Tools

Tools may be the easiest handheld props to understand. For generations, axes, picks, hammers, wrenches and crowbars were associated with physically demanding, overwhelmingly male work—the lumberjack, miner, mechanic, plumber, construction worker and handyman.

1. Edgar Henry Garland by S.P. Andrew in Wellington, New Zealand - 1916 - holding an axe.

And the tradition goes back surprisingly far. Edgar Henry Garland posed nude with an axe for S. P. Andrew Ltd. in Wellington in 1916, giving this post a starting point more than a century ago. 

2. Mike North by Bob Mizer holding an axe next to a stump set piece - 1957.

3. Marty Pelser by Bruce Bellas holding a pick - c 1960.

Later physique photographers ran with the idea. Bruce Bellas put picks into the hands of muscular men; John Thomas and Billy Mars posed with wrenches; Gus Kubeck gets the full tool belt. And then there's Bob Mizer, naturally pushing things somewhere stranger, including Ray Piel wearing little more than a cap and mortarboard while holding a crowbar.

4. Hans Latschkowski (see Hoops - Aug 26 post) by Bruce Bellas, holding the same pick as above - c 1961.  Hans' brother, Siegfried, was also a model for Bellas. The duo was known as the "brothers Latschkowski."

5. Bruce Schorb by Bruce Bellas, holding the same pick in color - c. 1964. This image was apparently the cover photo for Bellas' The Male Figure Volume 34 published in 1965.

The connection between tools, work and masculinity is obvious. But so is the double entendre. A penis has long been called a “tool,” and these photographs were made for an audience perfectly capable of getting the joke.

6. John Thomas holding a wrench.

7. Bob "Mitch" Mitchell by Jim French close-up shot holding a wrench for Man Finder magazine c. 1969. Obviously a centerfold image.  I appreciate his hairy buns here. (Fyi, my file source credited this model to Billy Mars, which I can understand).

They also tap into a fantasy that became practically a gay-porn cliché: the handsome mechanic leaning under your hood, the shirtless construction worker doing a job around the house, or the plumber crouched beneath your sink. The supposed reason he's there is to fix something. The fantasy is about what might happen next.

8. Gus Kubeck wearing a full tool belt. Great stache here.

Even Bryan King's lightbulb works for me here. It's technically not a tool, but that wonderful overhead composition turns an everyday object associated with fixing things into the focus of the photograph.

9. Ray Piel by Bob Mizer wearing a mortarboard and holding a crow bar...go figure.

10. Bryan King by Alonzo Hanagan for Tomorrow's Man magazine holding a lightbulb c early 1960s. Hanagan aka Lon of NY was heavily inspired by film noir, which gave his photos a recognizable "Lon look."  This image doesn't have quite the same high contrast look, but the shadows are strong at the left of the frame.  Is a light bulb a 'tool'? Not quite, but I'd love King to be my handyman;)

And for the bonus images, Bob Mizer gives us Chuck Weltch with a hammer and Terry Douglas with an axe. Men with impressive tools holding impressive tools. Subtle it isn't.

Bonus 1. Terry Douglass by Mizer holding an axe behind his back as one would...especially in cowboy boots and a baseball cap.

Bonus 2. Chuck Weltch holding a hammer, also by Mizer.

Please leave thoughts, questions, corrections or additions in the comments. Thank you, bns