Art by Holzman - Merchant Navy (revised)

Holzman - Merchant Navy 1

This Hussar advert in 'Fizeek' magazine in 1963 introduced a new artist to the gay scene, Holzman, with a 'playlet' about a nautical thief. The illustration shown is one of the opening images of the series showing the 'toughie' arriving on board the boat with his kit bag. You can tell he's tough because he's got a torso-revealing, open jacket (leather?) and a cigarette drooping from his mouth. You sense he's a man with attitude, although the cant of his head and squint here is what smokers do to keep their cigarette smoke out of their own eyes. In that respect this is a neat little piece of observation by Holzman, documenting a practice that's gradually dying out now. The tough is thoughtfully examining something that he's found, his seaman's papers perhaps, although I suspect it's a bottle  (see below). 

I have 15 of the advertised 16 images in this story but no information about their sequence and have therefore  simply numbered them in what seems to be the logical sequence based on continuity.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 2

The new boy climbs on board with a long, butt enhancing stride and a determined look on his face. 

The texturing of his jacket and jeans suggests they might be leather, which in the 60's was thought of as the uniform of wild bikers. However, the presence of turn-ups and the styling of the jacket with visible seams is more suggestive of denim, a more suitable material for working on a boat.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 3

Below decks, the toughie examines a bottle of alcohol which has a label promising serious gut rot. It's enough to make him drop his cigarette, which apart from being a breach of good manners, is liable to start a fire on a boat, a danger to life and limb. 

Despite these shortcomings in his character which we are learning about, he's portrayed as a sexy beast. The 'Latin look' was quite common iconography at the time and very exotic to UK eyes. The exaggerated fleshy lips and dark-rimmed eyes seem to be borrowed from female notions of sexual allure (regretably, for the image of gay men). A distinctive vocabulary for the male equivalent had yet to be developed (and probably wouldn't have been accepted by society at large anyway).

The straw-clad carafe of wine in the cupboard behind him is a nostalgic image from a less sophisticated era in the UK. You might also recognise the 'Heinz 57 Varieties' label on the tin on the bar, amazingly it hasn't dated in 60 years and I suppose the same is true of his fashion wear.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 4

In this image it seems that the new crewman has removed various articles to his cabin and is about to hide them in his kit bag, furtively concealing his actions from a member of the crew working on the deck just outside. It must be a hot day because everyone seems to be undressing. The enticing glimpse of flesh through the porthole is the calf of a crewman walking towards the left of the picture. 

You could be forgiven for thinking here that the glimpse of flesh has sparked an impromtu massage with the bottle or even that the thievery entailed drinking some of the liquor and then topping up the bottle with piss to hide the theft. This clever 'hidden eroticism' deserved to have escaped the attentions of the censors, because it's very nicely drawn picture, a neglected classic. 

The villain has become more Anglo-Saxon-looking in this image, but I think it is the same character. judging mainly by the turn-ups (see image 2) and the presence of the two tins from picture 3. The Latin look does return later but only in one special example.

The smoky effect at the left, by the way, is not the result of his dropped cigarette but a scanning effect. It has fortuitously added a nice texture of dappled light to an otherwise 'flat' image.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 5

The villain's activities are disturbed by the arrival of a 3rd crewman (also apparently wearing a leather jacket). He too starts to undress, whistling as though routinely changing into his work clothes, which judging by the porthole vision in the previous picture might consist of very few clothes indeed. The thief is horrified, presumably imagining he's about to be exposed - as a thief, according to the story line, or, in the more subversive sub-text, as a man who has problems with naked male flesh. 

Holzman's picture here copies classic, film noir imagery, with the unsuspecting innocent making himself ever more vulnerable to a hidden threat of which he's unaware. The hidden eroticism in this image surrounds the ambiguous interpretation of the bottle, angled just right to suggest the villain is getting other ideas about this new arrival. The coat hook just above his head provides a more graphic hint of what he might have in mind with the backing plate suggesting a tight fit could be his reward. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 6

This growing tension seems to be triggered into a full-blown crisis, by the arrival of a third man. He appears to be the skipper of the vessel, previously glimpsed through the porthole in picture 4 and now revealed to be dressed only in a cap, skimpy slip and sea boots (the last a worrying link to the label on the bottle!). At this point the undressing crewman has lowered his underpants. In fact they are nowhere to be seen, presumably lost in the folds of his jeans, unless they're ripped to pieces on the floor.  

