545. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #62 - Dropping Hairpins

Dropping Hairpins

Interjecting hints

in conversation about 

ones sexuality hoping 

others follow suit

-1950s-

Dropping hairpins can be subtle, for example "I don't really mind when a tailor measures me for a new pair of pants - especially if I'm not getting any"

-versus a more direct approach-

"I like those pleated slacks your wearing...it looks like you dress to the left; am I correct?"

-or-

"I hear Rock Hudson's not the marrying kind.  I doubt I will ever be either"

-versus-

"I'm just mad for Physique Magazine.  Would you ever pose like that for a stranger with a camera?"

 

In 1969, the New York Mattachine Society Newsletter called Stonewall "the hairpin drop heard round the world"

Also see: "Friend of Dorothy"

537. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #61 - Chicken

Chicken

Young or underage

Jailbait

-1960s-

"When I was chicken, I liked chicken and steak.  Now I'm steak, I only like steak, and I like my steak well aged"

530. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #60 - Tossing Beanbags

 

Tossing Beanbags

When masturbating, 

aiming so that cum 

hits a partner's chest or face

-1960s-

"That trick sure was hot but so nervous - I wanted to go around the world with him, but all he wanted to do was toss beanbags, which took about four minutes, and he was gone."

523. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the day #59 -Bead Reading

Bead-Reading

To tell someone off,

preferably

with and audience

-1960s-

"Honey, I'd read your beads, but I know absolutely nothing about costume jewelry"

Ramon Navarro

King George V as Prince of Wales

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

Harvey Keitel, The Duellists, 1977

Winston Churchill at 21

Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and King of Hungary colorized by Mario Unger

Czar Nicholas II of Russia, first cousin of George V, colorized by Mario Unger

514. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the day #58 - Juicy Fruit

Juicy Fruit

A gay man

who has diarrhea

-1960s-

"So we all headed over to Boston for the weekend for their Bean Festival and then we went to the flicks to see Montgomery Clift get eaten alive by the natives in Suddenly Last Summer, and you might as well have called us a box of juicy fruits.  Nobody made it to the last scene."

506. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #57- In the Closet

 

In the closet

Keeping one's 

sexual preference

status undivulged to

most of one's associates

-1960s-

The Degrees of Gay Self Awareness

and "Coming Out" stages

Consciousness: Horror and revulsion 

at the thought that one might be discovered as "being different"

Fraternity: Secretly seeking out 

the company of others who share one's interests

Concealment: Engaging in activities 

which leave no doubt of one's masculinity

Testing: Taking small steps 

to gauge the reaction of one's associates

Realization: Fully out of the Closet:

I'm here, I'm Queer, get used to it

498. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #56 - Peacock Palace

Peacock Palace

A men's 

clothing shop 

specializing in 

flamboyant styles

-1960s-

"Have you heard there's a new peacock palace in town that specialized in brocade jock straps? I'm now officially mad about brocade!  You should see the shopkeeper there!  He talked me into one last week.  I'm gonna go down there and see if I can get him to talk me out of it this week"

486. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #55 - Milky Way

Milky Way

A well-worn

path in a park 

or the woods

known for 

cruising

-1960s-

"I visited the Milky Way last weekend and met this older guy who said he was rich and owned a yacht, but that his access to it was tied up in probate at the moment.  So I let him suck my dick."

477. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #54 - Rhinestudded

Rhinestudded

Getting fucked

by a German

-1970s-

"We took an excursion to Wankendorf, and by the time I made it out of the tearoom at the bus station I'd been Rhinestudded five times!"

470. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the Day #53 - Bear

Bear

A large and/or

hairy gay man

-1980s-

In 1979 Advocate published a satirical article by writer George Mazzei, entitled "Who's Who in the Zoo" which assigned, via the illustrations of cartoonist Gerald Donelan, animal bodies to several types of gay men, including bears, owls, cats, dogs, marmosets and swans. 

Not long thereafter, in 1987 Richard Bulger and Chris Nelson founded Bear Magazine which included models which fit the physical description.  Jack Radcliffe was an early model who epitomized the ideal "muscle bear" with a full and solid hairy body and handsome bearded face.

462. Yesteryear's Queers' Word of the day #52 - Wedding Bells

Wedding Bells

In prison, the squeaking 

sound a mattress makes, 

overheard in surrounding 

cells when two cell-mates

are fucking

-1950s-

"Hey Mac - sounds like Killer and the new kid are hitting it off - I hear wedding bells"