Whew! It's hard to realize it's been 35 years since I started writing this column! I had already been a San Francisco resident for three years when the B.A.R. was launched in April 1971. In those days, it was more like a newsletter/pamphlet that was delivered to various bars and business by the late Henri Leleu who would drop the bundles and run like hell. Most of the B.A.R. in those days consisted of a dozen or so gossip columns where the writers spared no one and some of them were not very nice.
Since I was a bartender in the leather bars (Febe's, the Ramrod, the Speakeasy, the Brig, and later managed the infamous Boot Camp and was a part owner of the Arena), Bob Ross and Paul Bentley asked me to write about the leather scene. It wasn't easy. In those days there were no leather title contests, so the column was mostly about the bike club events and the bar gossip. The bike club news was met with disdain in Northern and Southern California.
You see, leather in those days was still dark, mysterious and "cliquish". I have pondered the words of Guy Baldwin, who reminisces about those days when you had to prove yourself before you could be recognized as a genuine leather man. The clubs did not like their club names in print. The Los Angeles clubs were the most vehement in their opposition to my using their real names, so the Blue Max were known as the Blue Meanies; the Oediups MC were known as the Edapussies, the Satyr MC was known as the Sadistics MC etc.
In those days San Francisco had some 13 bike clubs and almost a dozen leather-oriented leather bars. Consider Febe's, the Ramrod, the Stud (first a country/western bar - later a hippie haven), the Boot Camp, the Off the Levee, the On the Levee, the Speakeasy, the Folsom Prison, the Round Up, the Red Star, the Arena, the Black & Blue, the Ambush, the Lone Star and the Stables, to name only a few.
The present-day Powerhouse was first known as the In-Between because it was in between the Ramrod and Febe's on Folsom St.  It then became the Cow Palace Saloon and opened the same week as the Boot Camp in 1971; later it was the Phoenix Bar, then the No Name, then the Bolt, then the Brig and finally, the Powerhouse. If you look at the interior of the Powerhouse, you will notice it is on two levels. When it was a straight bar (Frank & Edna's), the owners lived in the apartment that is now the second level — that's why there are two bathrooms in the place.
There were the Warlocks MC, the California Motor Club, the Koalas, the Serpents, the GDI's, the Barbary Coasters, the Californians, Trusted Servants, the Imperial Guards (now the Golden Gate Guards), Knights of Malta. and more. There were bathhouses galore, the Folsom Barracks, the Mission St. Baths, the Club, Broadway Baths and yes, there was even a bathhouse in the Castro.
The rise of fundraisers
Leather people staged fundraisers galore, long before leather titles became the impetus for such events. I earned my first piece of leather (a jacket) at a fundraiser to buy seats for the waiting room in the new VD Clinic on 7th Street. The formation of the Inter-Club (as it was known then, now the Inter-Club Fund) came about originally to help bikers who had accidents and were unable to work. A waitress at the Levee, Helen, fell down a 150-foot deep trench on Market St. (cruising sailors!) while BART was being built and broke her arm - a fundraiser for her; the first leather title contest was the Mr. Febe's contest where the winner was chosen who most resembled the famous Febe statue — and won two years in a row by the same man. The only other contest I can recall at that time was the Mr. Gold Coast Leather in Chicago, but it was not until 1979 that leather titles came into being when Chuck Renslow launched International Mr. Leather. Hank, the owner of the Brig jumped at the chance and sent David Kloss to Chicago to compete. It was almost a "sure win" for Dirk Dehner of Los Angeles, but alas, the judges went for David and the rest is history. Dirk has gone on to distinguish himself as the main man at the Tom of Finland Foundation. David Kloss distinguished himself with AIDS fundraising in Austin, Texas, here in San Francisco and is now active in Toronto, Canada.
In 1979, International Mr. Leather was launched. In those days, it was on Mother's Day weekend, later changed to Memorial Day Weekend. After all, Keep Chicago Green — Bring Money was not just a slogan for straight events.
It has grown to mammoth proportions since that time. Over the years, four foreign men have won the title: Patrick Brooke from Australia in 1980; Thomas Karasch from Hamburg, Germany in 1987; Henri Ten-Have from Amsterdam in 1993 and Stefan Mueller from Nurnberg, Germany in 2001. To this date, no one from Canada has ever won the title, but there have been Canadian runner-ups and, almost always, Canadian leather men have ranked in the top 20.