The villain's reaction seems a bit over the top. In the story plotline he seems to think that his exposure as a thief is imminent and so goes into self-defence mode, smashing the bottle to use as a weapon 

(or it could be that he's suddenly revolted by the thought of having drunk it's contents!) 

Alternatively, in the delicious ambiguity that pervades this story, the young skipper's sexy appearance here offers an erotic explanation of the actions of the villain back in picture 4. His panicky reaction now is triggered by the rapidly accumulating male nudity and the sudden prospect that he might be about to witness something unspeakable going on between these two men, whom, we should remember, didn't know he was there until he announced himself by smashing the bottle. He might even be drawn into it, producing an explosion of a different kind.

There used to be a accepted legal principle of 'homosexual panic', i.e. a fear of being in imminent danger of being raped by a homosexual. This was advanced as a legitimate excuse for assaulting gay men and even killing them. In some cases the reaction hid the fear of having his own, secret, homosexual leanings exposed. This concept perversely confers on gay men, a power over straights that is erotically appealing, if entirely fanciful.

 Holzman's rendering of the hunky skipper is masterly but some severe cropping seems has gone on at the sides. It has spoiled the depiction of his crewmate (left), while the villain's aggression act has been converted into a disembodied, eerie 'manifestation'. This may have been intentional, to amplify the sense of panic and the shock to the sailors. However, it was also common practice in this period to publish incomplete images in order to encourage viewers to buy the full artwork.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 7

Somewhat surprisingly, the villain chooses to confront the defenceless, nearly naked seaman with the bottle rather than the Captain. It's him (or his nudity) that he finds most threatening, or it could be that this crewman has challenged him or is attempting to calm him*. Interestingly, his jeans have now dropped round his ankles and the villain is suddenly sporting a recognisable manifestation of excitement in his jeans rather than the generalised bulge seen occasionally in the preceding pictures. 

*Perhaps Holzman simply thought cropping it made a better picture. Whatever the case it's a great image using a challenging viewpoint. The quality of these pictures in both technical and dramatic terms is certainly on a par with the emerging stars of this era - Tom of Finland and Etienne.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8

The captain intervenes with a mighty upper cut. By this time, his half-undressed crewmate is down on the floor, on his knees (and with bare ass raised in a classic, passive pose). The broken bottle is nowhere to be seen, suggesting that he managed to disarm the villain before he could do any damage with it.

Holzman has included the coat hook (from picture 4) in this image, positioning it a short distance from the villain's half-open mouth. It sort of matches the sweep of the Captain's fist but also suggests there's an erotic forfeit in store for him, one that is slightly off-piste at this point.

I don't have a satisfactory copy of this picture but it's too important to leave out. 

The cartoonised version below gives a neater sense of how the original might have looked.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8 (AI variant)

This more balanced variant gives a better sense of the drama of the moment. It also brings out the nudity of the fallen sailor, almost seeming to suggest that the other men are fighting over him (hence, I suppose, the presence of the phallic coat hook, which, in a bizarre AI tweak, is suddenly dripping!). 

However, we can also see more clearly that the fallen sailor's arm is entwined with the villain's foot, confirming his active role in overpowering him. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 9

The thief is down but not yet out as the crewmates pile onto him. The captain's hands are clasped tightly together round the villain's neck but he is struggling manfully to detach them. The second crew member, having disentangled himself completely from his jeans and underpants, has grabbed the villain's free arm and is pulling it into his uncovered crotch, where it can't cause any mischief (but feels nice). 

Ominously for the villain, his flies have come undone and his Y-fronts are pushing up through the gap and being nuzzled by the skipper's shin (entirely accidentally, I dare say). His choice of underwear makes the downward pointing bulge in picture 6 improbable, although the picture below shows they are not a very tight fit, so maybe it was an escaper.

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 10

The sailors turn the villain upside down, perhaps hoping to see what will fall out of his pockets, which is the traditional way of exposing a thief in kids' comics. It also has the effect here of pulling his jeans off completely, which will enable them to conduct a more thorough search (or something like that). Losing his pants also makes it a tad more difficult for him to run off, but I suspect that being undressed by these men is only going to intensify that instinct.

You may think you've seen this picture before and you'd be right if you're a regular visitor to this blog, because exactly the same picture appears in my article on the Art of Cas. The same that is, except that it is signed there by Cas. Cas and Holzman are the same person.

