#FlashBack: 1979, the Gay Bob Doll - The WOW Report

Contents:

• MEET GAY BOB, THE 1977 DOLL THAT URGED PEOPLE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET
• THE STORY BEHD GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OUT-AND-PROUD DOLL
• WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?
• 1977 ORIGAL GAY BOB DOLL - RARE - ANATOMILLY RRECT
• OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY
• #FLASHBACK: 1979, THE GAY BOB DOLL
• THE STORY OF GAY BOB, THE NTROVERSIAL 1970S DOLL THAT WOULD BE JT PLA OFFENSIVE TODAY
• THE STORY BEHD GAY BOB, THE WORLD'S FIRST OUT-AND-PROUD DOLL
• HOW GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DOLL, CAME TO BE
• TAG ARCHIV: GAY BOB
• REMEMBERG BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY DOLL, WHO WANTED TO BE A HERO
• GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS

MEET GAY BOB, THE 1977 DOLL THAT URGED PEOPLE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET

Jun 12, 2020Failed to save articlePlease try agaThis article is more than 3 years 1860s Germany, Karl Herich Ulrichs urged other gay people to publicly reveal their sexual orientatn. Digned to look like a batn of Pl Newman and Robert Redford and packed to his own rdboard closet, Gay Bob was the brachild of former advertisg executive Harvey Rosenberg. In an terview to promote Gay Bob, Rosenberg once said, “Bob’s perfect for an executive’s sk, dash board ornament, the attache se, the bathtub rim, a health club gym bag.

Edward Rowe, the executive director of Protect Ameri’s Children, was quoted a 1978 issue of the Ptsburgh Post-Gazette scribg Gay Bob as “another evince of the speratn the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put homosexual liftyle, which is a ath style, across to the Amerin people. “Gay people, ” Bob said, “are no different than straight people… if everyone me ‘out of their closets’ there wouldn’t be so many angry, trated, ightened people.

THE STORY BEHD GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OUT-AND-PROUD DOLL

Gay Bob explaed: “It’s not easy to be hont about what you are — fact tak a great al of urage… But remember if Gay Bob has the urage to e out his closet, so n you. The doll’s creator, Harvey Rosenberg, a former advertisg executive who veloped marketg mpaigns for var rporatns, wanted Gay Bob to “liberate” men om “tradnal sexual rol.

Though Gay Bob was certaly humoro—the doll was signed to be anatomilly rrect, and proment gay activists such as Bce Voeller told reporters that people should “al wh [the doll] lightly and enjoy ”—Rosenberg’s tentns seem to have been scere. When asked why he would pour $10, 000 of his money to the Gay Bob’s productn, he replied, “we had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement and the women’s movement, and that is havg the urage to stand up and say ‘I have a right to be what I am. When Gay Bob h stor 1978, that right to be gay and equal was once aga unr attack, most notably om Ana Bryant, a sger and well-known brand ambassador who mobilized opposn to a Da County, Florida ordance that outlawed discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn.

And, turns out, those nsumers who feared the troductn of more “disgtg” dolls were partially rrect—Rosenberg soon gave Gay Bob a fay of his own, wh brothers Marty Macho, Executive Eddie, Anx Al, and Straight Steve (who lived the suburbs and wore blue sus), and sisters Fashnable Fran, Liberated Libby, and Nervo Nelly. At face value, Gay Bob’s msage about the mers of g out seems earnt, pog the valu of urage, honty, and livg thentilly; however, the brandg and sign of the Gay Bob doll are brash. We had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement, and the women’s movement and that is havg the urage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am.

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

Durg a prs blz for the doll’s release, Rosenberg also dited that Gay Bob was a spoof of other “amorpho, sexls dolls, ” which was undoubtedly a reference to Mattel’s KenTM and BarbieTM. He had plans to release addnal dolls that would have ma up the rt of Gay Bob’s fay (a mother, father, and two brothers); however, the other dolls were never produced. He had a preprogrammed voice rerdg that played the earnt msage, “Gay people are no different than straight people… if everyone me ‘out of their closets, ’ there wouldn’t be so many angry, trated, ightened people.

