Are we ourselves?

 

I have spent a lot of time recently looking at videos that show our America in the early 20th century leading into the 1950s.

Flash forward to the here and now and I hear constant whining about how we have lost our way, and how our values have changed. I posit we have changed little if any at all. I look at these homes, these buildings, the manicured yards, the clean city streets, the parks, the storefronts, etc.

Sure, a lot of the landscapes have changed, a lot of businesses have come and gone, but when I look at the homes, I see a people who care about where they reside and about their communities.

The most obvious change, of course, is our technology. Look at the homes, the buildings, the streets. Do they look so different than what we see today? This video could have been as easily shot today aside from the automobiles.

People talk about how crime today is running rampant and I would invite you to study our history during Prohibition. People feared the uptick of violence from organized crime--then as we do now.

We may have evolved in our view of the world around us. In some ways, tolerance has evolved and become an air of acceptance and understanding. I do fear for the two steps forward we take, we inevitably take a step back as people's reactions to fearing change manifest themselves, all too often resulting in ugliness.

I believe, for the most part, man is unchanged and will probably remain so. Am I wrong? Are we a vastly different America?

Anyway, watch this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXPYQU78sIc

In the name of love

 

Over the course of the past few days, I have been featuring vintage photos of male couples dating from the 1850s through the 1950s on my Facebook page. They are very romantic but more importantly, they illustrate how the power of love can override other concerns.

 

Many of the photos clearly show love in these men’s eyes. The holding of hands; a head resting on his boyfriend’s shoulder; a hug, an embrace, their bodies intertwined in the grass or in bed, fully clothed, mind you; the photo booth strips; and yes, even a loving kiss. Men in uniform, men in suits, working-class men, farmers, cowboys (yes!), in swimwear--or shockingly--in their underwear!

 

These photos are astounding! In a modern context, perhaps not. But historically, these photos come from a time when these men were of the “unspeakable.” Criminal. Deviants. Perverts.

 

And to dare to photograph themselves together strongly illustrated their commitment to one another. In their times, these photos could lead to their arrest, their deaths, or depending on where they lived, they risked being lobotomized. They risked being ostracized from their friends, their jobs, their families.

For these photos, for their love, they risked everything. It is, according to the authors of the book "Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love," even more amazing so many of these photos still exist as in many cases the families of these men, when discovering the photos, were horrified and destroyed them. 

Photo-developing houses of the day would often refuse to develop these photos and to add to the insult, they might report the men to the police. And still, these men persisted in documenting their love for posterity for all, or none, to see.

All for love.