Another Cas-Holzman picture can be seen at the mitchmen Royale Studio blog in the 'Timeline' post section 63.1. It's in an ad, emblazoned with the Cas logo, but a contact address has been positioned on top of the original Holzman signature. The background to this name changing is a mystery. Perhaps something to do with publisher's exclusivity.

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 11

 

This picture and 12 to 15 below have all been retrieved from tiny thumbnails in Hussar ads, hence the inferior, fuzzy quality. They suffice to allow us to understand what is going on, however. 

If any reader can supply better versions, please get in touch!

 

The crew have manhandled the villain so he's draped astride a convenient drum. 

 There's a provocative view of his underpants as they prepare to punish him.

The Captain is holding a knotted rope in his hand.  

A loop of rope hanging on that peg behind them offers further restraint options. 

 

It's unclear what the crewman on the right is doing. He appears to be holding a cane in which case this image might also be sequenced to follow on from the next one. However, there's no cane in the other pictures, I think it is just a flaw. He might be hand-spanking him however. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 12

The captain begins, flogging him with a knotted rope. His crewmate (underwear restored to preserve decency) sits on the villain's head to hold him down (with his balls resting on his shoulders where they can enjoy the villain's movements as he reacts to the thrashing). His pose here, with the characteristic turning of the head is very reminiscent of the contemporary artist, Spartacus.

The skipper's fleshy physique does not disappoint in this picture but his face has now transformed rather unpleasantly into an appearance similar to that of the villain when he arrives at the boat. This seems to be a look chosen by Cas to represent nastiness and it's been gradually developing in the Captain in the preceding pictures, like something out of Dorian Gray. 

Cas seems to be playing with a very dubious stereotype of foreignness here and unnecessarily so since it would perfectly OK for the cute, hunky, young man in picture 6 to maintain order on his own boat without turning into a demon. I suppose there's a certain satisfaction in the villain being 'out-nastied', having underestimated his intended victims. 

 

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 13

The villain must have struggled energetically during the assault because the Captain has lost his cap and the two sailors have had to tie him down over the barrel with his arms and legs spread wide. The crewman who was earlier threatened with the broken bottle, still has the miscreant's head between his legs. He pulls it up by the hair so it's snugly wedged in his crotch, almost face upwards here so it gets the fullest experience. He takes his turn flogging him with the knotted rope, no doubt enjoying the villain's struggling movements between his thighs. These exertions seem to be dislodging his already skimpy trunks (much in the style of Tom of Finland).

The skipper watches them, flexing his muscles triumphantly. He even seems to be rubbing his packet with his left hand, but that may be wishful thinking on my part!

 

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 14

  

Finally the villain seems to have collapsed, or at any rate he has stopped resisting. The crewmen lift him bodily almost as if intending to pitch him overboard. Their bulging trunks symbolically almost touch in a sort of low five (or three) you might call it . The rope and barrel have been restored to their places against the wall*. The enhancement and clarification of this image has brought the villain's underpants into stark relief, stretched tight round his buttocks and deep between them. 

*This detail doesn't seem quite right, it would seem more natural for this image to sit before image 11, where the same loop of rope can be seen on the wall. Unfortunately that creates a different continuity problem - with the Captain's hat, which is on his head in images 10 and 11. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 15

In this final image, again recovered from an advert thumbnail, the punishment seems to finished. The scene has shifted to a bedroom with a washbasin in the corner and the chastised villain meekly seeks the comfort of a cushion to sit on, on the bed. He's now without any underpants at all and there's a faint suggestion of criss-cross weals on his buttocks. It's possible that a bare-ass final spanking was the subject of one of the two missing images.

His two adversaries stand, lording it over him, with undisguised enlargements in their pants. One of them is resting his arm on a long pole which faintly suggests the punishment may even have reached into internal regions in some shape or form. The Captain, restored to normal handsomeness, breaks out the liquor that seems to have been the root cause of the problem. The villain hasn't got much to celebrate but it doesn't look like he's free to go just yet . You sense the affair is not yet over.

~

These images were obtained from the internet and some from TimInVermont,

enhanced by mitchmen where my logo has been added.  

