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Believe it or not...1975
was the year that the world was first introduced to the
independently-made comedy drama titled "SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE
BATHS." The movie was filmed on location at the the
world-renowned Continental Baths (a favorite hangout of New York City
homosexuals) and it is an exploration of one man's sexual identity. The
story centers around an overly-macho, straight piano player who gets a
job at the Continental Bath's cabaret room and must therefore reconsider
his attitudes regarding homosexuality. At first he denies male
attraction, but later his defenses melt, especially after the baths'
manager finally beds him, releasing a torrent of pent-up memories and
sexual desire. His girlfriend helps him, too. In the end,
the piano player winds up becoming sure of his sexuality when he tries
to sleep with a gay man. The film's highlights are the female
impersonator acts, which offer some great renditions of Diana Ross, Judy
Garland, and Carmen Miranda.
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Believe it or not, on May
25, 1977 the sleazy (yet popular) Everard Baths located at 28
West 28th Street caught fire a day before a fire sprinkler
system was scheduled to be put into operation. Nine men died,
and many were seriously injured. One of the dead was a famous,
young DJ named Jimmy Stuard, who gained fame by spinning at the
immensely popular 12 West Disco in Manhattan. His memorial
service was held at Campbell's Funeral Home, which was the same
funeral home where Rudolph Valentino's service was held decades
earlier. The world of disco/dance music suffered immensely the
tragic day Jimmy perished, and he is greatly missed! |
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Believe it or not...There was
once a time when baths had their own billboards! This pic was
taken by Andrew Hodges in Sept. 1979. It's an
advertisement for Man's Country Baths. The exclamation
"Come!" encourages the reader to visit the
baths. The 1970s was a daring decade in which many
bathhouses advertised their facilities in gay areas, such as
this billboard in New York City's West Village, at Christopher
and Seventh Streets. When you get the chance, pay Andrew's
site a visit.
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The only book
ever written about the gay bathhouse experience in America was
published in 1979 by Michael Rumaker. "A Day and a
Night at the Baths" is an 81-page detail of Rumaker's first
experience at a gay bath, the infamous Everard Baths of New York
City. If anyone wants to know what that famous place was really
like during the salacious 70s, then this is a must-read
book. It is out of print, but available through online
retailers and rare book stores.
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Would you believe...that during the 1980 election, the New
St. Mark's Baths in New York, with the assistance of the League of Women Voters,
conducted a voter registration drive on its premises. Voter registration cards
were given out and mailed from the facility. This drive was the first time some
of the younger bathhouse patrons had registered to vote. A few years earlier,
Bella Abzug campaigned for Congress at the Continental Baths.
According to the
press, she took the stage in a rather large hat and a floor-length polka-dot
gown, saying, "I'm not sure I'm dressed for the occasion." She then
gave a visionary speech about gay rights, and told her her towel-clad listeners
that they have the right to live as they please. (Go, girl!)
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In the 1970s there were various
off-Broadway plays about bathhouses and what took place in them,
like Jerry Douglas' Tubstrip, which starred Cal Culver, a.k.a. Casey
Donovan. It took place in a New York bathhouse that was
somewhat like the Continental Baths. Other plays of the day
included James Carroll Pickett's Bathhouse Benediction, which
featured the solo ruminations of a man trapped in his cubicle as a
queeny voice over a public address system announces, "Your time is
up!" About the same time Rita Moreno appeared in a comedy movie
almost entirely filmed in a gay bathhouse, called "The Ritz."
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Can you imagine...On March
21st 1975 one woman went where no woman has gone before. On that
day, famed lesbian writer Rita Mae Brown donned male attire
& a mustache, and then she entered then Club Baths in New York
City. After standing in a line of about 30
men, she and a male friend signed their names on a clipboard,
then entered the baths for an interesting evening in which she
tried to explore gay male sexuality. During her 3 1/2 hours at the baths, Rita visited the locker
room, the Maze, orgy room, and the cruisy halls of the baths.
She left the baths that night feeling like she had stowed away
on the Queen Mary.
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Would you
believe...that Seattle police
shakedown a local gay bathhouse for payoffs from 1965 through
1968! According to the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, June 24, 1970, gay bathhouse owner Jack
Heimbigner made monthly payments of $200 to the Seattle Police
Department as "protection" from police harassment. The
$200 was divided among three shifts of beat cops who were assigned
to the area. Luckily, a 1970 trial exposed the police protection
system and led to criminal convictions, forced departmental
resignations, and a reorganization of the Seattle Police
Department, which ended the despicable practice.
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Believe it or
not...The Continental Baths of New York City was the first
bathhouse in the USA to have on premises (Monday and Thursday
evenings) two doctors from the New York City Department of
Health who provided towel-clad patrons with venereal disease
counseling! It was also the first establishment of its kind to
have a live disc jockey (in a glass booth) spin tunes for guests
at night and on the weekends. And, if you think that's
progressive, the Continental Baths also
had a small non-denominational chapel built and installed
for those gay men who chose to meditate between
fornicating...and it wasn't long before the bathhouse management
had alternating clergy offering services on Sunday
mornings! |
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