https://youtu.be/Cc7QIw7CXg0
c’mon, what’s 18 minutes of your life – click and view! Filed under “things you find looking for other things on the internet” this was a cool bit of nostalgia for me. For those not familiar with how I latched onto this obsession with porn, it all began 35 years ago at this porno theater in Chicago. Man o Man! watching this brought back some crazy memories. I forget the Bijou actually had a very small back garden; gosh, and I became friends with one of the “ticket takers” (guy behind the window who took your money) – even had a tragic date involving cheap drinks and attempting a makeout session somewhere in Lincoln Park; and the use of David Earnest’s and Peter de Rome’s “Honey Man†and other music from Hand In Hand Films here; that Bijou Catalog I bought on eBay 13-14 years ago; and what was the first film shown at the Bijou? (you have to watch to find out!); Carol’s Speakeasy (which then brings me back to the doorman – Carol’s was on the same block as the Bijou – who somehow managed to get me to one of those sleazy hotels on the North Side, which no doubt is a trendy condo now); and just the hours I’d spend at that place.
This video is from 2011, and the Bijou is probably one of a handful of gay places still around from that era. The owner/operator/founder Steven Toushin has quite a life story (check out Wikipedia’s Steven Toushin entry) ; there’s a bijou world tumblr page (which I wish had more text from Steven and less re-posts from other tumblrs… ); anotherinterview of legend steven toushin; and oh gosh, run out of steam…. hope the video and links keep you occupied for a bit.
One reply on “40 years of Bijou (4 years ago)”
I stumbled upon this video recently as well, and I agree it’s very interesting. Moreso maybe if (like us) the reader has been to the theatre itself, but a fascinating trip back in time regardless. My first experience there dates to the same decade as yours, but the opposite end – it was late 80s when I first had the pleasure of paying what seemed like a lot of money at the time, walking into the main theatre part, and after sitting there and pretending to watch the film on the big screen downstairs for a few minutes, venturing up the spiral staircase to the great unknown.
The best pickup line I’ve ever heard in my life was something a guy said to me there on a later visit, he just walked right up to me and said “do you like big dicks?” I chuckled and said sure, and within a few minutes he proved that he wasn’t a liar. Oh that and my appreciation for the dub remix of the Grace Jones song Pull Up To The Bumper, which I heard there one night and because of that I love this version of the song now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTeUm7Fy7Y0
Thanks for this post man.