More about artists featured by Royale and Hussar

 

(First published 8th May 2024)

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe, part 2 (final version)

You can read Part 1 of this article first if you wish

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 08 (Oiling Up)

 

On the day of the contest, the buddies change into their costumes and oil up. The dark haired one is being assisted here by some very butch-looking young men. The scenario provides an excuse for some fairly intimate contact between them. The bodybuilder has got himself a sexy, dark pouch with a chain for the waistband, and one of the assistants actually seems to be putting him into it. It's a daring ingredient, albeit well-disguised by a confusing arrangement of hands. 

 

The blond changes his clothes, unassisted. There's a sense of his friend getting all the attention, being pampered and hero worshipped. He's playing up to it, too, striking a god-like beefcake pose with modest downcast eyes. His blond buddy does not seem too dismayed or jealous about it. He is, perhaps, proud of his friend changing from a clumsy, ugly duckling into a swan. Interestingly, his beefcake pose resembles the ballet dancer's 'petit pose' and this conjures up another swan connection - 'Swan Lake', which is also about transformations. However, the Black Swan in that ballet plays a very dark role.  

 

 There's no doubt about this image being part of the 'Universe' set, it was explicitly labelled as such (with title) in Scan issue 8, circa August 1961. The distinctive chain pouch helps to assign other, later images to this set. Apart from these, I know of only two other instances in Tom's work where this pouch design is featured. One is in Beach Boys No 2 (1972) where a leather-pouched sun-bather wreaks havoc amongst the straight crowds. The other is a single image included in the mitchmen 'Tailor Group' article (previously referenced in Part 1 of Mr Universe). That one is not part of this set either, the pouch is white and it's being worn in a studio setting, suggesting a porn star being dressed or fluffed up for participation in something very different. Interestingly, though, it's another 'connected' image dated as 1963 in the Tom of Finland Retrospective Vol 1, but the Universe image above is definitely 1961. 

 

Notice the number 1 written in the bottom left corner. This may offer an explanation of the 1961 v 1963 date confusion. That the later images in Part 1 were post-scripts, prequels if you like, inspired by and elaborating on the run-up to the contest.  That doesn't explain image 3, however, which is indistinguishable in style and provenance from the group presented here.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 09

 The boys strut their stuff on the competition stage.

 

Obviously this is only a fragment of the full image and although it didn't appear until later (in 101 Boys Art Quarterly for Summer 1965), it did so alongside other fragments from the Universe series so it's almost certainly part of it. There wasn't much mileage for Tom in drawing beefcake posing when the magazines were awash with photographs of the real thing, so it's not entirely surprising that no copies of the full image have been found. The cropping here might lead you to suppose that Tom spiced it up with some provocative, costume detail deemed too daring to show. However, this publication seems to have used cropping widely and arbitrarily, perhaps to evade copyright challenges.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 10

 

Needless to say, one of the two boys is fated to win the contest. It turns out to be the blond who has appeared to be the more confident and polished one throughout the (my) story. In a flip of image 8, it's now him who is being feted (with exceptional generosity) by his beaten rivals. Tom uses an unconventional viewpoint at the rear of the stage which shows the enormous, equally excited audience almost clamouring to get on the stage with them. This is the era of pop star adulation, remember, with screaming 'Beatlemania' just around the corner.

 

Tom's backstage viewpoint also shows us the backsides of the bodybuilders, who are all, as expected, wearing very skimpy costumes, halfway to being backless thongs. Their two-man lift has parted the blond's legs (and butt cheeks) creating an extremely suggestive view (the serial croppers at '101 Boys' printed an unsubtle fragment of this specific area framed only by a glimpse of supporting shoulders). Despite this sexy detail, the image was used to advertise the series in Scan 9 (Nov 1961).

 

However, the version above is not the complete image.....

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 10 (version 2)

 This version of the victor's celebration was used to promote the series later, in Man Alive #19 (Mar 1962). It reveals that the blond's dark-haired buddy is watching the proceedings from one side and looking defeated, disappointed and envious. 

 

Notice the lines top and bottom that seem to suggest this version was meant to be cropped as well. However, the extra detail is an important link to what follows. The accompanying blurb talks portentously of 'back-stage struggles'.

 

Notice the Number '3' in the bottom corner of this picture (following the No 1 in image 8). 

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 11

  

As the competitors leave the stage, there's an extraordinary confrontation between the two buddies. The darker one attacks his friend, clamping a hand over his mouth as if he's just made some gloating, disparaging remark about him or perhaps disclosed a secret. The cherished trophy is sent flying. This sudden animosity is entirely unexpected*. 

