BijouBlog

I recently combed through one of my favorite books, The Gay Decades, by Leigh W. Rutledge. I found this fascinating tidbit about some stars from the Bijou Classics collection. On January 15, 1983 (hard to believe that was thirty years ago), quoting Rutledge: 

A long, long time ago, in 1960, right before the sexual revolution, two psychoanalysists, Eberhard and Phyllis Kronhausen, published a book called Sex Histories of American College Men. The book was praised not so much for any groundbreaking insights into male sexuality (the famous Kinsey had done that previously), but because it wasn’t pornography in a time when certain muscle magazines with mildly or vaguely homoerotic content were considered obscene.

Part of the joy of talking about sex is how we use euphemisms and idioms and other creative ways to communicate one of those “not in front of the children” actions. 
 

Everyone's favorite Jewish grandmother, the late, great Ann Landers, addressed practically every type of sexuality and gender issue in her column ranging from masturbation to makeup for the older woman. Yes, and she even discussed hairy chests in response to some letters on the subject. The Ann Landers Encyclopedia offers a couple of interesting responses to what many argue is a fallacy: that a hairy chest means you are a more sexually active guy and perform better in the bedroom. (Kind of like the big dick fallacy, perhaps?). A reader wrote in claiming that a hairy chest means more female hormones (no source) and that the hairy-chested male would produce more girl babies. Dr. Frinkel, a medical authority on the subject from Northwestern University, responds that this is another fallacy. Got it? A hairy chest does not mean you are necessarily a more manly man! 

From its inception in 1970 all the way to the present, one way to find out information about The Bijou Theater, including the movie schedule and showtimes has been to call and listen to a pre-recorded voicemail message.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s,   the voicemail became well known to a much wider audience than just potential Bijou customers after being featured on radio shows hosted by Steve Dahl and Howard Stern, respectively. It was a staple on Steve Dahl’s Chicago morning show that he co-hosted along with his partner Garry Meier from 1981 to 1993.