What About Gay Bob? | Natural History Mm

Contents:

• LGBT FLASHBACK 1997 – THE BILLY DOLL: THE WORLDS FIRST ANATOMILLY CORRECT GAY DOLL
• LOT 11 - GAY BILLY DOLL
• GAY CARLOS DOLL - GAY BILLY BOYIEND - POLICE UNIFORM
• TOM OF FLAND GAY DOLL FIGURE 001 REBEL ~COLLECTIBLE ~
• BILLY DOLL GAY RLOS VATN DOLL
• WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?
• "GAY BILLY" DOLL
• GAY BOB AND EARRG MAGIC KEN: A SHORT HISTORY OF GAY DOLLS

LGBT FLASHBACK 1997 – THE BILLY DOLL: THE WORLDS FIRST ANATOMILLY CORRECT GAY DOLL

Billy, the out and proud gay doll, by Totem Internatnal.

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. Gay Bob, the actual first gay doll, plete wh his closet and a talog promisg many tongue--cheek-outfs that didn’t actually exist. Gay Bob was also anatomilly rrect – although his proportns were a ltle more most than for the Billy le.

Billy had a number of guis based on stereotypil gay characters, cludg Sailor Billy, Cowboy Billy, Master Billy and San Francis Billy.

LOT 11 - GAY BILLY DOLL

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. The limed edn Gay Gam Billy and the equally hard-to-fd BPS Carlos doll.

The “Billy Doll” created by artist John McKterick and marketed the Uned Stat by London-based Totem Internatnal was known as “the first out and proud gay doll” McKterick who origally signed Billy as limed-edn n of 1, 200 dolls created to benef an AIDS chary cid to mass market his creatn after the entire first lot sold out a matter of days.

Billy was 13 ch tall and was troduced a number of versns, many based upon stereotypil gay characters of the time. Collectible anatomilly rrect gay Carlos doll by Totem. In 1977, Gay Bob me out of the closet.

GAY CARLOS DOLL - GAY BILLY BOYIEND - POLICE UNIFORM

Thirteen ch tall and plastic, Gay Bob was marketed as the first openly gay doll and ma his retail but mail-orr talogs. Gay Bob's packagg proudly (and wordily) explaed what “g out of the closet” meant:. "Hi boys, girls and grownups, I’m Gay Bob, the world’s first gay doll.

Gay people are no different than straight people. But remember, if Gay Bob has the urage to e out of his closet, so n you! 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.

TOM OF FLAND GAY DOLL FIGURE 001 REBEL ~COLLECTIBLE ~

Gay Bob’s story is ceptively plited and tertwed toy and LGBTQ+ history. The Creator - Who Ma Gay Bob?

Gay Bob was created by an advertisg executive named Harvey Rosenberg.

BILLY DOLL GAY RLOS VATN DOLL

Rosenberg put $10, 000 of his own money to gettg Gay Bob manufactured through his pany, Gizmo Development.

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.

WHAT ABOUT GAY BOB?

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. Gay Bob dolls were sold via mail-orr advertisements gay magaz and a few boutique shops New York Cy and San Francis. Consequently, ten thoand more dolls were produced, and Gay Bob was btowed wh Esquire magaze's "Dub Achievement Award" 1978.

Standg roughly 13 ch tall, Gay Bob was KenTM doll-que. A handsome and mascule doll, Gay Bob had a short feathery blon crew cut and was signed to look like a cross between Pl Newman and Robert Redford. 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.

"GAY BILLY" DOLL

” 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! Perhaps most notably the sign of Gay Bob is that he has anatomilly rrect genals.

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

Gay Bob’s box was signed to look like a closet. When Gay Bob was removed om the slidg se packagg, he was, effect, g out of the closet. Gay Bob was, acrdg to Rosenberg himself, a “cheaply” ma doll, packaged cleverly.

It's safe to say that Gay Bob's sign was over the top-- 's mp. 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.

How was Gay Bob received? “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 Bob me out of his closet, but the world he stepped to was ntent.