AMOK DISPATCH

Orgone

Nudist magazines did not magically spring into existence on January 1, 1950. For more than 20 years a few American dealers had battled the Customs Service over the importation of foreign nudist publications and a few American publishers had battled the U.S. Post Office and local authorities over the distribution of American nudist publications. All of the authorities started with the attitude that the appearance of genitals or pubic hair in a photograph automatically identified that photograph, and the magazine containing the photo, as being obscene and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. Publishers of “art model” magazines were able to escape this condemnation by airbrushing genital areas to a neutral gray.

This created a catch-22 situation for anyone trying to publish a real nudist magazine. If pubic hair was visible the publisher could be prosecuted by authorities, and if it was airbrushed away he could be condemned by nudists, and customers for failing to provide authentic nudist scenes. What’s more, many local authorities were willing to start some form of prosecution if there were any uncovered female breasts on the magazine cover.

A few nudist leaders and/or regional organizations tried to start new nudist publications, with unretouched photos, in this hostile legal atmosphere, but they had trouble getting enough subscriptions to be economically viable. During most of the 50s, just two publishers dominated the field.

The commercial publisher of Modern Sunbathing chose to minimize prosecution by airbrushing photos and maximize distribution by having cover models wear bathing suits. Within the nudist movement some purists faulted this compromise but the fact remains that thousands of people got their first reliable information about nudist activity from the pages of this widely distributed magazine. Some of those people also arranged their first visit to one of the nudist parks listed in the official directory printed in Modern Sunbathing.

On the other hand, Ilsley Boone, the nudist publisher of Sunshine & Health and SUN magazines, chose to stay with authentic photos and to fight the obscenity charge in the courts. As the established leader of the American Sunbathing Association he had the financial and moral support of a dedicated membership but the battle consumed many years. The first break came in 1953 when a United States District Court told the Post Office that Sunshine & Health and SUN were not legally obscene, and that the Post Office could no longer interfere with the mailing of those publications. However, this district court decision was not binding on all authorities nationwide, so the battle had to go on.

It then took until 1958 to obtain a Supreme Court ruling that those publications were not legally obscene. At last the constitutional blanket of protection was extended to unretouched photos of nude people in authentic nudist magazines.

From Nudist Magazines of the 50s & 60s by Ed Lange and Stan Sohler

 

 

Reviews

California’s Nude Beaches: The Clothes-Free/Hassle-Free Guide

Dave Patrick

Sun, sand, surf—and sex organs! It’s bare as you dare in Sunny California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, since nude bathing is still prohibited in all four states. The author visits dozens of famous bottomless beaches, providing history, tips and driving directions for each. Plus sidebars on nude resorts and a dozen clothing-optional hot springs. Perhaps the first book to show the author with his pants off. GR

Publisher: Bold Type
Paperback: 150 pages
Illustrated

Family Naturism in America

Ed Lange

“Naturism in America has progressed from the days when nudists had to hide behind high walls and keep their nudist affiliation secret. Today, many quality resorts vie for the nudists’ vacation dollars, many of them providing excellent housing and A-1 restaurants for their patrons’ convenience. Designed for the inquiring individual who wishes to know more about this fascinating form of recreation.”

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 100 pages
Illustrated

Fun in the Sun, Book One

Elysium Growth

“WHAT is the nudist idea? WHO are the nudists? WHEN and WHERE is the nudist experience occurring? HOW does one become a nudist? The answers to all these questions can be found in this information-packed, beautiful book.”

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 64 pages
Illustrated

Fun in the Sun, Book Two

Elysium Growth

“WHAT is the nudist idea? WHO are the nudists? WHEN and WHERE is the nudist experience occurring? HOW does one become a nudist? The answers to all these questions can be found in this information-packed, beautiful book.”

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 64 pages
Illustrated

Growing Up Without Shame

Dennis Craig Smith with Dr. William Sparks

“Challenges the assumptions that social nudity is harmful to healthy childhood development. The author met adults who had experienced social nudity in an ethical, humanistic environment as children and had come to accept their sexuality without shame. His findings contradict Freud’s concept that children are harmed by the sight of their parents’ nakedness, offering concrete examples of adults whose lives are better because of the body- and self-acceptance they developed as children.”

