BareAss Blogs No 88

BareAss Buddies - Smokin' Hot!

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New Additions to the Royale blog

Royale Studio - The Arrest 2 

The 24 picture series, 'The Arrest' is one of the most complete surviving sets by Royale - although there are some intriguing discontinuities that hint at a much bigger epic! 

A story of bullying, it's notable for its abundant imagery of men in tight shorts, with a good deal of wrestling action and spanking too is represented.

All this and a mystery, 'lost' series. 

 

Royale Studio - Scout Recruit

If you appreciate spanking imagery, there's an abundance of it in The Scout Recruit and more tight shorts. If you think Scouting is a pastime for boys you'll be surprised at the men in this story, another long one of 24 images.

 

Brian Lamprill by Vic White 04

There's some stunning imagery of Brian Lamprill filling a white pouch in images by Vic White, that supplement his career with Royale. Links to more sets at Brian Lamprill's Profile Page.

 

A full list of available Royale and Hussar sets can be seen in the sidebar of the Royale-Hussar blog. Plus news of the latest additions.

 

Guys in Uniform - 1 - Double Discipline (Part 'B')

Continued from Part 'A' 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B01

The two men under punishment have now put on snug-fitting singlets (or vests) with impersonal numbers on the back. The Instructor has ordered them to lie down, leaving their shorts still lowered, so that their backsides are visible. It's the horizontal equivalent of facing the wall, a psychological rebuke, expressing rejection and isolation. The punisher has put away his cane, but I imagine his tongue can sting these men almost as well.

This photo has a curious composition, with the protagonists confined to the boundaries and a vast empty space filling most of the picture (which I have filled with logos out of desperation!) It is taken from a magazine, part of a montage in which another, overlapping image filled much of that space, see below. The combination of upright and prone figures in a picture is a challenge for any photographer, as Royale Studios also found. However, it seems surprising that the photos seem to have been taken with that marketing scheme in mind. The original photo may amount to more than this, of course, and not be so awkwardly cropped.

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B02

In the second picture the men have changed out of their shorts altogether, leaving them crumpled at the feet of No 4.  No 3's singlet is very close-fitting, he continues to be the more striking of the pair.

The second stool, last seen in image A03 has been reintroduced. 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B03

The two men are ordered to sit on the stools. The corded seats quickly bring new discomfort to their just-caned bottoms. The instructor stands watching them with hands on hip, as if waiting for something. They just hang their heads. Their overhanging bottoms make a strikingly original, teasing image. As if in response, there's a rare sighting of the front of the instructor's shorts, which do not suggest he's totally disappointed with them.

 

Once again, the editor's cropping seems overdone on the right, resulting in another, oddly unbalanced composition. 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B04

This unconventional scenario, now takes a new turn. 

It appears No 3 has been detained, kept in after school, as it were.

He slumps on the floor, minus his training shoes, a sign that he's not going anywhere soon. The instructor has also taken off his shorts, as if they are now equals. It hints at a steamy closing ceremony, involving more sacrifice by No 3.

 

In Britain there used to be light-hearted debate about whether, milk should be added to the cup before or after pouring tea. There seems to a similar divide about sex and spanking. And yes, I know that many prefer their spanking without any sex at all.

 

There's another (unavoidable) blank corner here. They all fit together very well in 'Uniform Magazine' spread (shown below). But it's hard to imagine this was all intentional. The uncluttered backgrounds don't help.

 

Uniform Magazine, Vol 3 p41

 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B05

 In this picture, it seems that the tables have been turned on the sadistic instructor. Bereft of his shorts (just visible on the floor with the distinctive, black waist band), he rests his forearms on a stand rather like a butchers block, with a padded top set at an ideal height for bending over. A cane stands propped against the side, ready for the arrival of another dispenser of rough justice.

 

Maybe picture B04 is actually showing the waiting room, with both men in line for a painful reprimand, perhaps having been caught having sex after spanking. Maybe this set be named 'Triple Discipline'!

 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B06

In this picture we see the instructor slumped on the floor, looking distinctly down in the mouth, if not in other departments. I have sequenced these images to suit my own narrative, since no thumbnail sheets are known for Guys in Uniform sets. I imagined this as the aftermath of the Instructor's supposed comeuppance. Equally, it could be him, still awaiting his turn, after No 3 was summoned in to the Punishment Room. 

 

~

 

There is a further image that doesn't seem to be part of this set, but also features the distinctive vest with coloured hoops.

 

Guys In Uniform -Athlete with Cane

 

This is not obviously the man wearing the hooped vest in the preceding pictures, but his predicament complements my narrative there perfectly. He's strapped to the four corners of a board or box in a way that prevents escape but not all movement. A cane leans against his bottom, an unsubtle clue to the reason for his restraint.

