In search of research materials for my fragrance, I happened to stumble across Christopher Street magazine while combing through the stacks of archive materials inside the New York Public Library. Founded in the 1970s, this early gay literary magazine (along with publications like the Village Voice) proved incredibly useful in understanding shifting West Village philosophies in a post-Stonewall New York. During the time of the magazine’s launch, the re-energized activist community was focused on capitalizing on momentum stemming from evolving attitudes regarding the queer community, exemplifying what I described in my “Dance on Skin” post as that quintessentially Christopher Street vibe.
“There was a great deal of discussion that we were living under an oppressive society, and the worst form of oppression was the internalized homophobia that we had incorporated into our own thinking. What was needed was a cultural change. We needed to change our imaginations.” – Michael Denneny (maryliterary.com)
Capturing a mixture of the cultural and the political landscape, the magazine provides yet another interesting opportunity to understand the lasting effects some of the past events on Christopher Street were having.
Christopher Street Magazine – Background
Christopher Street magazine was founded in New York City in 1976 by Charles Ortleb and Michael Denneny, and operated under the editorial direction of Thomas Steele. A monthly New Yorker-style gay literary magazine, it featured works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, news, book reviews, illustrations and photography: its content focused on serious discussions of issues deemed important within the gay community, along with witty satire aimed at anti-gay criticism. The magazine was considered one of the only publications where emerging gay authors could speak with an authentically ‘gay’ voice. Over the course of its more than 19 years in print, the magazine helped provide a spotlight for notable and upcoming queer literati, including Christopher Bram, Scott Heim and Edmund White. A total of 231 issues of Christopher Street were released before the magazine was forced to shutter its doors in December 1995.
Christopher Street magazine is yet another fascinating piece of West Village history: an excellent example of the continuing evolution of the Stonewall message post riots. It’s definitely worth a second glance for those interested in learning more about queer history.
Christopher Street Magazine – Gay Cartoons
Besides fiction and political commentary, Christopher Street also featured some terrific cartooning and illustration work. Find more cartoon samples over at Visual Humor (along with artwork credits), as well as on our Christopher Street Magazine Pin Board.
Cartoon by Rick Fiala (visualhumor.wordpress.com)
Christopher Street Magazine – Year One
The following magazine covers from Christopher Street‘s first year include one of my favorite pictures: the shot of “the closet” from the July 1976 inaugural issue. I remember talking a lot about this cover during the early development days of Christopher Street fragrance brainstorming, along with related conversations regarding the confines of today’s perfume closet. Look at all the beauty that blossomed onto the pages of Christopher Street just from opening up the closet door. The magazine offers some interesting food for thought for the perfume world given how modern attitudes on fragrance still tend to favor gender segregation by type and ingredient bias. More covers and links can be found on Pinterest.
For other archived samples from the pages of Christopher Street, be sure to check out these great printed collections: The Christopher Street Reader; Aphrodisiac: Fiction from Christopher Street; First Love, Last Love: New Fiction from Christopher Street; and Le Gay Ghetto: Gay Cartoons from Christopher Street. There’s also stacks of interesting related materials and back issues to be found housed inside the archives at the New York Public Library.
To find out more about the Christopher Street scent these pages helped inspire, including links to other chapters from the fragrance story and how to order, just click here.