 

But look what is happening at waist level!  He's pulling the blond into a tight embrace, which doesn't suggest their friendship is in any danger. Both their pouches are swollen and nestling together in a remarkably explicit sexual statement for it's time. 

 

The attacker's knee is raised between his friend's thighs, which might be an angry ball-bashing attack, but in reality it seems to be more about contacting his groin and prising his legs open. This detail might just be Tom milking the erotic potential of the scene, but it also seems like an echo of what the loser has just watched other men do to his buddy in image 10. Also, it may be my over-active imagination, but the blond's six-pack seems to have taken on the shape of a giant penis. There's certainly a remarkably strong line tracing down his body to his buddy's groin. 

 

 *Perhaps his annoyance is less surprising if you discount the introductory, character developing images and narrative which I assembled for Part 1. A comment posted here while I was composing this commentary says the set was originally called 'Beating Mr Universe' which implies he's probably just a sore loser. These days we could just blame steroids.

 

There may have been some cropping of his image, but disembodied hands reaching towards the sexy subject of the picture were a popular device at this time. You can see them in Etienne's calendar images and there's a similar 'off-stage' presence in Harry Bush's surfer pictures. Perhaps it's reflecting the cruel plight of men in the 60's who suffered from forbidden desires and were doomed to a life of hiding in perpetual frustration.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 12

 The bystanders drag the two combatants apart. While they glare at each other, the darker one gets a gratuitous groping. It's clear he still has plenty of admirers, the two on either side of him match those seen in image 8*. 

 

Darkie is revealed to have a giant bulge in his pouch, but it's not clear whether it's because of his feelings for his buddy or because of the guy cupping his pecs and furtively snuggling up to his uncovered backside.  

 

The blond on the right seems poised to attack or repel one. This pose can be seen in other fight images by Tom. It's not particularly interesting, but Tom has cleverly positioned his fist in a suggestive position close to the crotch of one of his rival's supporters. 

 

*Tom's fastidious attention to detailing the supporting cast as individuals and regular guys of ambiguous sexuality is one of the joys of his older work. In later years, they tended to become leather clones or cops, which were more or less equivalents.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 13

 

 Relative peace descends and the antagonists return to their post-contest routines, showering off the posing oil and stage grime. Nevertheless, the sense of animosity lingers on. The dark-haired guy has stripped off his 'costume' and is grimly grasping it, as if contemplating using its chains as a flail. He appears to be looking in the direction of his former pal who has just emerged from the shower, but his eyes are closed (or closing) in response to some distracting pampering from one of his loyal acolytes. The masseur appears to be squatting astride his right leg, in a typically ambiguous Tom juxtaposition that appears to suggest his mind is on a service he might like his hero to provide for him. The blond looks on with just the faintest trace of a smile on his face. 

 

The chain pouch confirms this to be part of the 'Universe' series. The picture is taken from 101 Boys Autumn '68, so it sheds no light on the dating of the series. 

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 14

While the blond finishes dressing, cramming his bits into incredibly tight jeans, his dark haired buddy creeps up behind him and pinches the trophy. I'm giving his motives the benefit of the doubt in not using the word 'stealing', influenced in part by his suddenly boyish appearance and cheeky grin. I can't say whether Tom intended it to be seen that way. 

 

You'll notice there's a considerable presence in his jeans, perhaps he's excited by his own daring here, or perhaps it's the result of all the attention he was getting in the last picture. But even that excitement and the enticing ass before him does not deflect him from his villainy.

 

This is another image I have reassembled from two 'bleeding chunks' published in the same issue (!) of 101 Boys, Summer '65. It's pretty obvious where the join is. The little statuette that tops the contest trophy (see image 10) can just be glimpsed between the blond's legs. That's a nice, little innuendo that is satirical as well as erotic if you think about it. Thankfully, the cropping just manages to preserve it. In addition, you can just about see that the leather guy's hand is gripping one of the handles.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 15

 The thief emerges from the contest hall to be greeted by the assembled ranks of the press corps and fans eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their victorious hero. Their expressions of shock and horror tell us exactly what they think about being presented instead with a contestant who didn't even make the top 3 (see image 10). He looks annoyingly cute and confident too! 