 

He's wearing shorts, which have been hitched-up to provide an open target area. His gym socks have been removed and dropped at his feet to one side. 

 

He's also wearing an incongruous, broad leather belt-cum-corset, with multiple straps at the back. Probably put on him by the men who restrained him. This fetish garment features in many Guys In Uniform sets with leather/rubber themes, but this cross-over picture is usual. It suggests the meeting of two worlds - wholesome athletic activity and dark, secret fetish. 

 

This is an initiation, perhaps or a peeping Tom about to be taught the error of his ways. His expression suggests that he's realised from the restraints and the tightness of his strange garment that this warning is going to be very different to anything he has experienced before.  
 

~ 

 

Preview the next Guys in Uniform set
to be featured at mitchmen.

 

More about Guys In Uniform Studio  

 

Vintage Bath Nite imagery

The final image in Etienne's 'Bath Nite' was probably inspired by AMG's images of Wally Shillicut bathing himself in a tiny bathtub.

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 1 (AMG)

This image tantalises, screening what might be happening under the water. In reality, he's probably wearing a pouch.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 2 (AMG)

Now the pouch is visible, full and beautifully shaped for aficionados. The clingy, near-transparency indicates that it's wet. Wally's nether regions suspended over the water are erotic in their own right. But, spare a moment to appreciate the tension in the model's torso.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 3 (AMG)

Sitting on a box to wash his feet, Wally's pouch exhibits more tension, topped off with a descending dribble that challenges the restrictions of the era. 

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 4 (AMG)

AMG roped in animals on more than one occasion to supplement their model's charms. In this image, the cuteness of the ducks seems to rub off on Wally. The strategic positioning is more amusing than erotic, since Wally's pouch strings are clearly visible.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 5 (AMG)

 A single duck offers more possibilities for visual punning when placed between the legs, but Wally seems to have a bit of a handful with this one. Just as well he's got his pouch on here, but it's not entirely hiding his 'embarrassment'. Better watch out for that pecker! At least he didn't have to contend with a goat or a donkey or a monkey like some other AMG models did.

~ 

 Wally's AMG shoot didn't only inspire Etienne....

 

William MacLane - Bath House

 

William MacLane transplanted the imagery to a Japanese bath house, which in the post-WW2 era of the 50s might well have been patronised by USN sailors, as suggested here. Such intercultural encounters were a popular theme at the time in films and books, usually with depressing plots. MacLane is making a conscious attempt to be artistic and literary here. Relevant, we might say, today. 

 

However, the pose, which is about a man washing himself in primitive conditions, doesn't really work in this context.  Even with another (sexy) sailor watching him closely and touching his leg with his back, the washer women drain the eroticism out of the picture far more effectively than any number of ducks. However, that hint about gay relationships, possibly one-way in this case, is an interesting feature, also found in William MacLane's other work.

 

~ 

 

This surge of interest in bath-tub washing, at a time when most households were consigning the practice to history and turning to showers, may in its turn have been inspired by James MacArthur's erotic splash in the 1958 movie, 'The Light In The Forest' (below).

 

MacArthur plays a white boy who has been brought up by Native Americans. Captured by settlers, he is introduced to the pleasures of civilisation. The images are tantalisingly homoerotic, but I don't think the conversation here is about back scrubbing! 

 

 

Or chest shaving either, here!

 

MacArthur's character suffers the customary range of humiliations meted out to captives...

 

He's tied up and abducted...

 

 

 Forced to wade across rivers in his best buckskins, under the watchful (and I like to think, lecherous) eye of his captor. 

Who could blame him for it?

 

James' preparation for playing the role seems to have been equally closely policed by minders. Poor James! Surprisingly, an obvious career as a sex bomb did not materialise for him.

 

~

 

I can't leave the subject of bath tubs without reference to one of the best known examples of the genre in the gay canon. Once again it's AMG who are responsible.

 

 

The GI standing in the bath tub seems to saying, 'do I have to?' As if this is a punishment. We might take his companion to be another soldier, but he's actually armed with a civilian shotgun rather than a military weapon, so he might really be an enraged father making sure his daughter isn't going to be left in the lurch by the trigger-happy GI she's been messing around with. Either way, it's a great example of a man being put in his place.

Etienne's - The Plumber

 This article features an Etienne image that seems to be the predecessor of his 'Bath Nite' storyette. 

Etienne - The Plumber

 

This is the most complete copy I have of the picture, others have outer detail cropped off. However, it is marred by a scratch/crease line across the background character, which the others aren't. 