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 221 pages
Illustrated

Jock Sturges

Jean-Christophe Ammann and Jock Sturges

Each summer for many years, Sturges has traveled to France’s southern Atlantic coast where a group of nudist families spend their seaside holiday. He has devoted himself to photographing mostly the daughters of these families as they posed for him in the nude by the beach and in other nearby outdoor settings. For his dedication to capturing the ineffable beauty of these pre-, post- and pubescent girls naked and at peace with Nature, Sturges has had his masterful work shown in art galleries, museums and now in this elegant monograph put out by Frankfurt’s Museum für Moderne Kunst. Thanks to a snitch at a photo lab, Sturges has also had his San Francisco studio raided by the FBI and been prosecuted for kiddie porn.
The sexual subtext of these pictures is impossible to ignore, yet Sturges seems to be meeting these graceful, unashamed young people on their own terms. So where does the danger lie? Radiant and self-possessed, the subjects of these photographs clearly present some sort of challenge to our culture and national id. Perhaps the FBI should have raided the Ramseys’ house and confiscated JonBenet’s makeup, pumps and frills, and left Sturges alone. SS/MH

Publisher: DAP
Hardback: 204 pages
Illustrated

Lee Baxandall’s World Guide to Nude Beaches and Resorts

Lee Baxandall

Brilliant color photographs featuring festive, nude people grace practically every page of this fun and friendly naturist guide. Many photos correspond with individual listings, giving holiday makers a glance at thousands of clothing-optional beaches, resorts, parks and more. Particularly cool shots show a nude shooting range, the nude supermarket, and other choice scenes that verify the fact that one doesn’t really need clothes to do most things. All in all, a great guide for families who like to pack lightly. However, there are glaring errors that make it worthwhile to check ahead and locally before taking the plunge. A couple of the places listed just aren’t happening anymore, and some of the places have changed dramatically since the time of the book’s publication. Delonegha Hot Springs, for instance, in California’s Sequoia National Forest, is now privately owned and mostly visited by clothed Koreans. GE

Publisher: N Editions
Paperback: 272 pages
Illustrated

Nudist Magazines of the ‘50s and ‘60s: Book One

Ed Lange and Stan Sohler

This two-part anthology combines articles on the history and ethics of nudism and nudist publishing, with scores of photos that capture the gleefully naked antics of legions of sun-worshiping men, women and children. Whether riding dune buggies, gyrating with hula hoops, sitting under hair dryers, bowling, competing in beauty pageants, or just hunkering down for a few mai-tais, life in the raw is an endless pleasure spree. And the fact that many of the nude revelers look like Martin Milner and Patty Duke makes it all the more fun. Includes the how-to essay “Dance Naked With Music” by Laura Archer Huxley, absurdly juxtaposed with a foreword by husband Aldous (“Human beings are multiple amphibians…”) with pictures of Mrs. Huxley writhing and undulating in someone’s batch pad living room, captioned with her own written exhortation to “Go into a room by yourself. Put on your favorite music. Throw off your clothes. And dance!” One can only assume that this kind of thing is included to bridge the gap between the spiritual and the prurient, but if one ignores the “sing the body electric” rhetoric while checking out the buns and wieners, and still appreciate this stuff as sublime, omnisexual porno-kitsch. MG

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 95 pages
Illustrated

Nudist Magazines of the ‘50s and ‘60s: Book Two

Ed Lange and Stan Sohler

This two-part anthology combines articles on the history and ethics of nudism and nudist publishing, with scores of photos that capture the gleefully naked antics of legions of sun-worshiping men, women and children. Whether riding dune buggies, gyrating with hula hoops, sitting under hair dryers, bowling, competing in beauty pageants, or just hunkering down for a few mai-tais, life in the raw is an endless pleasure spree. And the fact that many of the nude revelers look like Martin Milner and Patty Duke makes it all the more fun. Includes the how-to essay “Dance Naked With Music” by Laura Archer Huxley, absurdly juxtaposed with a foreword by husband Aldous (“Human beings are multiple amphibians…”) with pictures of Mrs. Huxley writhing and undulating in someone’s batch pad living room, captioned with her own written exhortation to “Go into a room by yourself. Put on your favorite music. Throw off your clothes. And dance!” One can only assume that this kind of thing is included to bridge the gap between the spiritual and the prurient, but if one ignores the “sing the body electric” rhetoric while checking out the buns and wieners, and still appreciate this stuff as sublime, omnisexual porno-kitsch. MG

Publisher: Elysium Growth
Paperback: 95 pages
Illustrated