 

Is that all there is?, you say. 'Fraid so but we must be grateful for this small mercy from Boys 101 (yet again), for at least preserving this much. It resolves the issue of motivation, the guy just craves attention and adulation. The top of a head, just below the trophy, suggests a kneeling press-man who will probably be seeming to give it to him, by performing intimate tasks.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 16

The disappointed crowd turn on the misguided imposter and strip him of his clothing. This reveals a formidable physique that arguably justifies his disappointment at not winning*. It's possible that this revenge is triggered by the blond himself following him out and confronting him (see the middle head of the trio at the back). The ill-gained trophy falls to the ground yet again, helpfully linking this image into the series.

 

*Interestingly, AMG ran a little article alongside images from this set, reporting allegations of 'result fixing' in real bodybuilding contests, but not endorsing them.

 

This image would surely have been the best of the set in uncropped form and original quality. For once this copy isn't taken from the 101 Boys Art Quarterly, but from John Barrington's 'The Tom Album' (1974). The drawing style of the boy on the right closely resembles the characters in an early 1959 biker series which surfaced a few years ago.

 

~

 

In Tom's normal vocabulary of this period, image 16 would probably not have been the final image in his series. We would have seen the trophy restored to it's rightful owner and the miscreant doing penance in some way, possibly by way of a spanking or by grovelling before his better. If such an image exists, I haven't been able to find it but I live in hope.

 

In all we have 9 images (or parts) which can reliably attributed to the 1961 set out of the supposed 12. 

 

   

Click on this link for an Index of ToF articles at mitchmen blog

The labels below link to other topics 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe, part 1

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 01

Two leather guys (with hunky bubble butts) ponder the possibilities of bodybuilding, having just read that the 'Mr Universe' competition will be coming to a venue near them next year. 

 

As I explain in my introductory article, to the series, this image is dated as 1963 in the Tom of Finland Retrospective Vol 3, not 1961, the date when this series was first advertised. Arguably, it's more sophisticated, stylistically, than some of the images that follow. The boot tops showing through the jeans show amazing attention to detail. Nevertheless, weight-training by a blond and dark-haired couple does figure in the Universe story, so this image makes the perfect starting image.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 02

 

 The buddies embark on a programme of weight training, with their naivety about the subject much in evidence. The blond in the foreground makes a clumsy effort at training with an old-fashioned dumb-bell, which even in 1961* was reserved for comic, circus effect. His dark-haired friend struggles to even lift his more modern, barbell weights. His technique is terrible (bending his back, instead of his legs) but it produces a sight that is sexy as well as amusing. 

 

Neither of them has bothered to change into gym gear for these exertions. So, it's no wonder that the more experienced gym user, watching their efforts, is laughing at them! That's the sort of humiliation that every young man dreads. The on-looker is completely naked and standing suggestively close to the inviting ass, which is screening his nudity from us. It's a juxtaposition which is full of possibilities, but Tom is the soul of discretion. 

 

This particular image, unusually for Tom, has an 'assembled' look, as if separate images have been married together. This was a style that Luger (Colt) would soon make his own. *Like image 1, this image is actually dated as 1963 in the Tom of Finland Retrospective Vol 3. It appeared alongside image 01 above in Physique Pictorial May 1963 (PP12#4) with a snippet bemoaning the neglect of the Universe contest in the generalist beefcake press.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 03

As if chastened by their taste of gym culture, the boys head for the beach. The blond seems to have made phenomenal progress, so perhaps we're a few months further on here. He is giving advice to his less advanced buddy. Both of them still seem to have dressed more with an eye to the posing opportunity offered by the beach, rather than donning serious training gear. Perhaps for this reason, both seem to be finding their physical endeavours positively arousing. 

 

The presence of weight training equipment on a beach is probably less surprising to US readers than those in other parts of the world, where the muscle beach phenomenon is virtually unknown. There will normally be other users of the equipment around as well, of course, so the pair may not be spared further ridicule.

 

This picture has been assembled by me from two separate fragments that were printed in 101 Boys Art Quarterly in Summer 1965. It's not the full picture, one of our readers pointed me to a Tom source where the full size picture can be seen. It's in miniscule size, which I've blown up, but we're not missing much. It's attributed to 1960 by that source.

 

This picture illustrates the difference in style to the 1963 images, but the apparent fuzziness could easily be due to the reproduction process used by the magazine. It may have been pirated.  

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 04

The blond shows his friend how to do an overhead lift, but his serious mentoring turns into farce as the tiny towel he's tied round his waist becomes dislodged and flutters to the ground. There's a deliciously wry expression on the blond's face, an 'oh-oh' moment. His friend is highly amused and another fine beach specimen, out strutting his stuff, is also there to witness his embarrassment. 

