"The Imitation Of Life..."

Fifty years ago, before cable TV and before the internet and the plethora of gay themed depictions we enjoy today ranging from art to pornography, gay men had very few opportunities to see themselves. There were a few "physique" magazines, and from Europe, a few more explicit examples, but not a lot more.

However, if you were a gay man of means and owned a film projector, for about $10 (as much as a day's wages then), by mail you could order one of what at the time was a very limited number of suggestively titled films from companies with only a post office box for a business address which promised you something more...

By today's standards, "Cabin in the Woods" would not be considered even mildly pornographic. On any given day, you can expect to see as much flesh on television.  But for 1964, this "physique film" walked right up to (but thanks to the posing straps, not across) the pornography line, frustrating postal inspectors and titillating the imaginations of gay men watching in dark basements across the country.

By the arrival of the 1970s, much more explicit films would start to become available depicting every possible sex act imaginable, but there is something almost sweet and innocent about this film that has been lost forever to the passing of time.  This was the beginning... it's hard to believe that the gay pornography that one can find so freely available on the internet today started with this...

"Fear Eats the Soul"