Saturday, February 28, 2009

Army Card Game Double Exposure

This is one of the most amazing images I've seen since I started collecting homobilia. A 3 1/2" square color print dated "May 1966, Ft. McClellan Ala."

A group of guys sitting around the barracks playing cards. The composition recalls the Renaissance masters, with a mysterious floating bag of Fiesta chips at the center. Above all the action, a poster (of Fearless Leader?) "Knows, Feels, Wills, Believes." Whoa.

The subject matter is a gay fantasy.

Given the sequence of images we know that immediately after the card game these men removed their uniforms and posed for the next photo. One can only assume they were playing strip poker.

But it gets even better. A close examination of the second exposure (and you better believe I gave this photo a very close examination) reveals 9 happy GI's. Open flys in the shorts of the two most prominent men who stand at ease, smiles on their faces.

My only regret is this isn't a triple exposure.

P.S. To meet the needs of the Vietnam War, an Advanced Individual Training Infantry Brigade was activated in 1966. It was deactivated in April 1970, after training more than 30,000 men. Those were the days!

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