The Story Behd Gay Bob, the World's First Out-And-Proud Doll - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• 1977 ORIGAL GAY BOB DOLL - RARE - ANATOMILLY RRECT
• 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?
• GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS
• OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY
• REMEMBERG BOB, THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY DOLL, WHO WANTED TO BE A HERO

1977 ORIGAL GAY BOB DOLL - RARE - ANATOMILLY RRECT

1977 Origal Gay bob Doll - RARE - anatomilly rrect 1977 Origal Gay bob Doll - RARE - wh origal shippg box {[currentAmount|currency]} {[em. 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. And while Milk was urgg his iends and muny to e out of the closet, the “World’s First Gay Doll” was dog the exact same thg.

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. Rosenberg wanted Gay Bob to normalize the g out procs, while also actg as a fun accsory for those who were already out and proud. 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. I n only hope that the children who are given the Gay Bob dolls will not prehend the meang and tent of the mpaign. Attempts to get the doll to partment stor were largely a failure, so Rosenberg primarily sold Gay Bob via mail orr ads gay magaz.

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

Two thoand people snapped up their own Gay Bobs the first two months of the doll beg available, and Bob was later stocked San Francis and New York boutiqu.

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

In addn to wng Esquire’s “Dub Achievement Award” 1978, Gay Bob got his very own storyle Frank Zappa's 9-mute o to sexual experimentatn, “Sy B.

At the time he was ma, tongue--cheek though he was, Bob was meant to crease the visibily of gay people everywhere. “We had somethg to learn om the gay movement, jt like we did om the Black civil rights movement and the women’s movement, ” Harvey Rosenberg once said. “It’s another evince of the speratn the homosexual mpaign has reached s effort to put homosexual liftyle, which is a athstyle, across to the Amerin people.

Enraged nsumers plaed that a toy wh a homosexual backstory would lead to other ”disgtg” dolls like “Priscilla the Prostute” and “Danny the Dope Pher. Gay Bob, who was meant to remble a cross between Robert Redford and Pl Newman, was blond, wh a flannel shirt, tight jeans, and one pierced ear.

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

The doll gave anti-gay anizatns plenty to fear; trsic wh was a celebratn of gay inty, evinced by Gay Bob’s programmed speech. “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.

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

In a cheeky move, the box which Gay Bob was packaged me the outle of a closet, so that when he left his box, he was lerally g out of the closet. 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.

OUT AND PROUD: GAY BOB DOLLS AND THEIR PLACE HISTORY

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.

” In June 1977, she had the le repealed, and her anti-gay csa—which gaed wispread media attentn—sparked siar ventur Mnota, Oregon, Kansas, and California. Inially sold through mail-orr ads gay-themed magaz, Gay Bob soon expand to boutique stor New York and San Francis. 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.

Thirteen ch tall and plastic, Gay Bob was marketed as the first openly gay doll and ma his retail but mail-orr talogs.

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

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. While Rosenberg did not intify as gay, he stated that he had created the doll to liberate men om tradnal sexual rol. Acrdg to Rosenberg, regardls of a person’s sexualy, Gay Bob uld serve as an example for havg the urage to “e out of the closet” and be your te, thentic self.

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.