Gods, Myths, and Heroes - Part 66

Adamites

The Adamites were a Christian sect.  They basically believed that by living like Adam and Eve before the Fall, they were in a state of purity where sin was impossible.  This lifestyle included nudism, because of course Adam and Eve were naked before the Fall.

The first Adamite sect flourished in the second century in northern Africa (probably Egypt) during the Roman Empire.  There was also an Adamite sect in Spain in the fourth and fifth centuries.  The Adamites rejected marriage as an institution that didn't exist before the Fall, and they are believed to have practiced free love.

Above, an 1898 illustration by E. J. Sullivan is supposed to depict second century Adamites, although they look like Victorians to me, not ancient Romans.

Another Adamite sect formed in the Netherlands in the 14th century.  Above, Scene des Adamites a Amsterdam by Francesco Badens.

These Dutch Adamites held a burning of their clothes in 1353.  Above, Night Meeting of the Adamites by Francois de la Cave.

However, when the Dutch Adamites went out into the streets naked, they were arrested, jailed, and executed.  Above, The Arrest of the Adamites in a Public Square in Amsterdam by Francois de la Cave.

The following century, in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), theologian Jan Hus spoke out against some Catholic practices, and he was burned at the stake in 1415.  He was not an Adamite, but his followers, the Hussites, continued to fight the Catholic establishment, and one offshoot of this movement became Adamites.  They believed themselves beyond sin.  They practiced nudity, declared marriage sinful, and advocated free love.  They outlawed private property and practiced communal ownership of all goods.

Above, Adamites in the Hussite Wards in Bohemia, a 15th century etching.

In 1421, another Hussite splinter group, the Taborites, attacked the Bohemian Adamites, and almost all the Adamites were killed.  Above, Doom of the Adamites by Frantisek Zenisek, 1903.  This painting focuses on a naked woman in the middle, but ...

it also depicts these naked men to the left of her.

During the English civil wars in the 1640s, an English Adamite sect appeared.  The illustration above is from an English broadsheet c. 1646.  Like their predecessors, the English Adamites were nudists, they rejected all laws, and they were sexual libertines, at least as described by their critics.  Very few facts are known about them, and the sect seems to have died out by 1660 when the English monarchy was restored.

We close with a scene from a video game called Crusader Kings III.  This game, which is set during the Middle Ages, has an option to choose a religion, and if you choose the Adamite religion, the characters on your side all become naked, though genitals are covered by a fig leaf.  However, there is apparently a mod to the game that eliminates the fig leaves, seen above.

So the Adamites are not completely forgotten. 😊

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 74

San Francisco 2024

The 2024 World Naked Bike Ride in San Francisco was held on June 8.  Riders gathered at Rincon Park, above, known for the "Cupid's Arrow" sculpture in the background.

The park also has a good view of the Bay Bridge leading to Oakland (this is not the Golden Gate Bridge).

Riders pose in the park with a sign saying "Everybody is a nudist (some are just in the closet)".

Then the ride began.

Approaching Chase Center, a sports and entertainment indoor arena.

Riders stopped outside Chase Center.

Then onward.  Note the tandem bike.

The next stop was City Hall, where a just-married couple was having photographs taken.

This will give them something else to remember about their wedding day.

Then it was the WNBR riders' turn to get some photos taken at City Hall.

The ride continued ...

and ended in the Castro, San Francisco's gay district.  Note the rainbow banners.

Estonian Photos - Part 31

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation.  The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.

My best guess is that they are military recruits.  The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.

Many of the men have dark faces and hands.  Are they are tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military.  Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film.  Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s.  I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.

One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in a previous batch, one of the men is wearing a wristwatch.   Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I.  (Men used pocket watches.)  However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots.  After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.

Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.

Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these may not not be military photos.  We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?

A more likely possibility is that the photos were taken by academics.  Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were doing studies to try to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.

I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes.  I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.

One other question that perennially arises from these photos is: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.

So, bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for "research".

Vintage Military - Part 76

Australia, World War II

Australian forces fought in the Pacific in World War II, but Australia also sent troops to the European, Mediterranean and Middle East theaters.  Above, Australian troops in 1940 or 1941 swimming in the Sea of Galilee in Palestine.  Currently the Sea of Galilee is in Israel, but at the time, Palestine was a British territory.

Australian soldiers improvising a shower with a watering can in 1942.

New Guinea, just to the north of Australia, was the scene of fighting with the Japanese from 1942 to 1945.  These are naked Australian soldiers in New Guinea posing by an ironic sign.

Australian and U.S. soldiers landing in Dutch New Guinea, the western half of New Guinea that is now part of Indonesia, in 1943 or 1944.

Sgt. E. A. Waller operating a home-made shower for his friend in 1944.

In New Guinea, Australian forces made use of the indigenous population.  These are Kaya Kaya men carrying dirt on stretchers in 1944.

And these are Kaya Kaya men pulling a large roller in 1944.  

We end with an Australian man taking a shower on Morotai Island, which is now part of Indonesia.  The photo is dated 1939-1945 (i.e. sometime during World War II), but it was most likely taken in 1944 or 1945, when the Allies captured Morotai Island and built an air base to be used in the Allied recapture of the Philippines from Japan.

Events - Part 72

Folsom East 2016

Folsom East is a gay BDSM-oriented street fair held in June in New York City, a counterpart of the more famous Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.  Today we look at photos from Folsom East in 2016.  Above, what has become known as the Folsom handshake.

At Folsom in San Francisco, you can walk around naked.  In New York, your butt can be exposed, but not your genitals, like the guy above ...

although he's willing to give us a peek.

Here's another guy who's covered up ...

but he gives us a peek.

This outfit was described as "not legal but no one cared."

There was a massage booth where if you were face-up, you had to be covered (though we have a peekaboo view) ...

but it was perfectly legal to be naked face-down.

He's ready.  What's next?