1977 ORIGAL GAY BOB DOLL - RARE - ANATOMILLY RRECT

” This reerated msagg om his fashn talog that fed “g out of the closet” as what uld be scribed as Gay Bob’s manifto—be urageo by g out of your closet and livg hontly, like Gay Bob!

But Gay Bob was more than jt clever packagg; he also promoted the ia that g out of the closet, beg open and hont wh the people your life, was a powerful and urageo act.

“It’s a real giggle and kd of fun, ” said Bce Voeller, executive director of the Natnal Gay Task Force said at the time, “I thk we should al wh lightly and enjoy . Gay Rights and Gay Inty had entered more mon areas the cultural nversatn, but LGBTQ+ people were still discrimated agast, stigmatized, and legislated agast on large and small sl.

OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY

At the same time Gay Bob h the mail-orr adult-centric talogs (and a uple of biastal boutique shelv) sger and anti-gay rights activist Ana Bryant found Save Our Children, Inc, which opposed the gay rights movement.

Rowe lled the Gay Bob dolls, “evince of the speratn of the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put the homosexual liftyle, which is a athstyle, across to the Amerin people. I n only hope that the children who are given the Gay Bob dolls will not prehend the meang and tent of the mpaign that is behd their manufacture and distributn.

#FLASHBACK: 1979, THE GAY BOB DOLL

That changed 1997 wh Totem Internatnal’s troductn of the Billy doll who claimed to be the first “Out and Proud Gay Doll”—although that distctn clearly belongs to Gay Bob.

THE STORY OF GAY BOB, THE NTROVERSIAL 1970S DOLL THAT WOULD BE JT PLA OFFENSIVE TODAY

While fans celebrated the cln of Mamie and Lyte as reprentatn and clivy, also led to homophobic backlash straight out of Ana Bryant’s book several s after Save the Children began. It would be easy to look at the story of Gay Bob and thk was simply a novelty em that got ught up the polics of the time for a brief moment and is now largely fotten.

THE STORY BEHD GAY BOB, THE WORLD'S FIRST OUT-AND-PROUD DOLL

Gay Bob, as he was dubbed, wore tight jeans and wboy boots, and was by no means your average Ken (he sported a ltle extra, if you tch our drift), so his mere existence was a bold statement a world not yet ready to accept the LGBTQ+ muny. Dpe beg somewhat tongue--cheek both name and sign—and spe beg wily cricized and eher rejected or banned by most retailers—Gay Bob did mark a step forward visibily and acceptance for the gay populatn, offerg a glimmer of hope for those fightg for equal rights and reprentatn 1970s Ameri. In June 1970, on the anniversary of the Stonewall rts, the first gay pri para was held several Amerin ci, wh participants marchg to memorate the events of the prev year and to ll for equal rights and regnn.

In July 1974, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn voted to remove homosexualy om the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs, a major step toward stigmatizg homosexualy. Durg the 1970s, sodomy laws, which crimalized homosexualy, were still place many Amerin stat; Harvey Milk was assassated jt one year after beg elected; and 1977, the Save Our Children mpaign, led by Christian pop sger Ana Bryant, succsfully repealed a newly enacted ordance Da County, Florida, that prohibed discrimatn based on sexual orientatn. So, he broke ti wh all the rporatns he had prevly worked wh and vted $10, 000 of his own money (equivalent to about $50, 000 today) to fund the velopment of the Gay Bob doll, which he knew would be a dissent act.

When asked about the fancial grounds unrpng this cisn, he supposedly said nothg of the market at all, but simply replied wh, “I’m not gay, but we had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement, and the women’s movement—and that is havg the urage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am. An expensively ma doll, Gay Bob was packaged que genly—his box was signed to look like a closet, featurg an illtrated wardrobe on the si, and a simulated closet door on the outsi.

