Sex in the 60's

The turbulent 60's ushered in 'Make Love, Not War', letting it all hang out, and free love. While sex had been around for years before, now it ventured outdoors for all to see. Body parts themselves moved past the peek-a-boo garments, to bare themselves anywhere. Sixties nudity spread itself like the sunshine it was presumed to be letting in -- and was just as natural.

If the bra, a symbol of literally tying women down & keeping them in their place, was burned to let breasts move freely; and afros, a sign of non-conformity & racial pride, were grown and shown with all the ego of an erect penis; what of the razor?

The razor, a sign of proper grooming, must have rusted in a lonely corner of the medicine cabinet, as the 1960's were an era that from a photrapher's point of view had more dense tangled bush than an African safari.

While the hippie love children let it all hang out, they displayed and splayed themselves au natural and at Naked Hippies you can see plenty pictorial evidence.

To put it bluntly, the 60's was about graphic exposure of the real human body.

In fact, often the photography itself was blunt, with photos taken to show it all rather than to leave anything to imaginations. While healthy in terms of acknowledging human sexuality, body acceptance and the like, as 'art' it was a vast contrast to the nude images available prior to the 60's. Before this, most photographs of nudes were limited to artsy teasing pinups or coy poses. Even the publications put out by nudist organizations which had completely nude people, were airbrushed to show Barbie & Ken genitalia.

In the 60's we exchanged tease and delicacy for in-your-face nudity, flaws and all. Culturally, like children seeing boobs or penises for the first time, we sat enthralled, feeling blessed for the opportunity. As we'd grow, we'd demand more -- and in the 70's we'd get it, with full-length adult feature films: The Golden Age of Porn.

For editorials on the 1960's (and a strange image of a topless Nixon), see Sex By Decade: 1960's.

Magazines Under The Bed

"That box of magazines isn't porn, it's my collection, honey!"

Virtually every skin mag has it's collectible value, even new publications such as Stuff & Maxim are collecting fair prices for back issues. But nowhere is this more true than with Playboy Magazines.

Playboy began with $600 of Hugh Hefner's own money and an investment of $6000 begged or borrowed from anyone who would stand still long enough to listen to "a new idea for a men's magazine." The first issue of Playboy magazine was produced on a kitchen table in Hef's South Side apartment.

That first issue, featuring the now-famous calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe, was on newsstands in December 1953. It carried no cover date because Hef was not sure when (or if) he'd be able to produce another. However, that first issue sold more than 50,000 copies, enough to pay for itself and to finance another issue. And now it's a sought after collector's item.

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. describes itself;f as "a brand-driven, international multimedia entertainment company that publishes editions of Playboy magazine around the world; operates Playboy and Spice television networks and distributes programming via home video and DVD globally; licenses the Playboy and Spice trademarks internationally for a range of consumer products; and operates Playboy.com, a leading men's lifestyle and entertainment Web destination."

Unlike Coke, Playboy items are not just some corporate collectible, a sign of capitalistic pride, or some 'remember when' born of a nostalgic desire to look back at how great the good ol' days where. Neither are Playboy collectors just folks who like pretty, scantily clad women. Many Playboy collectors feel a part of the legacy. Some even feel their collections are preserving history.



In an interview with Bob Garfield Gay Talese said:

"Hefner in, in the 1950s introduced into Middle America a sense that women with their clothes off belonged in our lives and they were okay -and that was the big thing, in the beginning at least, of Playboy's contribution to popular culture."

Playboy, and Hefner himself, represent the end of an era of repression.

Those of us who despise censorship as much as we do repression also agree with what Talese said next:

"What it did was bring to the jury system a diminution of shocked by nudity, because they'd seen so much of it. All that nudity that Playboy extended into small towns and, and restricted areas and into home life -- it gave a kind of a, a sense of being blase toward the nude female form so that when they, in pornography cases, voted whether to or whether not to punish a person who was brought up on charges of obscenity, they tended to acquit rather than convict."

But perhaps the number one reason why folks keep buying Playboy merchandise is loyalty. Seldom does a publication (let alone a giant coporation) exude as much charm as its founder, yet Playboy does seem to embody the spirit of Hugh. What other company would dare to put the number one joke about itself on its merchandise?



Playboy is cheeky, naughty, self-deprecating, and sure to make you smile.

