The Q letters

[Jones, Nikka]

I have just been given "The Q letters" by Sir John Q as a gift. It is an autobiographical awakening into the bdsm lifestyle. I highly recommend it. I was wondering if anyone out there has also read it. Even better: Are any members of this forum old enough to remember what the scene was like then (the 60's)?

[BruceBoxer]

I recall the 60's kiddo but no scenes unless self-abuse with alcohol and pot are considered BDSM. I haven't heard of that book--have to check it out--thanks for the tip.


Originally posted by Jones, Nikka
I have just been given "The Q letters" by Sir John Q as a gift. It is an autobiographical awakening into the bdsm lifestyle. I highly recommend it. I was wondering if anyone out there has also read it. Even better: Are any members of this forum old enough to remember what the scene was like then (the 60's)?

[Spitman]

In the 1960s there was a big emphasis on printed material. The Olympia Press published paperbacks looking a bit like Penguin books, only green. Ophelia Press was red. Then there was House of Milan (HOM) with pictures on the covers of books, the best by F.E. Campbell, mono graphic art hand drawn by artists like Bishop. Most airports had a good stock of erotic literature. There were no adult movies in hotels in those days.

There were many glossy magazines with stories and photographs and drawings depicting various kinds of bondage. Titles included Hogtie, Stocks and Bonds and many others. There were stacks of them. The standard of the mono drawings was high. There were of course no videos, CDs, DVDs, computer disks or any way to produce graphic art on a computer. People drew stuff by hand and photocopied it. Including artists like Dolcett. Most of the pictorial content of the magazines was photographs. There was a pretty good sized contact movement involving people who practised bdsm.

Big cities had streets full of adult bookshops that sold books, magazines, dildos, fetish clothing and bondage equipment, or just some of these. In the back of these shops there was usually a private showroom where they sold what was called ÔStrong FlagÕ (short for flagellation) which meant extreme discipline, S&M and fictional snuff. These were underground publications with very poor quality hand drawn pictures of extreme torture and stories to match. There were also stronger magazines. Some of these magazines had photographs depicting spanking, caning and other forms of corporal punishment using every kind of implement. This was called CP.

There were writing clubs, clubs that exchanged and circulated art, clubs that advertised all kinds of thing in the personal sections of magazines.

In the USA there were bars with dancers who did not interact with the customers, and mostly wore rubber nipple covers. There was no lap-dancing. In Europe there were strip-tease clubs everywhere where crowds of men paid high prices for watered down beer and watched students strip totally nude on a small stage to music on vinyl singles. BDSM clubs only existed in some countries like Holland. IÕm not sure when the Doma Club in Amsterdam started, maybe after the 1960s.

Many professional mistresses offered services including spanking, caning etc. as well as more advanced scenes involving bondage and severe S&M. These services were advertised in contact and other magazines in the major cities around the world. It was pretty difficult to travel, walk around, have a pulse and not know about them.