#TBT: Posters of Male Nudes

Sex sells. Teasing double entendres and coyly posed women have been featured on posters and advertising as far back as the late 1800s. So much so that maybe no one noticed that the artistic male nude also got fair play as a come-hither visual on various ads for motorcars, bicycles, and tourism. As we connect the homoerotic dots we also note that these ads were designed to appeal to men in most cases. While we ponder that, let's also note how easygoing folks were about male nudity in the last century. Not so much today. Hopefully Facebook won't censor this.

Most of the examples below are European posters, long revered for their beautiful design. If you can translate, great, but we didn't.

We are guessing this is not an ad for shoes.

Is it in yet?

Nothing more irritating than getting your wing caught in the bicycle chain, huh, angel?

Sure. Get drunk on apertitifs, then slug it out.

Kiss my boo-boo.

It was marvelous. We all wore those flattering high-waisted swim trunks.

Does this mean the Hotel Baren allows pets?

What a young man's ass and ink have to do with each other we are quite certain we do not know. But we are stocking a supply of that ink now, just in case.

It's all about that teensy little shiny buckle.

Braving a thorny situation with little protection.

Made you look.

Demons ride shotgun.

Another safety poster that proposes you break accidental falls by catching, embracing, and forming a close personal relationship with the fallen.

"Really, darling, can't you find any shorts that are a little less ... informational ... for your afternoon ride?"

Gay.

"No, not at all, professor. I don't think you throw like a girl."

OK, what the hell is going on here?

For a modern-day treat, superstar illustrator and artist Victor Gadino's recent poster for the Pines Party. See more of Gadino's gorgeous work here.