 

This picture doesn't have a title, even in the Kris Catalogue, where it is simply labelled as 'E56'. It's clearly not another 'Bath Nite', however. This plumber seems to have been called in to deal with some major pipework problems, but he too has managed to drench himself. He's taken off his clothes and hung them on the line above while he sorts out the problem, entirely naked.

 

Enter the owner, or maybe it's his foreman. He stands, looking very dissatisfied, with hands on hips, which seems to confirm the plumber has made a hash of things. The plumber seems to think the new arrival is more interested in his nakedness than his work, and doesn't seem the least bit concerned about it!

 

Like the final image in Bath Nite, this picture has something of a split personality. The man in the background seems to have been added in as an afterthought and not very well integrated. He's not actually looking at the plumber, but at us, like a posing model. In addition, there's a sort of halo around his entire body, making it seem as if he doesn't 'belong'. His feet seem to be hovering above the ground, whereas the plumber is grounded very convincingly. However, this image was taken from a contemporary magazine 'Fizeek Art Quarterly', so it must be authentic (?) 

 

The explanation may lie in another version, which I discovered not long ago at the 'Tim in Vermont' website (now defunct, sadly).

 

 

Etienne - The Plumber (coloured)

Here there are two on-lookers, and they obscure the staircase detail in a way that makes you look back and question that element of the black and white version too. Is this the original image then?

 

 I must admit, I have my doubts about the integrity of this image, too. Etienne often seems to have painted many of his original images, so the colour element is not surprising. He also depicted explicit details, with sanitised copies for general publication, so that's fine too. This picture contains a considerable amount of detail on the right side, which is not present in the black and white version. All of which stakes a claim to it being more authentic. 

 

In the black and white image, the spectator seemed the least convincing detail. The two seen here fit in more convincingly in purely technical terms, but don't create much of a narrative, which you would expect from an Etienne picture. Perhaps they are the cowboys who caused the problem and had to call in the plumber. But they are not even looking at him. Apart from this, the styling of their faces is more life-like than the plumber's and his 'appendage' for that matter has all the hallmarks of an 'add-on'. 

 

 I think the underlying colour imagery here probably is original by Etienne, but I suspect the spectators are a later alteration, possibly by Etienne himself, who was known to revise older imagery (see Sailors Beware!) but was not always scrupulously correct about consistency. 

 

The arrangement of the two spectators here actually makes a striking parallel to the poses of the men in the (supposedly later) Bath Nite 6. It's tempting to see this as a cross-over revision.

 

All this begs the question, what did the original version of this picture actually look like? The best answer is the illustration in the Kris Catalogue and I have to say it looks identical to the black and white image above, although it's not possible to be sure about facial expressions and eye-lines. It also has the extra width of the coloured image. 

 

~ 

 

Other Etienne posts at mitchmen

Etienne - Bath Nite (Updated Sat 22 Feb))

UPDATE Sat 22nd Feb

I have updated this article with two 'missing' pictures found at the 'Exclusively Etienne' Google Group. Thanks to them for the valuable resource. 

 

Plumbers come and go in Gay iconography. We tend to assign a rough masculinity to all manual workmen by default, but plumbers routinely gain admittance to our most private areas, prompting all sorts of erotic possibilities. The nature of their job and its association with spanners, pipes and fluid flow makes for plenty of innuendo and jolly puns. 

 

These days, gay interest seems to lie primarily in the voyeuristic spectacle they offer, whilst fiddling under the sink...

 

Plumber by jk

 Etienne's mid-60s storyette, 'Bath Nite', ca 1965, takes the 'home invasion' ingredient much further. The Kris catalogue shows 6 pictures in the set, all but 1 of them have come down to us in reasonably clear quality.

 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 1 - Trouble In The Shower

 In this picture, a muscle hunk discovers he has got a blockage in his shower pipes. The switch is set to 'On', but all he gets is a drip.

 

 Most of us hate a wet shower curtain clinging to our bodies, but here it handily covers his naughty bits. 

 

The hunk's, slightly odd but suggestive, open legged pose seen here occurs in other Etienne images too. I wonder if it's connected with his experience as a ballet dancer.

 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 2 - Professional Assistance

The plumber arrives, responding to the hunk's call for help. The workman cuts quite a roguish figure in his rakish cap and coat casually slung over his shoulder, a confident, showy devil*. His skimpy, tight-fitting polo shirt, reveals a tattoo on his bare arm and bulging jeans confirm his butch credentials. No wonder the hunk has dropped his towel! He looks round at him with an appraising eye, limply pointing out the dripping (and suggestive) shower head! 

