of expression.  I consider this publication to be a pivotal moment in both Gay History and the history of freedom of expression.  I would not have this material were it not for the exceptional generosity of Tim T. who donated it to me.  Thanks a million, Tim!

 

Pgs. 2-5 - Opening Credits, etc.

The inside of the cover (page two) featured an ad for a leather bound collectors' book called 

The Greyhuff Review.  (I'm sure it left at least some of the viewers huffing.)  Page three was a 

sort of generic cover page.  When we get to page four we get the obligatory "Adults Only" bit 

along with some copyright (since expired) info and the name of the cover model, David, and 

the source, AMG.  The preliminaries end with some bareboned contents and a lofty creed.

 

Pgs. 6-9 - Editorial

The main body of the issue opens with this editorial followed by an ad for Tiger, a new DSI magazine that eventually was part of a deluge of such in the late 60s as nationwide reform took hold.  Notice that they were still calling it a "male nudist magazine" just in case the censors moved in.

 

Pgs. 10-11

DSI did not list the names of the models in this issue.  Perhaps it was too soon, given the legal complexities of the time.  They did, however, list the studios which produced the photos along with information on how to order specific models.  Oddly, even with the address information, I was not able to find any information on several of the photographers.  At right, we have a photo by Rod Crowther which I featured some time ago in a series with men on logs.

 

Pgs. 12-13

The guy at left by Plato reminds me of one of the models in the recent British Beef 

extravaganza, but Plato had a New York address. Lon?  I like the guy and the dog at right, too.

 

Pgs. 14-15

Galaxy was one of the marques used by John Barrington, and sure enough, DSI 

gave a London address for them.  I have never heard of Maclane Studios.

 

Pgs. 16-17

Rod Crowther provided Butch with the furry fellow at left.  He is in my Crowther collection, 

but I have no name for him.  DSI cropped out a posing strap for this magazine version.

 

Pgs. 18-19

The photo at right is by Manli.  Anybody know anything about them.

 

Pgs. 20-21

Big smile and a piece of driftwood.  I like them both.

 

Pgs. 22-23

Pat Milo puts in an appearance here with an unknown model.  I don't know who 

Lucky Pratt was, but those chains look more like a swag lamp than real bondage.

 

Pgs. 24-25 - Centerfold

Our centerfold isn't identified as to either model or photographer.

 

Pgs. 26-27

I'm left wondering if Arts Unlimited was an in-house marque of DSI because I can't 

seem to find them in the usual photographer databases.  Anyone know?  On the facing

 page is another mystery outfit called Times Square Models which, although mentioned 

by name in one database, has no photographer info available.

 

Pgs. 28-29

The right hand image is attributed to Kris, which is technically

 the studio involved, but the art work was done by the great Etienne.

 

Pgs. 30-31

Rod Crowther makes an appearance on the left,

and the right side is by Arts Unlimited.

 

Pgs. 32-33

These rather demure images were produced by the well known Mel Roberts (left) 

and Don Wight (right) who was also a talented artist who did erotic drawings.