Cannon's "True Towel Tales"

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jeffg

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According to Cannon, this 1943-44 advertisement series was targeted toward American women whose husbands were serving overseas during World War II. However the series wound up appealing far more to gay American men than American women.

The artwork was done by some of the best illustrators of the day: James Bingham, Steven Dohanos and Fred Ludekens.

Here is the LIFE Magazine edition information for this series, in case you're interested in seeing original copies:

#1 "Army Day - Crocodiles Keep Out!" - Life Magazine August 16, 1943
#2 "Alaskan Aquacade" - Life Magazine October 4, 1943 Art by Fred L.
#3 "What ... No Bath Salts?" - Life Magazine December 20, 1943 Art by Steven Dohanos
#4 "Tank Corps" - Life Magazine January 3, 1944
#5 "Hey, Turn Off The Water, Jumbo!" - Life Magazine March 20, 1944
#6 "Buna Bathtub" - Life Magazine June 26, 1944 Art by Bingham

#1 "Army Day - Crocodiles Keep Out!"

JeffG++10-7-2009-16-42-39.jpg
 
These are beautiful photographs.

One can easly see the gayness of these pictures. Makes you wonder if anything was going on with these servicemen ;)
 
Or was it just the innocence of the times...

There was an era in this country where men were not afraid to be close to one another. There is a great book of WW2 era photographs of Navy men called "At Ease" by Evan Bachner showing pictures of real life servicemen having fun and relaxing with each other - there is some nudity but nothing overtly sexual. While one could speculate that "sumthin' is goin' on" the overall context is one of camaradie and not anything sexual.

I think it was the tight assed 1950's and the era of McCarthy that raised the fear of the "homo threat" and caused men to stop acting that way for fear they would be considered homosexual.
 
Actually the author uses one of these ads in the book

Kind of sad that for most of the general public, this type of art has a "gay quotient."
 
> I think it was the tight assed 1950's and the era of McCarthy that raised the fear of the "homo threat" and caused men to stop acting that way for fear they would be considered homosexual. <

Well, not long before the 1950's there was no such word as "homosexual", at least in English. Prior to that time gay people either entered religious service or sham heterosexual marriages.

WWII permanently changed America's perspective toward both gay people and women. Suddenly one's sex and sexual orientation were recognized as being secondary factors to more important matters, such as national defense.

When I tried a Google search for "True Towel Tales", this is the first thing that came up:

“True towel tales . . . as told to us by a soldier.”
Life in the armed services had a long-lasting impact on America’s homosexual population. Far from home, many gay men and lesbian women felt less social pressure to conform to heterosexual social norms, and the need for manpower made the military somewhat more tolerant of homosexual men and women in its ranks (although it still purged many gay and lesbian soldiers). Many who first expressed their sexual orientation during the war later became pioneers in the gay and lesbian rights movement. This towel advertisement was one of a series published during 1943–44 that framed its sales-pitch in homoerotic imagery inspired by purported testimony from G.I.s overseas. The ads, which are sexually ambiguous, suggest how the same-sex environment in the military afforded young men, both gay and straight, with opportunities for sexual self-discovery. "
 
Thanks for posting these, Jeff! I've always wanted to see all of them.

A number of years ago, I saw a documentary about homosexuality during WWII in the U.S. military that started out with a commentary on the closeness, intimate (non-sexual) bonding and maternal instincts that many men displayed toward one another during what was some of the most harrowing days of their young lives.
 
WW2 certainlly was a beginning...

>WWII permanently changed America's perspective toward both gay people and women. Suddenly one's sex and sexual orientation were recognized as being secondary factors to more important matters, such as national defense. <

And that truly WAS a great thing. Wish it was more true now. C'mon, if you are gay and want to be in the military you want it because of a sense of duty and honor - not to have 'fresh meat in the shower room'. Hopefully, things will change soon and we will be able to serve openly and it won't be a big deal.

I wonder if some of the sado-masochistic scandals that occasionally come up in the forces really have nothing to do with homosexuality but are a reaction to the fear of being branded as as homosexual and the need for humans to connect (in a sexual context or not).
 
oh daddy, where has your mouth been?

Panel 383496.

Just exactly WHERE is that soldier's hand? The one on the left in the canoe.

And if the one wearing a fern is not belting out a show-tune, I'm a monkey's uncle.

Male bonding.. oh is THAT what it is called...indeed.

A friend of mine, when he outed himself to his father, got the following response: "I can understand guys helping each-other out with a BJ, but to to make a liefestyle of it?" Talk about being floored...........*LOL*
 
This is a great topic,

Lets not forget that these men sleep together, bath together, ate together, probably done their business together and died together as well. Whether it was on the battleground, on board ship or in a plane these men had no family with them except for their comrades. My mother's brother was in WWII and I remember he had a picture of himself and a buddy in their uniform. When I asked about his buddy in this photograph, he started crying and nothing was ever said, so I knew he must have bonded with him in a way that no one could understand. No one can't say that these men didn't develop some kind of intimate relationship while in the Hells of war
 
Could you imagine the hub bub that would occur if these were released today? The military would freak first, then there would have to be an inquisition as to how somebody would DARE represent our military boys in such a fashion!
How times have changed.
 
What's unthinkable today is that a corporate advertisement would tell consumers to try and make do with what they already have, instead of buy more product.

Also, notice Cannon's advice to "Buy good-quality towels, always the best economy". It was very true, their (and Fieldcrest's) towels easily lasted 15-20 years with proper care. And they didn't shed like crazy, like today's gargage from India and Pakistan.
 
I think

we didn't really come in for that 'special love' of the christianists until they had to find a new scapegoat. What with all the laws regarding treatment of ethnic and racial groups, we and the transgender are pretty much the only ones left they can legally treat as sub-human.

Listen to Rep. Gohmert's instructions to the House.

Translate this into German and I could put it into several similar speeches given in the early 1930's to the Reichstag and nobody would notice the anachronism. Or substitute 'communists' for 'homosexuals' and it would pass for a McCarthy era speech one to one.

We need hate crimes protection, we need full human and civil rights, DADT needs to be repealed and marriage rights finally recognized.

What a sick, hateful world the christianists have created.

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www.towleroad.com
 
Institutional Ads

If you go through WWII-era publications, you will find lots of advertising by major manufacturers in the United States. Most had nothing to sell, but wanted to keep their brand names in the public's mind. Whether it was Bendix showing their washers on board military ships, Maytag showing the airplane parts made in their vast aluminum foundries, Hotpoint showing kitchen and laundry plans for after the war or the General Electric ad showing the young wife setting her oven to turn on and cook an oven meal while she spent the afternoon volunteering to roll bandages at the Red Cross, the ads carried the messages that we were in this until victory and that buying war bonds would make it possible to have new products after we won the war. Some emphasized communal cooperation, like the woman who had been fortunate enough to get a new washer before the war helping out her neighbors by doing laundry while they worked in hospitals, defense plants, etc. Many ads contained pointers on how to make their products last, offered coupons to mail in for pamphlets on preventive care or said that their dealers had the pamphlets. Use it up, wear it out; make it do or do without.

There were lots of recipes dealing with substituting honey for sugar, preparing meatless meals, articles on victory gardens, canning produce and home maintenance for women left in charge of houses. I believe it was the magazine American Home that added the words "the second front" below the title on the cover during the war years to reinforce the message that actions taken at home were important to winning the war.
 

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