  

*I suppose you might read more boastfulness into his trading name 'A1 (or top class) Plumber', but it was a standard way of getting a business to the top of telephone listings in pre-Internet days. 

 

The dense, ill-defined shading of this copy may be because the original was painted (i.e. in colour) and not drawn. 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 3 - Slight Miscalculation

A minor tweak of a spanner (it seems) is all it takes to unexpectedly unleash a jet of water, drenching the plumber and knocking him to the floor. For some reason, his belt has come unbuckled and partly detached from his pants, which also look undone at the fly. Has there just been some hanky-panky distracting him from his task? The hunk's smile might suggest so. 

 

The plumber looks more jock-like and handsome here - vulnerable too, like a regular guy. It's the hunk's turn to look roguish as he closes the door. Has he contrived this unfortunate accident - or is he just an opportunist?

 

Notice that the size difference between the two men is disguising a simulated contact between the plumbers boot and the hunk's thigh, exactly at crotch level. There's a reciprocal arrangement involving the plumber's (wide open) crotch and hunk's knee being at the same height. 

  

Etienne - Bath Nite 4 - Beyond Repair

I've had to resort to enlarging the catalogue thumbnail here. It looks as if the clumsy plumber has wrought more serious damage to the shower than it appears in the previous picture. There seems to be a hole in the wall with dripping pipework where the shower head was before. There's also a pile of rubble? at the hunk's feet as he stoops to pick up the shower head and its (hitherto unseen) feed pipe. 

The plumber in the foreground wrings out his jeans, looking very wet or very embarrassed - or both. His muscular arms and the perky cap (back in place on his head), add a nice tweak to his manly embarrassment. However, the shape seen in his wet underwear might suggest that it's the not just his mistake, but the sight of the hunk's bare backside, that is causing his consternation. He's taken off his boots to facilitate the removal of his jeans, so he obviously not that flustered! That enables Etienne to include a typical detail of oversized feet in slack socks.

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 5 - Off With The Wet

At this point, the plumber has lost his underpants altogether, they are hanging on the line behind, together with his jeans. His last sock is in the process of being peeled off his foot, by the hunk, who is holding it up in a very servant-like way.

 

 The still-dripping plumber looks as if he's going to take off his polo shirt and is clearly not the least embarrassed about his exposed crotch, because his legs are wide open. Nice legs they are too (Etienne's ballet heritage again). Plus generously sized feet.

The plumber's roguish, toughness seems to have reasserted itself here, his cap is symbolically back on his head. He appears to be resting his right foot on one of his own boots, pushing it into the hunk's crotch. The response of the hunk is obscured by a wet sock, but there's something else going on just behind the boot and sock, which I can't make out... Irrespective of this, there's plainly an erotic interaction going on.

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 6 - The Solution

In the end, the hunk gets his shower, thanks to the magnanimous, muscular plumber sprinkling him from a (very camp!) watering can. The tattoo on his arm reveals him to be called Bud, which mellows his hypermasculine aura in an attractive way. 

The hunk lounges contentedly, his legs unashamedly open (ballet style again) and in a position to receive a playful splashing onto his groin - and much else, I dare say!  He is clearly conscious that Bud's dick is lurking just behind his head and within touching distance of his clasped hands. There's a dark shadow to the left of Bud's 'treasure trail' which may be screening a glimpse of something naughty. 

This sexy, bath tub pose is probably inspired by (if not copied from) a 60s beefcake picture in the AMG set of Wally Schillicut bathing*. Etienne has drawn the image well, but the departure from the free flowing, 'drawn from the imagination' style of the rest of the picture, and indeed the rest of the set, jars a little.  

*More of Wally Schillicut and other vintage hunks in bathtubs 

(link pending)

~ 

The 'Bath Nite' entry in Kris Catalogue No 2

 

 ~

This plumbing story has a predecessor image, also by Etienne, from about 3 years earlier, in 1962. It's clearly the prototype for 'Bath Nite' but tells a slightly different story. 

View Etienne's 'The Plumber'

Other Etienne posts at mitchmen
 

Teddy of Paris - A Comeback?

Teddy of Paris - Overpowered 

  

The much admired 90s artist, Teddy of Paris, has been in touch to say he's planning to start creating artwork again. I'm sure all his fans will join me in wishing him well and looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours. Read the full message in the comments attached to my article on his work:- 

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Teddy of Paris 

My image above comes from Teddy's Bridegroom's Cherry Collection (Out of print)

See also:  

Teddy of Paris - Initiation 

Teddy of Paris - Passion du Fruit