Four men from San Francisco have won the IML title: David Kloss in 1979; Marty Kiker in 1981; Patrick Toner in 1985 and Lenny Broberg in 1992. No other city has had more IML winners than San Francisco.
In 1980, John Embry launched the Mr. Drummer contest (note: in the beginning it was just Mr. Drummer) and "appointed" porn legend Val Martin to the title. In 1981, an actual contest was staged and San Francisco's Ray Perea won the title. In 1982, the Drummer contest was staged at the I-Beam on upper Haight Street and Luke Daniel of Los Angeles won the title. He was obliged to compete at IML that year and won again. Luke is the only man to have won both IML and Drummer. After that year, Drummer was changed to International Mr. Drummer, with 13 regional preliminaries and in 2002, through various unsavory developments with the Dutch owners of Drummer Magazine and the title was changed to International Leather Sir and boy. Interested asidem: Patrick Batt, the big Kahua in the Castro, was involved with the first IML when he worked for Renslow at the Gold Coast in Chicago and when he worked for John Embry at Drummer Magazine.
The Drummer boy title was instituted in 1989 and Dieter Edwards was named to the title. In 1990, judges chose John Siracusa of Atlanta to wear the sash and that same year, the Golden Whip Award was launched (sort of Mr. Congeniality award).
In 1987, leather women got into the title scene. International Ms. Leather was launched that year and Judy Tallwing McCarthy (then of Portland) launching a "dynasty" of Portland leather women who succeeded Judy, Shan Carr in 1988 and Susie Shepherd in 1989.
The Ms. San Francisco Leather title has not fared well. Shadow Morton was the first to hold the title. It was later changed to Ms. Golden Gate Leather (Beth Downey the winner for two years) and Pam Meyer was the only San Franciscan who competed and won at IMs.L (1999).
The need for funds for AIDS services was crucial so the late Alan Selby launched the SF Leather Daddy title in 1983 (Michael Blair was the winner) and the Leather Daddy's Boy title the same year (Jake Banks won, and later became Mr. SF Leather and the 1st runner up at IML in 1984).
Other leather titles in San Francisco included the Mr. South of Market Contest, Leather Sweetheart, and once a Mr. Folsom Street Leather. There were others that didn't last long, but they were part of history.
The AIDS Fund was established by leather men and the designated beneficiary for most leather title events in San Francisco. Later changed to the AIDS Emergency Fund, it continues to draw much of its support from leather men and women. The Bare Chest Calendar was launched in 1985 at the Arena Bar ostensibly as a "give-away" for customers. When the Arena was sold and manager Terry Thompson moved to manage the SF Eagle, the calendar followed, became a fundraiser for the AEF, and continues to this day at the Powerhouse. I am proud to say I did the contests for 20 years in a row.
The secret manhole
A lot of water has washed under the bridge since those hedonistic days of Folsom Street. Once a two-way boulevard, it was heavy leather. Traffic running both ways was a sea of red tail lights as heavy-booted, leather-clad men cruised the street strode up and down often with side trips to Ringold Alley for fun and games.
When Howard, Folsom, Harrison and Bryant became one-way streets, the traffic on Ringold became THE place at night. Later, a PG&E manhole on Harrison St. (where Costco now stands) became an invitation-only venue where the heavy grate was lifted in the dead of the night and a sexual gang-bang ensued into the wee hours. When I found out about it and visited it a few times, it was too good to be kept a secret. I never gave the exact location, but I listed "clues" weekly (latitude & longitude). Still, no one ever solved the mystery. The main clue was "South of Folsom", but no one delineated that location and letters by the hundreds were sent to me demanding the location. That's one I never gave up!
Thousands of tales emanate from the leather community all these years; it's not the same anymore, but what glorious days they were before the epidemic hit and dismantled a lot of ritual, people and activities. It's hard to believe (again!) that 35 years have passed, but there it is. You had to be there to appreciate it. There aren't many of the "players" left from those halcyon days, but those who are still alive and frequent the "leather zone" of San Francisco remember ... fondly, the way we were.
PS: THANKS for all the snail mail, email birthday wishes and the party at Daddy's last Sunday — and especially the gold plated Hatchet! You will see it in action soon!