Vintage Season 12 - It stands out a mile

In my last post I commented on the improbable shape of the G-string bulge of the first model, rather top-heavy I thought. We also saw how some of Champion's Pouches seemed to be enlarged using some sort of insert to either enhance or replace the model's own natural assets*. 

Rod Bauer - Champion

'

This example displayed on Rod Bauer is beguiling to say the least, but the positioning of his cruet set pieces relative to his body and to each other doesn't seem quite right to me. They seem to be defying gravity, even allowing for the bagged-up effect as the fabric is drawn together round the back of his balls. Which is not to say it isn't sexy, even that bunching up between the balls has an erotic power. Indeed, the whole process of getting the model to pose wearing the unwieldy contraption is distinctly mitchmen-esque. In that context, Rod's smile could be interpreted as less than enthusiastic.

 *You might find it surprising that cock-shaped pouches were permissible in Champion's output, but towards the end of the 60's the censorship rules were gradually disappearing, in the US at any rate. (There's an interesting article about this at Bob Mizer -  Legalisation of nudity). Also, daring publishers constantly explored what they could get away with. In the UK, the only way to find that out was by publication. Thus, censorship was self-imposed to a considerable degree by retail outlets and publishers themselves, in order to avoid the attentions of the Police who monitored outlets and were tipped-off sometimes by outraged members of the public. 

 

In the 50's, Royale in the UK became notorious for their use of real servicemen and were eventually stamped out by repeated police raids to confiscate material and by prosecutions. The effectiveness of this process of suppression depended on how much effort the Police could put in (which was a surprising amount during the 50's) but it was still somewhat random. Checking what was going through the mails direct to customers was even more difficult.

.-

Brian Idol - AMG

 -

 In this environment I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that studios sought to enhance their models for their customers and by a delicious irony the posing pouch, the embodiment of censorship, actually freed them to do so by hiding what is actually there. This AMG example plays safe by not trying to suggest a detailed shape, just showing bulk with some sort of cloth padding. At least I think it's padding - Brian Idol was not exactly short-changed by nature! I tried to look up other images of him wearing this pouch from a different angle, but much to my surprise, the vast majority of pictures that came up were nudes. 

 

Exaggeration or no, it surely carried its own risk of disapproval from moral guardians. Trials back then were more subject to a Judge's whims than nowadays. But the question is, does it look erotic? I'm not sure that it does, but I am sure there are plenty who are into 'size' in this department who think it does. Being well-endowed anyway, I imagine he must have felt a bit insulted, supplementing it with fakery!

-

 

Is it or isn't it? You can make a case for the downward pointing cock explanation here, but that rounded curve doesn't seem to extend back to his abdomen the way it should. This mound is almost a codpiece in its own way, rigid and prominent. 

 

How did they get away with it? Well, maybe they didn't, this is quite a rare picture. 

I suppose the defence might be that it couldn't be mistaken for an erection but even so...!

-

 

I don't know this model or his Studio, but the pouch seems almost identical in style to the last image, it could easily be from the same stable. I can't get the image of tennis balls out of my head looking at this picture. It seems clear that this is a case of what you see is not what you get, but it's still an attractive presentation. It seems to work better on this man's chunkier frame, but then I'm easily persuaded by a cute face and spiky hair in any era. You can imagine this shy, young man doing what young men do - study, sport, hobbies. Dressing him up in a G-string, the uniform of erotic daring, has a strangely arousing effect.

 

 Projection is the name of the game in this picture too but with added bulk. This another well known, popular photograph and rightly so, a fact which seems to argue against my thesis that these quirky G-strings are bad for the image of the garment. In fact, many of the images I have used in this series of posts are outstandingly erotic and pleasurable despite the odd manipulations employed. The cropping and tinting of this picture echoes that of a similar unnamed image I used in post no 4. The G-string is completely different, however. Probably it's by WPG.

-

Joe Kronsberg - WPG

-

A beautiful pose by a beautiful man. What marvellous legs! In this image, WPG push the projecting pouch into new territory, giving it a distinct pointed shape. It doesn't look at all 'real', but it's pyramid/arrow-like shape seems like a tasteful, artistic symbol of manhood and desire. However, its tip appears to be actually touching the rock below, and Joe seems to be lowering himself onto it as one would onto a lover. So what appears at first sight to be an artistic Grecian idyll with an added dose of healthy 'enjoyment of nature' turns out to have subversive erotic undertones of a kind that the Greeks themselves would have appreciated.

-

 

Spike Adams (R) + unidentified model

-

Spike's round-fronted G-string resembles that of 3 pictures back, but his companion's is like a deflated version of Joe Kronsberg's pyramid immediately above. Its fabric looks like tent canvas, but his tent pole looks like it might be the real thing, to give credit where it's due. The models face away from each other, proudly sporting their projections. Relatively innocent except it prompts the viewer to imagine, and desire to see, the image where they turn to face each other.

I believe this is an AMG picture, it has that casual air and the oily bodies suggest a bout of wrestling might be on the cards. If you look up pictures of Spike on search engines, you will find him wearing an extraordinary array of garments quite unlike anything known to us today.

-

Dennis White by Royale Studio (not Scott of London*)

 

Dennis White shows us another fine, rangy set of legs. You can see here how the high positioning of his seemingly-insignificant side string helps to define and enhance that length. WPG played the same card in the picture of Joe Kronsberg above, but it's not quite so obvious there.

I showed a companion picture to this image in Post No 8, but the projection of the pouch and its profile was not fully apparent there. Never one to shirk a challenge, Royale not only subtly outlined the different components of White's tackle, they showed the villain pointing upwards. Gulp!

This rather modest hint of the true nature of a man's organs (especially mild when compared with the Wally Grimme explicitness in Post No 8) makes you realise just how emasculating the flat curving G-string shape is to the models' that wear it, even the projecting ones.

 

*My source originally named this photo as being by Scott, but in retrospect (Jan 2025) I can see he's perched on Royale's trademark square column, which appeared in almost every solo series they published. See Royale Studio blog. Having said that, I am increasingly wondering whether there was a connection or collaboration between Royale and Scott.

-

In this image the G-string fabric has taken on the model's body tones and it seems to underline that desexualising effect. He's a handsome man (thanks to my reader who named him as Mike Magione - see comments below). He's sporting another well-filled pouch, legitimate or not I cannot say, but the spark of masculinity is missing and his facial expression and open arms seem to speak of that loss.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1