There are almost as many reasons to collect Playboy items as there are number of folks doing it. And so many folks are collecting, there's even a Playboy Collectors Association.

Started by Tom Bonner in 1987, the Playboy Collectors Association exists to help promote the hobby and give information to collectors on buying and selling Playboy Memorabilia. They specialize in Playboy memorabilia from the catalogs, clubs, casinos and magazines from 1953 through 1955. The PCA will help try to help connect collectors and dealers. Folks who have questions regarding selling their early issues or Playboy Memorabilia can write to the association. Use the same contact for information on joining the Playboy Collectors Association, receiving the PCA newsletter, and buying other guides. (All enquiries should include a self addressed envelope.)

Virtually all Playboy magazines are sought, researched and collected. Playboy Covers of the World is the most complete Playboy magazine cover reference site on the Internet, with 5,095 Playboy® magazine covers from all over the world. But most of what the Playboy empire produces can bequalifiedd as collectible.

One of the most treasured and romanticized times of the Playboy kingdom are The Bunny Years -- the era of the Playboy Clubs. Folks collect memorabilia from the clubs and casinos such as barware, Bunny costumes, signatures, etc. In fact, there may be more Playboy Club memorabilia around than you think.

(As for the former Playboy Club Bunnies themselves, you can find them at their website.)


For the collector who may not be able to afford authentic vintage Playboy memorabilia, there are 'new' items.

While these items are more common than vintage Playboy items, they do have & hold their values.

These items may be cheaper than bidding on vintage collectibles, but Beware: Collecting Playboy items is addictive.

Some collectors go for the women -- collecting photographs, Centerfolds of the Century Collector Card Sets (or other Playboy collector cards), DVDs, publications etc.

Another popular area for Playboy collectors are licensed items. These items are often called 'lifestyle' items as their pupose is to allow the owner to identify with the Playboy lifestyle.

In this area, along with clothing and lingerie, there are Barware items, jewelry, bobbleheads, figurines, lighters, and even Playboy Pinball Machines.

(Good luck hiding that last one under your bed.)

Having just past it's 50th Anniversary, here's a toast to another 50 years of Playboy.

I wonder what they'll make next. And I wonder where we'll all have to move our collections to...

White Slave Trade Sex Films

The first American feature-length sex film was Traffic in Souls (1913) (aka While New York Sleeps).

Made in 1913, Traffic was a "photo-drama" expose of white slavery. As a the turn of the century production, the director, George Loane Tucker, treads the line between sexpolitation and public service message. As the film guides viewers through various dens of iniquity in New York City, which certainly has provocative footage, the story includes the processes of crime detection, and the mandated climax of pure values as the police work to bust the white slavery rackets.

At the time of its release, the motion picture was controversial in many ways. Obviously, there was the whole issue of its daring to address prostitution and sex. And while the nervous producers did much to bill this as a warning message to citizens, a 'true crime' vice film, the advertisements promised steamy sex.

Due to the advertisements & the content of the film itself, there were obscenity charges & ensuing problems, of course, but perhaps more important, was the public reaction.

This was not only due to 1913, and Victorian era thinking, for film was a new medium & 'new' brings its own issues.

There was much concern as to the role of film in lives of Americans. Full length films signaled the end of the Nickelodeon, and the beginning of, well, who knew what. Of major concern was the film viewer itself. While the Nickelodeon was for men and boys, if motion pictures were to survive, they would need the approval of women.

With Traffic, worlds collide.

As DeeDee at Sex-Kitten writes in her review of Movie-Struck Girls: Women & Motion Picture Culture After the Nickelodeon (by Shelley Stamp):

In the early 1900's, the most popular films were vice films, & in the teens, a major societal concern was The White Slave Trade. Sensational white slave films were made during this time, to warn folks of the dangers to their women. Conflicting with the as-billed-educational-films messages, cinemas brought women-folk out into public where they could easily fall prey to such ills as the white slave trade. Debate centered around the irony. Other debate focused on the films themselves, and censorship issues were raised. And to make matters worse, women seemed to enjoy such films! Oh, how could such tender beings watch & enjoy such lewd filth such as scenes from brothels?!

