The Hanky Co was a tradnal form of signalg to others your sexual preferenc, fetish and terts were. Gay men ed this to munite wh each other the noisy and distractg environment of gay bars. Acrdg to J. Raúl Cornier for The History Project Boston, The hanky was a vert sartorial
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#GAYFLASHBACK: A HANDY HANKY CO PRIMER (COLORED BANDANAS YOUR BACK POCKET IS A SEXUAL SIGNAL –LEFT OR RIGHT?)
Eroti shops, bookstor, and talogs provid r lists wh the purchase of bandanas, while gay bars prted the lists wh lotn rmatn as a form of marketg. Practiced predomately by queer men the Bondage, Disciple, and Sado-Masochism (BDSM) or leather subculture, the hanky beme part of the gay mastream.
It was a way for gay men, and members of the BDSM muny om the 60's to the 80's, to secretly signal their sexual terts at a time when homosexualy was very much owned upon.
II - History of the Hanky (srf / gay bandana ). The Hanky Co was created at a time when open discsns about sexualy (pecially between two men) were illegal, as was beg gay. It was th created and ed by gay men muni, maly durg the 70s and 80s.