 

This image, like No 3, is cropped closer than Tom's original (see link above). The cropping has the effect of drawing attention to the laughing spectator at the water's edge. No significant elements from the full picture are missing.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 05 (extra)

This image of a blond body-builder, turned on by his own physique, is not part of the Universe set, it dates from much later - 1982*. It fits in well, however, as an illustration of the bikers' growing obsession with their new hobby (and the effect on their vanity). 

 

* This image is not at all typical of Tom's other 1982 work, which is all about the leather scene he had immersed himself in. Perhaps it was a nostalgic throwback. In most copies of this image, the wall is washed out and indistinguishable from the mirror, so I have applied AI to bring it out better.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 06 (extra)

 The change in the bodybuilders' physiques as their development progresses means that before long their old clothes no longer fit them.

 This is probably not part of the set either, but it is a near contemporary (1960) and again serves to illustrate the progress of the men's quest to achieve muscledom. The original was (I think) a wry observation on the 1960s fad for sitting in the bath in new jeans so they would shrink to fit.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 07 (maybe?)

 As the contest draws nearer, the boys go shopping to get their posing outfits. 

They are both visibly more muscular. 

 

 I don't know for sure if this is a Mr Universe image, it's a maybe. However, the subject fits and the two protagonists look like buddies and are blond and dark haired. The image is listed in the Tom of Finland Retrospective, Vol 2, but is undated. However, it is positioned amongst a group of pictures from 1963. That is also the 'official' date of several of those shown above. 

 

Tom had a bit of a thing about tailors around this time. This image also appears in that article and I speculate that the flared trousers look 1970s, but they were also fashionable in the 60s and often turned up on sailors of course. These days no-one get measured for new clothes and the old jokes about inside leg measurements have gone the way of the ark.

 

Next time - The Mr Universe Contest.

 

The official source for Tom of Finland work is of course 

The Tom of Finland Foundation 

Tom of Finland - The Mystery of 'Mr Universe'

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 01

If you are a fan of Tom of Finland, you will probably be familiar with this image. It's shows two leather guys pondering the world of bodybuilding and the 'Mr Universe' competition, which seems to be coming to a venue near them 'next year'. This image is often presented as a stand-alone work, presumably because of its aspirational, 'Pride' message, but it's actually part of a 'Mr Universe' series which was widely documented in its time* but seems to have become lost or dispersed since then. This article is an attempt to reconstruct it from contemporary sources. 

 

*The Tom of Finland Retrospective (vol 1) dates this image to 1963, but the 'Mr Universe' series seems to have appeared in late 1961 (see below). It's not impossible that Tom produced this picture later, but it's obviously related, and I have chosen to make it the opening image for my reconstructed series. 

 

According to Valentine-Hooven (in "Tom of Finland, His Life and Times" p101) Tom did the series for Rex Pickering at 'Scan' Magazine, and it was indeed first advertised in 'Scan' issue 9. It was also advertised simultaneously in issue 17 of 'Man Alive' (which we can date precisely to Nov 1961). In the latter source, it is actually advertised as a 'Hussar Studio' product. Around this time, Hussar also published Tom's 'Thieving Cowboy' series, about which there is even wilder confusion over publication dates! See the 2023 mitchmen 'Thieving Cowboy' article for more on Tom's relationship with Royale /Hussar.

 

 

Tom of Finland - The Leather Outfit Thief 01 (my title)

 

  We don't know exactly how Tom viewed 'bikers' at this time, in the 'Mr Universe' image (top) they are drawn as cute boys with bubble butts, looking slightly naive in their leather jackets. However, in a contemporary series illustrated above, the leather man is portrayed as a muscular, god-like creature, worshipped from the bushes by an envious youth. It's another series (like the Thieving Cowboy) in which a set of clothes is stolen, and the same thing happens in the second of the 'Kake' series. In 1964, it's the motorbike itself that gets stolen. All these miscreants end up on the receiving end of a severe belting, and Tom's work is littered with handsome leather men treating eager, initiates in the same way. That's a good excuse for including one of my own favourite Tom images....

 

Tom of Finland - Leather Initiation

 In later life, Tom was absorbed into the world of leather that fascinated him so much. Quite which end of the belt he saw himself is not known, but the experience of having his own drawings stolen in 1954 and widely pirated after he became famous may be relevant. In that context, the aspiration of two biker dandies to become more muscular and, by implication, more manly, makes perfect sense. 

