The Artistry of Pat Milo III

Today will be the third of a continuing series of posts showcasing the more artistic work of Pat Milo.  We start with Larry Zofe and a square stick of lumber.

 

Keith Overton

Pat Milo could be very sparing with props to great effect.

This example of that is of Keith Overton.

 

Tom Bailey

The old adage "sometimes less is more" seems to apply in Mr. Milo's photo of Tom Bailey.

 

Dave Fletcher

The screen at right adds interest to this Pat Milo photo of Dave Fletcher.

 

Max Yardley

The Mid-Century Modern screen is a nice touch in this photo of Max Yardley that I first 

posted almost six years ago.  I had to bring it back for this Milo Artistry set.

 

Mike Dunn

Pat Milo used a partially visible hoop and some good lighting in this shot of Mike Dunn.

 

Robert Rex

If I'm being honest, I will have to say that I don't particularly like Robert Rex's looks.

When photographed just right by Pat Milo, however, that opinion changes.

 

Tom Cerelli

I really like the geometry of the white and black sections of the set Pat Milo 

used here to photograph Tom Cerelli.  That lighting is pretty good as well.

 

Don Evans

Mr. Milo photographed Don Evans in a nice patio garden.

 

Larry Webb

Closing out the Pat Milo Artistry set with Larry Webb and some trademark lighting.

 

Nudist Sporting Day

Today we'll look at ten different nudist sporting efforts,

starting with this guy bouncing on a trampoline.

 

Badminton

I've visited Indonesia half a dozen times, and badminton seems to be a national sports obsession there.  This American nudist plays it and seems to be reaching out for something.

 

Ping pong

We actually had a PE teacher in high school who made us play ping pong, except 

he called it table tennis.  Someone complained about the lack of real exercise, 

so he dropped it and made us play dodgeball as punishment for complaining..

 

Tennis

Graham here looks like he has a powerful serve.

 

Gymnastics

Is there something like this in men's gymnastics,

or are these two just goofing around?

 

Footrace

The young man holding the banner seens to be intently watching the start of a footrace.

 

Shuffleboard

If my completely unscientific survey of vintage nudist magazines, shuffleboard was second only to volleyball in its popularity among Amercan nudists.  And if  you're wondering why there are no volleyball photos in today's series, it's because I'm giving them their own day later.

 

Darts

Here's some advice from a world traveler.  Do NOT try to tell an English 

pub denizen that darts is not a sport.  No good will come of it.

 

Odd Paddleball

Colin Kenny took this photo of Birgo getting ready for a "hard service."  Let your minds run wild with that one, but I want to know what wierd sort of paddleball this is.  The photo is Australian.

 

Horseshoes

Our last nudist sport is horseshoes, something most of you probably didn't know has a professional league with cash prizes that you can see on ESPN.  I'm sure this guy was strictly amateur.

 

Bath House Day Triple Feature, Part 1 - Turkish Hammam

Today I'm posting a triple feature on bath houses.  The Romans are said to have invented the 

concept of public bathing facilities, but there is some archaeological evidence they might have 

been around even longer than that.  In part one, we look at the Turkish hammam, a type of facility 

that closely approximates the Roman.  These photos came to me undated, but some 

of the details make me think they are several decades old.  

As for sexual activity in hammams, the official line is that it is not allowed, but according to a 2019 travel blogger,  "I received assurances from my hotel concierge, the taxi driver, and the guy at the front desk that this place was absolutely not a gay bath house.  After twenty minutes, the groans emanating from the dark corners convinced me that their definition of gay differed from mine.  I can only imagine what the hammams advertised as gay might be like."

 

That look

I've stared at this for half an hour, and I still can't figure out the look on this guy's face.

Of course, first I had to stop and look at those lovely rumps.

 

Shower

I think this guy is switching on an ancient looking shower in the hammam.

 

Lighting

I really like the lighting in this one, plus the way the odd guy is reading a newspaper.

 

Hmmmm . . .

If I didn't know better, I'd think there was more going on here than a soap suds massage.

 

Bath House Day, Part 2 - Gay Baths

Part two of out triple feature goes gay.  From the earliest days of public baths, men have 

engaged in sexual activity with each other on site.  One example would be the Everard Baths 

of New York City, which was notorious for such as early as the late 19th Century.  By the 1960s, 

bath houses operated by and for gays sprang up in nearly every large American city.  

Not long after, bath house porn began to appear.

 

VHS

In the late 1970s when VHS and Beta video recording became available, lots of small time operators got into the porn film business.  This is an early example in black and white of a bath  house video,

and this screen grab is about as good quality wise as the original

 

Convenience

Some interior designer conveniently place a bench right under the showers in this bath house.

 

Another still

This is another grainy screen capture from a different VHS porn video made in a bath house.

 

And finally . . . Going or coming

This undated gay bath house scene features a shower right in the locker area.

I cant tell if the guy at left is coming in or going out.

 

Bath House Day, Part 3 - The English

Part three of Bath House Day takes us to England.  As London and other English cities became more crowded during the Industrial Revolution, hygenic concerns led to the construction of public bath houses as early as 1842.  They ranged from the very simple and utilitarian in working class neighborhoods to posh facilities at gentlemen's clubs.  The scene above from 1900 is the shampooing room at the Jermyn Street Turkish Bath in London which was built to resemble a hammam.  Apparently, this was a middle class establishment, and a contemporary description went:

"Then one is conducted to the shampooing room, and whilst reposing on a marble slab, one is massaged by light-handed attendants. That process is followed by a series of brushes and different soaps; and after a variety of shower douches and a plunge into cold water, the bath is complete. A sojourn in a lofty cooling room, a quiet smoke, or a light meal, and one sallies forth to a new being. A visit to the gallery of the attendant hairdressers makes perfection more perfect."

 

Royal Pioneer Corps, 1940

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After a particulary heavy air raid on London during the Blitz in 1940, soldiers of the Royal Pioneer Corps were called in to help clear rubble from key transport corridors and facilities.  For respite from their backbreaking labor, they were treated to a day at a bath house in an undamaged part of the city.  What a fine looking group of men with a variety of ages!

 

Watford, 1953

Turkish bath attendant Ernest Smith is giving a patron a massage in Watford in 1953.

 

Bolton

This interesting group of fellows is relaxing at the Great Moor Street Baths of Bolton in 1975.  

There's at least one tease in the group.

 

Poplar, East End

 

Our last bath house triple feature photos is from the "relaxation room" of the Poplar Baths in the East End of London.  The place was still going strong when this photo was made in 1987.