World Naked Bike Ride - Part 3a

 Locations in Great Britain

The World Naked Bike Ride is held in dozens of cities around the world, but nowhere is it as popular as Great Britain.  So many cities there have hosted the event that I have split this post between two days.  Here are the British cities that have held World Naked Bike Rides:

Brighton, England, 2017.  The police don't interfere with WNBR events in England.  This policeman seems to like what he sees.  The naked guy calls himself FKK lad.  We'll see more of him in future posts.

Bristol, England, 2015.

Cambridge, England, 2017.

Canterbury, England, 2013.

Cardiff, Wales, 2018.

Chelmsford, England, 2016.

Clacton, England, 2018.

Colchester, England, 2018.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 2019.

Exeter, England, 2016.

Folkestone, England, 2017.

Hastings, England, 2014.

Tomorrow: more British WNBR locations.

Vintage Athletes - Part 3

 Boston Red Sox

LIFE photographer George Silk took these photos in the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1956.  None were published in the magazine.

This is a classic "background shot."  The photographer is concentrating on the subject of interest, in this case the celery-chewing player, but the photo also captures a player naked in the background.

This angle eliminates the other player in the background, but now we get a peekaboo view of the celery-chewer himself, who is not wearing any pants.

These photos of a Red Sox player getting a rubdown have been widely reproduced on the Internet, but I have never seen the naked player identified.  Any baseball fans out there who know who this is in the 1956 Red Sox roster?  (UPDATE: ROCB identified him as Joe Albanese.  Albanese separated his shoulder during spring training and never got to play for the Red Sox.  Later, they traded him to the Washington Senators.)

Continuing the rubdown, they are totally ignoring George Silk, who is photographing every move.

A bit lower.  Ahh, that's nice.

"Look into my eyes.  You are growing sleepy..."

Protests - Part 2

 The Hague

On June 16, 1988, these Dutch students demonstrated at The Hague against cutbacks in education.  How to attract attention to their cause?  Get naked!

(Photos by Rob Bogaerts, from the National Archives of the Netherlands)

Events - Part 3

Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras.  Historically, Mardi Gras had its origins when religious Catholics, facing the fasting and abstinence of Lent, decided to throw a huge festival before Lent begins, drinking, partying, and throwing morality out the window.  Because they were so religious.

In the U.S., Mardi Gras is synonymous with New Orleans. The New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration involves parades with elaborate floats, dressing up in costumes, and formal balls. But another tradition has developed.

People crowd the ubiquitous cast-iron balconies of the French Quarter, especially on Bourbon Street, with a supply of beaded necklaces.

Down on the street, the tradition, engaged in mostly by tourists, is that girls flash their boobs and guys flash their dicks for the reward of beads thrown down from above.  This isn't necessarily a gay thing – most guys are flashing the girls in the balconies – but of course there are some men in the balconies who would be happy to reward this guy.

The flasher then catches the beads.

This guy seems to be ignoring the falling beads.  Perhaps he has embraced another Mardi Gras "tradition" of drinking to excess.

You can tell how many times a guy has flashed by how many beads he's wearing.

This must be a flashing virgin.  I'm sure he won't be a virgin for long.

Sometimes the people in the balconies get carried away by the excitement and do their own flashing.

There's another New Orleans event, Southern Decadence, that is predominantly gay and that also features flashing and beads.  It's held on Labor Day weekend.  Don't worry, we'll get to it later.

Festivals - Part 2

 Isle of Wight

Britain's Isle of Wight music festival actually predated Woodstock, starting in 1968.  But the 1968 festival, though musically significant (Jefferson Airplane performed), was sparsely attended (15,000), and if any nudity happened, there don't seem to be any photos of it.

The 1969 festival occurred mere weeks after Woodstock.  150,000 people attended, and there was lots of nudity, in the water ...

(Photo by David Hurn)

on the beach ...

(Photo by David Redfern, cropped to show detail)

in small groups ...

(Photo by David Redfern, cropped to show detail)

and in crowds.

(Photo by David Hurn)

At the 1970 festival, this TV camera crew showed up, wanting to record the nudity in the bay.  Some hippie guards told them that if they wanted access, they had to strip naked themselves.  So they did.  Well, fair is fair!

Kissing

 Kissing

For Valentine's Day, some (mostly vintage) kissing photos.

This Harry Bush cartoon says “Kiss a Marine and see what happens.”  Read on to see what happens when you kiss a serviceman.

What happens when you kiss a sailor?  This is a 1942 photo of two sailors on leave in San Diego.  ACT-UP used this image on a T-shirt.  Very sweet.

But here's the original uncropped image of the sailors kissing, from the Kinsey Institute.  That’s what happens when you kiss a sailor!

What happens when you kiss a soldier?  In 1945, Nazi Germany had just been conquered by Russian and Allied armies.  In celebration, a Russian and American soldier kiss.  This photo became known as the “friendship kiss.”  We don’t know how far the new international friendship was taken after dinner.

Two guys in a photo booth in 1953.  The booth’s automated photo development was a way to avoid having to send in your film to be developed, in the days when a photo like this would get you in trouble.

French runner Alain Mimoun (right) kissing Czech runner Emil Zatopek to congratulate him at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, captured by LIFE photographer Ralph Crane.  Mimoun would have been the world champion long-distance runner, except Zatopek kept beating him.  Despite their rivalry, they forged a friendship.  Mimoun finally beat Zatopek in the marathon at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.  “Emil, congratulate me,” he said.  Zatopek embraced and kissed him.  “For me, that was better than a medal,” Mimoun said later.

A moment at a 1962 track meet between the U.S. and Russia, captured by LIFE photographer John Dominis.  Another kiss of international friendship?  No, this time it’s a Russian coach or teammate congratulating a Russian athlete.

Turkish oil wrestlers kissing in a 1961 photo by LIFE’s Stan Wayman.  According to the Turks, it’s not gay if they coat themselves with oil, grapple with each other, stick their hands down each others’ pants trying to get a grip, and then the winner kisses the loser.  It’s just Turkish.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Miners - Part 2

 The Ruhr

Coal mining is dirty work.  Most coal mines provided showers for the miners to clean up at the end of their shift.  These photos from the LIFE photo archive were never published in the magazine.

The first five photos are from a set called "Ruhr Essay" taken by LIFE photographer William Vandivert in 1946.  German industry had been destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II, but the underground coal mines were untouched, and mining was one of the first industries to recover.  Here we see German miners washing up in the communal shower.

More miners showering.

After showering, the miners dressed.  There were no lockers.  The miners changed in a huge, barn-like room, with their clothes on hooks attached to chains suspended from the ceiling.  The clothes were hauled up to the ceiling to get them out of the way.

More miners changing.

And still more.  In the distance you can see the clothes hanging from the ceiling.

The practice of having clothes on hooks hanging from the ceiling was not unique to German mines.  This photo was taken by LIFE photographer Ralph Crane at a mine in West Frankfort, Illinois in 1951.  You can see one guy changing in the background.