HOW GAY BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DOLL, CAME TO BE

Wh a pact, mcular stature of 13 ch (33 cm) and a price range of $15 to $20, Gay Bob was envisned as a blend of the dashg charm of Pl Newman and the sophistited elegance of Robert Redford.

TAG ARCHIV: GAY BOB

Wh his well-groomed, short and feathery blon hair, the gold cha around his neck and a sgle pierced ear wh a blue earrg, he embodied a nfint and stylish appearance, oozg wh mascule energy while nveyg the bold and adventuro spir of the ntemporary homosexual liftyle. A host of other accsori and outfs were further scribed the acpanyg fashn talog, showsg Gay Bob’s wi range of styl, om the adventuro and gged “Gay Mounta Climber” ensemble to the preppy “Gay Polo Club Member” attire to the laid-back “Gay Suburbane” and “Gay Farmer” looks.

On the pl si, Gay Bob earned himself an explic reference Frank Zappa’s 1979 three-part rock opera, Joe’s Garage, more particularly the first scene of Act II, “The Closet. ” In the song tled “Sy B, ” around the 3 mute mark, a robotic voice tells Joe, the protagonist of the story, “I share this apartment wh a modified Gay Bob doll. On paper, Heavy Harry and Fat Pat were supposed to be his parents; Marty Macho, Executive Eddie, Straight Steve and Anx Al were tend to be his four brothers, each one the embodiment of a different stereotype; fally, Fashnable Fran, Liberated Libby, and Nervo Nelly were meant to be Gay Bob’s three ltle sisters, their characters engraved their nam.

Thgs changed a b 1993, when Mattel released Earrg Magic Ken who—spe beg signed to be Magic Barbie’s boyiend—looked too stereotypilly feme and flamboyant to not be dubbed “a closeted gay. Billy was troduced 1997, he was based on drawgs created by artist John McKterick and marketed the Uned Stat by London-based Totem Internatnal as “the first out and proud gay doll”, although that distctn actually belongs to Gay Bob, troduced 1977. Billy and Carlos donned drag 1999, wh Billy drsed a ggham checkered pantsu as “Dolly” and Carlos as “Carmen” a polka dot outf remiscent of those worn by Carmen Miranda to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, an event which lnched the gay liberatn movement the Uned Stat.

REMEMBERG BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY DOLL, WHO WANTED TO BE A HERO

In 1977, right the thick of the sexual revolutn and a growg Gay Rights movement, advertisg executive Harvey Rosenberg troduced “Amerin Gay Bob”, and created buzz and outrage as the ”World’s First Openly Gay Doll”.

GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS

Gay Bob was signed to be anatomilly rrect, and gay activist Bce Voeller (founr of the Natnal Gay Task Force 1973) told reporters that people should ”al wh the doll lightly and enjoy . We had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the black civil rights movement and the women’s movement, and that is havg the urage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am’. Rosenberg soon gave Gay Bob iends wh the dolls “Marty Macho”, “Executive Eddie”, “Anx Al”, and “Straight Steve” who lived the suburbs and wore sus, pl sisters “Fashnable Fran”, “Liberated Libby”, and “Nervo Nelly”.

It was quickly noted that there was remblance between Earrg Magic Ken and a stereotypil gay man of the era, om the purple cloth to the earrg to the necklace, which was scribed as a “chrome ck rg”. Dpe the mercial succs of the doll, an exposé on the secret meang of the “circular charm” as a gay sex toy om our hero Dan Savage the Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger, led Mattel to disntue Earrg Magic Ken and rell the doll om stor. Only a mere 40 years ago, gay marriage was not legal any Amerin state and homophobic mdsets were wispread and generally accepted; many members of the LGBT muny remaed private about their sexualy, pecially ral (hick) towns, unbeknownst to them who was a homophobic asshole and who wasn’t.