Victorian purity meets a changing culture head-on with the new medium of film. Culturally, the film stood as point of debate. Historically, we know what happened, and the dialogues which continue. As a film, Traffic in Souls was one of the first films to prove that 'sex sells' and it served as a tipping point, encouraging, with its sales, more films like it.

After Traffic there would be more shocking 'truth' films with the same theme of the horrors of prostitution -- with all the same combination of message, melodrama and sexploitation. These films include The Inside of the White Slave Traffic (also in 1913), Damaged Goods (1914) and The Sex Lure (aka The Girl Who Did Not Care, 1916).

In fact, the trend continues today, with Lifetime's miniseries, Human Trafficking. But this conversation over today's historical parallels in sex, obscenity, and alarming the public, well, I'll leave that to others.

If all of this intrigues you, and how can it not, you may also be interested in reading Mother of Truth by Ivan Abramson.

Mother of Truth, subtitled "A Story of Romance and Retribution Based on the Events of My Own Life", was published in 1929 and is fiction by director Abramson. Abramson was a Russian born film director and writer of over 56 Hollywood films, including many pre-code productions such as The Sex Lure. While fiction, Mother of Truth is fascinating reading for fans of film.

Candy Barr

Candy Barr passed away. Here are links to two newspaper articles on her life:

Dallas News

Orlando Sentinel

You'll notice that the press mentions a book of poetry by Candy, but she has several books listed at Amazon.

And here are some galleries devoted to Candy:

Image Makers Gallery

Java's Bachelor Pad

Legendary Pinup Photographer

You may not recognize his name, or his title as "the discoverer of Marilyn Monroe" -- but chances are you recognize the work of Bruno (Bernie) Bernard. Famous portraits include Lili St Cyr, Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Anita Ekberg, Jayne Mansfield, Brigitte Bardo, Elvis & Marilyn Monroe's infamous white dress photos from 'The Seven year Itch'.

Bruno Bernard escaped Nazi Germany, came to the USA, and with little funds, began his studio in his apartment basement. From such humble beginnings, Bernard eventually become one of the top photographers of Hollywood.

His daughter, Susan Bernard, now runs the family business, which in part is protecting & preserving the legacy of Bernard Studios. She has written a collector's book on her father's pinup photography called Bernard of Hollywood: The Ultimate Pin-Up Book.

The Bernard of Hollywood Pinup Collection is amazing, not only for the beauty of the women, legendary or not, but because of his style. In some senses traditional 'pinup' photography, his work transcends time much like his models: True beauty is timeless.

History of the Blue Movie

A History of the Blue Movie is an historically significant movie.

Explicit in nature, the film features Alex de Renzy's private collection of hardcore stag movies, burlesque film clips, famous strippers & pinups, peep show footage and rare vintage erotica from the earliest days of the motion pictures - up to the classics adult films of the 70's.

While the film is erotic & many watch it for it's pure, or rather impure entertainment value, the film's intentions not so clear. The film's status is often debated: Is it a documentary, or a quasi-documentary?

Made in the 70's, when the public showing of such adult films was in the major markets, A History of the Blue Movie is often viewed as using a message of 'social redemption' simply to get past the censors. With no real plot, and no doubt a marketing push, the film was considred, at the time, an "authentic documentary" and as such, rated as One the Year's Best by the New York Times:

'Blue Movie' is a model of it's type, informative, honest, titillating.

However, as the review continues, it muddies the waters:

It gives the audience what it paid to see. Candy Barr is surely the most beautiful performer in the history of the Blue Movie.

Obviously, the reviewer was well entertained. And perhaps even the review's lable of "authentic documentary" was used to get by the paper's censors as well...

But as I said, the movie stands as historically relevant, for it's place in time. A time when American's wanted their smut on the big screen, when producers did as well, and their were games afoot to make sure movies could titillate as well as be shown. And it's a damn fine collection of vintage erotica too.

Get the DVD, or download to watch, and let me know what you think it is.

Adult Movie Posters

For fun, Adult and Exploitation Movie Posters from the 1960s and the early 1970s. And from similar years, here's a gallery of X-Rated Adult Movie Posters

The Historian of Porn

Sam Stetson passed away. Known as the Historian of Porn, Stetson did research for Jim Holliday's book Only the best: Jim Holliday's Adult Video Almanac and Trivia Treasury

He will be missed.