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Vintage original (c1979) 41 x 27″ (104 x 68.5 cm.) one sheet poster, NY (USA), Linen backed, near fine.
The St. Marks Baths originally opened at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan in 1913. For the next 40 years, it was a Turkish bath catering to immigrants living nearby. As of the 1950s, it began to have a growing gay customer base.
In 1979 the place was totally refurbished and, when reopened, asserted itself the largest gay bath house in the world. It was a tremendous success in its early days, but as the AIDS epidemic ensued, in late 1985, the City of New York began the process of shutting down all gay bath houses in an effort to curtail the spread of AIDS which was decimating the NY gay community durimg the period.
The poster has artwork by Boris Vallejo, famous for his stylized sci-fi and fantasy paintings. Here, his style is put to a saucy use.
A remarkable survivor advertising a gay social space in pre-AIDS NYC.
Vintage original (c1979) 41 x 27″ (104 x 68.5 cm.) one sheet poster, NY (USA), Linen backed, near fine.
The St. Marks Baths originally opened at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan in 1913. For the next 40 years, it was a Turkish bath catering to immigrants living nearby. As of the 1950s, it began to have a growing gay customer base.
In 1979 the place was totally refurbished and, when reopened, asserted itself the largest gay bath house in the world. It was a tremendous success in its early days, but as the AIDS epidemic ensued, in late 1985, the City of New York began the process of shutting down all gay bath houses in an effort to curtail the spread of AIDS which was decimating the NY gay community durimg the period.
The poster has artwork by Boris Vallejo, famous for his stylized sci-fi and fantasy paintings. Here, his style is put to a saucy use.
A remarkable survivor advertising a gay social space in pre-AIDS NYC.