Gay Ads Day

Today I'm featuring some gay ads over the decades, starting with this one for the Club Baths' 

Buddy Day.  If you didn't arrive with a buddy, you probably would find one shortly.

 

Remodelers

Remodelers Burrill and Robin used a Calafran photo to promote their business.

I wonder if anyone insisted that they work nude as advertised?

 

Sage Sohier

For a moment I thought the man at right might be Tennessee Williams, but the photo is from a documentary series on same sex couples by Sage Sohier from the mid-1980s.

 

Eros Unbound

This montage was put together by artist Carl Morse after Gerhardt Liebmann's death from AIDS in 1989 at age 61.  It is composed of photos of gay men taken by Mr. Liebman between 1968 and 1980, mostly in New York.  The title is Eros Unbound, the Last Generation of Free Homosocial Men.

Enlarge this if you can and see the faces of our brothers, most of whom are gone.

 

Gold Coast

Here we have some 1970s men outside Chicago's Gold Coast bar.

 

6 May 1933 - Why we have so few issues of Der Eigene

This was taken in the offices of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish researcher and sexologist, 

on May 6, 1933.  Alarmed by the rise of nazism, Dr. Hirschfeld had left Germany 

in 1930 on a speaking tour, and he never returned.  Unfortunately, he did not 

remove his archives, and many of the items selected by the vandals 

for burning  shown above were back issues of Der Eigene.

Make no mistake.  There are people in power in the USA today who would love to do something similar.  Libraries around the country are under assault for circulating books and magazines that take an honest and open minded approach to sexuality. Vigilance, militance and resistance are required.  We can resist in many ways, but one of the most effective 

is reaching out to people close to us who may be wavering or silent

 in the face of the assault.  Do whatever you can.

 

1978

This 1978 photo is part of the Fire Island Pines Historical Collection.

 

First NYC Gay Pride

And of course Arthur Tress was there with his camera

at the very first New York City Gay Pride celebration.

 

Ernst Hildebrand

This is Article 175 by German artist Ernst Hildebrand, ca 1950.  The title refers 

to the part of the German criminal code which prohibited homosexual acts.

 

Musketeers

These Musketeers attended a Castro Street Halloween event in the late 1970s.

 

Men in Uniform

This is another 1970s San Francisco Halloween celebration.

A Boy Scout and a sailor have fallen in lust.

 

Roger Pegram and Frank Bushong

Way back in June, I posted a Gay Pride series that included a Thanksgiving dinner scene at the home of Rober Pegram and Frank Bushong.  That particular photo evoked the biggest viewer response ever to a gay history themed picture.  I promised a followup series and have been disgracefully tardy in getting it on, but today is the day.  Roger and Frank were a romantic couple from about 1949 to 1964, but I think they had an enduring love as they remained very close lifelong friends.We start with Frank's birthday party in June 1955.  

Everyone seems to be having a good time.

 

Nantucket, August 1955

We have quite a few photos of Roger and Frank on beach vacations.

This one is Brant Point, Nantucket in August of 1955.

 

Intriguing caption

This photo is one that I find quite intriguing.  My source listed the men as (l-r) "Member," Roger Pegram, and Bill Happ at Andover in October of 1956.  Member of what?  Circle of friends?  Some nascent gay rights group? Literary society?  I really want to know more.

 

Frank and Fred

Here we see Frank with Fred Brahms (right), a close friend of the couple.

No date or location was given, but they're having a good time.

 

1949 Fixer-upper

Although my source did not give the location, I like to think that like many young couples, Frank and Roger bought a fixer-upper as their first home.  That's Roger working on the screen door in 1949.

 

Provincetown

Provincetown was already a gay mecca when Roger was

 photographed there at Race Point on August 28, 1953

 

Kitchen

It was January 29, 1956 when this kitchen conference took place at Frank and Roger's 

Andover home.  Frank has his back to the camera while Roger expounds on something.  

Maybe he's trying to figure out who's going to wash all the dishes.

 

Professional

The only photo listed as professionally taken in my collection of Roger Pegram and Frank Bushong images is this one of Frank presumably at a beach.  I think it is beautiful.

 

Sense of Humor

Never let it be said that these guys didn't have a sense of humor.  Frank took 

this snapshot of Roger at the Burlington, Vermont city limits on August 15, 1954.