Shit, I bet someone is working on holodeck technology right now simply for purpose of using it for porn.
Except everything was real.
There were “French postcards” (which werent’ necessarily French of course) from the 1890s that pictured acts of bestiality between women and ponies. Not sure why they went with men or other women. There was a lot of gay erotica of muscle men as well. I’ve no idea where a farmer in Iowa or Tennessee would get such stuff but it turns up in strange places.
There was an episode of Boardwalk Empire in which characters were watching one of these in 1920 on a hand turned projector. I wondered
1- If they were using a clip from an actual one
2- If the FCC would allow them to use a clip from an actual one
I can’t answer your first question, but as for the second question, the FCC doesn’t really have a say in this, as Boardwalk Empire airs on cable.
As a student of all things Victorian this comes as no suprise. They had their kinks and quirks as we all do, just not as apt to interfer with social order by making them public.
Why do you think they call a particular type of penis piercing a Prince Albert? Per historical information the ring was to be threaded with a ribbon and tied to his leg to prevent his nether parts from offending the ladies. I guess only he could tell us if there were any other advantages to it.
And Queen Victoria is said to have had a tattoo. And an affair of hearts, if not of bodies, with her stablekeeper. So, not so conservative perhaps?
Some of you may find of interest a series of poignant, nearly innocent photographs of prostitutes in the Storyville sector of New Orleans. These were filmed by E. J. Bellocq a gentleman of color. Not only are they arousing of a gentle sort of stimulation to the curious but also of compassion.
“I’m afraid the holodeck will be humanity’s last invention.”
– Scott Adams
I have a “documentary” called Blue Movies that showcases scenes from pornos from the silent era all the way up to the 70s.
It was interesting to me that quite a few of them featured bi-sexuality on both sides and often the only time the women or men had masks on were while they were performing oral sex.
I have a friend who has a HUGE collection of vintage porn and erotic ephemera. Before movies, there were books and scrolls and sculptures. And some of it quite perverted so fetish and kink has existed in many, many cultures for THOUSANDS of years.
And if you want to see some of it without googling, go to sites like XHamster or YouPorn and search for “vintage”. It is available without paying for it.
See Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter, by Thomas Cahill, for an interesting discussion of surviving ancient Greek porn/erotica and what it says about their culture. (For one thing, there was, surprisingly, a clear and sharp dividing line between a nude statue meant for public display, and explicitly sexual stuff meant for private enjoyment.)
Mitochondrial Eve’s mate probably relieved stress occasionally by going off into the woods with some clay or wood figurine even more primitive than the Venus of Willendorf.
Some of those films could be rare, and valuable. There are porn collectors, and like all other collectors, they’ll pay a pretty penny to complete their collection. They’ll probably pay someone called Pretty Penny for something too.
Caveman Porn:
While there certainly was porn made back in the dawn of filmmaking, keep in mind that things are not always as they appear. Some of the material that’s marketing as “antique” porn is modern stuff that was just shot to look like an old film. There is a niche market for this stuff and it’s often cheaper to produce new “stag” movies than go looking for the genuine article.
I read a (non-fiction) book about early American history back in colonial days (the 1700’s), and there were little ‘books’ featuring pornographic engravings or woodcuts available to a gentleman of means for his tittilation and edification. Flipped their powdered wigs over porn, even back in George Washington’s day, they did!
This was what I came to post - not word for word, but I really suspect that a lot of those paleolithic ‘Earth Mother Goddess’ statues were porn made by guys with low tech and a lot of time on their hands - so to speak.
Not just live-action either:
CAUTION: CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF CERTAIN BODY PARTS THAT (according to some) GOD HAD THE BAD TASTE TO INCLUDE IN HIS CREATION…
My guess is that most of the women were prostitutes. Back in such a ‘proper’ era, you’d have to find someone who was willing in a surreptitious way, which wouldn’t be very fruitful until you started to get to prostitute level. I don’t know if that is a complete explanation for the unattractiveness of the women, but I would suspect it’s a factor.
I’ve seen that claim made, but the authenticity of the dress and surroundings is usually far greater than even the highest budget current, mainstream porn. It might be plausible, except that vintage porn is a tiny niche market, and it wouldn’t pay.
Nope, the vast majority of vintage porn is genuine.
It depends on the era. The girls in the 1920s classic “A Free Ride” come across as the same sort who would do a “Girls Gone Wild” video of today. Before home video, there was less risk to making a sex film - they were sold under the counter or projected for a fee at mens events, aka “smokers”.
I agree with you that the stereotype of the Victorians as being universally prudish is a myth, but I have a hard time believing this story about Prince Albert–I’ve heard it before, and it always set off my BS meter. Could you please cite the “historical information” that substantiates this rumor?
The Wikipedia article, which I did NOT need to see, says the claims about Prince Albert were invented in the 1970s by a pair of piercers.