After Dark February 1976 cont'd

Okay let's look at the cover of this issue again!

I'm sure if we went to the newsstand in February of 1976, we would have seen winter clothes, snow or something other than men in swimsuits. Thank goodness for After Dark. I love the fashion spreads that they do and this is one of their best. I love looking at men in swimsuits. Especially these two.

The setting is the Rose Hall Interncontinental Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The models:

Zarko Kalmic, an actor/model who was born in Haifa, Israel. He was the stage manager and production manager for Tom Eyen's Women Behind Bars. I think there is a picture of him out there somewhere with Divine. I think it's in one of my other issues of After Dark. I'll post it when I find it.



Bo van den Assum, from the Netherlands, was the male lead in the film J'ai Droite au Plaisir and at the time of this issue was working in New York in international law.



Bonnie George from Atlanta went to New York and started working with the Ford Model Agency before going to Jarrett Management. Somewhere along the way she started going by Bonita. Why do people think they can go by one name? Wait until you're famous!


I definitely envy Kenn Duncan. In addition to taking photos of gorgeous men, he also got to travel to places like Jamaica.










Don't forget to click on photos to see them larger!!! It's especially important for this issue!!!

Speaking of Kenn Duncan photos...
Houston Ballet's James Clouser.




The other thing that After Dark was great for was taking people who were not models, but architects, musicians, and builders, and getting them to model with their shirts or clothes off. They do write articles about their careers, but I sometimes wonder if that is just an excuse. Well whatever the reason, this issue featured John Corigliano who was a composer.



An interesting little write-up near the rear of the magazine featured Postcards in the Swim. Playwright, professor and photographer, Robert Chapman was attempting to revive the picture post cards by presenting these which depict some contestants in the Fort Lauderdale Swim Forum.







Speaking of more swimwear, I couldn't pass up posting this picture from an ad for The Yorkviller. The Yorkviller was a store in Toronto, Canada that were "Specialists in Men's Underwear & Swimwear". It was featuring the "Texy" underwear brief. This jeans-inspired nylon brief was by JIM of Spain.


And now speaking of underwear (I love these segues), I present "The Tank Thong" by Rudi Gernreich. Okay, I guess I don't present it, but I definitely wanted you to see it.


There was an ad for After Dark subscriptions. In it, they give the profile of the After Dark Man:

Young (Median age: 33.7)
Single (85.2%)
Affluent (Median income: $20,882)
Upscale (78.5% hold managerial or professional positions)
Well-Groomed (76.4% use a cologne; average expenditure of $804 per year on clothing)
Travel-Minded (Median of 3.5 vacations per year; 56.6% own valid passports)
Bon Vivant (81.6% regularly drink vodka, 81.3% scotch, 70.3% gin, 63.5% champagne)

I wonder what the stats on gay men in 1976 were? I wonder how it would compare? Three guesses...single and over 30? Yeah. Well, that's all I'm featuring from this issue, but believe me, if you ever get a chance to buy back issues, do it. Just don't bid against me on eBay for those rare issues I need to complete my collection.