 

 

Tom of Finland - Test Your Strength

 

This image, with the same youthful admirer from the Leather Outfit Thief, is also from 1961. It's actually part of the 'Circus Set' but embodies, in a more positive way, the idea of manly role models for gay men to aspire to.

 

The 'Mr Universe' series isn't about joining the Leather Clan, but it is very much about justice and assertiveness. The scarcity of surviving, intact images is probably a reflection of Tom's attempts to control the distribution of his own work. In 1965 '101 Boys Art Quarterly' was able to publish only fragments of some of the individual images. In the same year, AMG published a couple of (complete) images from the set in Physique Pictorial with a typically waspish comment to the effect that they offered many of Tom's series for sale, but this wasn't one of them!

 

Valentine-Hooven says there were 12 to 15 pictures in the series, I have identified a group of 17 images that seem related, of which 2 or 3 are dubious, but interesting. 

 

The story begins in the next post.  

 

Franco Milking Machine Art

Franco's lab 'machines' are a favourite part of his work. 
In this post, some recent examples from this genre.

 

 

Franco - Dr Cumquat's Amazing Milking Machine

Franco's lab rats are usually nude and seem to be naive students supplementing their meagre grants. 

This donor's eccentric, street clothing confers the sense of a more mature, knowing target,

one more difficult to ensnare and more dangerous if cornered.

But with the milker on, it turns out he's just another pussy. 

 

Although it's metal, the milking sleeve is a perfect fit. Amazing indeed! 

It's nice to see the Doctor as a real person rather than a caricature.

 

 

Franco - He gave Cum at the Office

 

I'm not sure what to make of the title here, is this the equivalent of an Office, blood donor session? 

Except it's for maintaining a sperm bank, for the good of the country?

 

The clinical setting and purpose-built extraction table seem unusual for an Office 

and details like the donor's strapping and butt plug 

seem to imply something rather less voluntary in nature.  

 

It's a great tweak of a familiar image anyway. Love the sticky-out ears. 

  

Franco - Mike Gets Milked

 

This is a reworking of another familiar scenario, with the lab rat having to straddle a simple metal box-frame to give his sample. The AI update has given him an impressive muscular development and a truly jock-like face reminiscent of a young Zeb Atlas. This image captures a sense of his orgasmic ecstasy (one of them, anyway). 

 

The collection device here is more self-contained and compact than usual, and the technician observing the procedure seems to be dressed like a chef. In fact, the benches look eerily like kitchen units too. Perhaps the milk is wanted for a culinary process. If they have a rush, Zeb's going to be busy!

 

Forced leg opening is a recurring feature of Franco's images,

 going back to the early 'Milking the Bull' pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Franco - Milking Jocks

This time it looks like Derek Atlas in the frame.(no relation to Zeb as far as I know!). The 'camp bed' platform with it's ass-raising midsection also goes back to Franco's earlier imagery, but the more realistic AI version gives it greater presence. The professor's shameless groping of his helplessly convulsing volunteer actually has more impact than the understated milking device.

 

 

Franco - Milking The Bulls

This image is another new departure for Franco. There a many double spankings in his output (albeit delivered one at a time), but I can't think of another 'dual' milking or lab-rat image. There's a familiar look about the double 'recliner' arrangement, but the interest in this image stems almost entirely from the agonies of the hunky pair of buddies undergoing treatment. The smattering of hair on their bodies suggests they have not been provided by a modelling agency but from a more down to earth source. The milking sleeves are not entirely successful in suggesting stressed organs, but give enough sense of what is happening. 

 

The supervising professor in these images is usually seen to be enjoying his subject's discomfort. The academic detachment of this one adds a distinctly chilling threat.

 

Franco - Pleasure Victim

 

The Professor in this lab has devised a more elaborate milking attachment than usual for this unfortunate male. It seems designed to remain attached throughout the most violent of orgasms. However, it's not the product that has aroused their interest but the production process. There's a back-up technician monitoring the subject's responses. 

 

He's a strapping lad and this upward perspective is flattering to the undulations of his torso, as is the strap around his chest which seems to be securing him to the metal frame behind. It imposes an upright posture on him, which seems to make his manipulation by the lab staff more puppet-like.

(There's a related design in Franco's Monk genree) 

 

Read more articles on Franco's art at this blog