Original GOLD COAST Gay Bar Poster USA's 1st Leather Bar Chicago Etienne 1970's
Rare Original Bar Poster form the United States very first gay leather bar, The Gold Coast, c.1970's, artwork by Etienne.
Chuck Renslow, 1927-191, opened the United States first leather bar, the Gold Coast, in Chicago in 1958. He was the publisher of Triumph, Mars, and Rawhide Male magazines. He was a founder of Second City Motorcycle Club, the first club not on the West Coast, in 1965. He was the founder of many bars and sex clubs since the 1960s including the infamous Man’s Country which survived for more than 30 years. He was also the owner of the Chicago Eagle.
He was the lover of Dom "Etienne" Orejudos for more than 40 years and by encouraging him and publishing his work, he is partially responsible for the art of Etienne. Chuck was also the founder, in 1979, of the international Mr. leather, which grew out of his Mr. Gold Coast contest in the experience he had managing AAU physique competitions.
See above condition notes. Suitable for framing. Measures 11” x 17”.
The Artist Etienne aka Dom Orejudos
Dom Orejudos (1933-1991)
Domingo Orejudos, Dom, is known for artwork depicting the male body in all of its leather straining heroic proportions—creating fantasies of domination and submission that most leather men try to remember and remember and definitely can’t forget. Dom’s personal and business partnership with Chuck Renslow (Leather Hall of Fame, 2009) influenced leather history through establishment of Kris Studios, the Gold Coast Bar, Man’s Country, and International Mr. Leather. Dom was also an acclaimed ballet dancer and choreographer, Emmy Award Winner, and writer and illustrator of s/m story books that have cum stains all over them. Sorry for being graphic, but that’s part of what Dom was all about. He was up for it all, he lived the leather life, and through his art—under the names of Etienne and Stephen—he took it to another level. Born in Chicago on July 1st, 1933, of Italian and Philippine ancestry. Family name pronounced “Orjudos.” A world traveler, Dom was stricken with pneumonia while traveling in a 1987 delegation to China and Tibet. After a long battle with AIDS, he died at his home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1991 at the age of 58. Survived by his brother Gill Orejudos, and partners Chuck Renslow and Bob Yuhnke. His vision lives on.
Dom met Chuck Renslow when he was 16 and Renslow was 20. Their meeting shares elements reminiscent of an early Etienne painting. The place: Oak Street Beach, Chicago. The year: 1949. Renslow, cruising the beach and “thunderstruck” at first sight of Dom “lying on his stomach, in a blue bathing suit, with his beautiful butt up in the air.” Chuck, who had started taking physique photographs, immediately signed Dom to a modeling contract. They became lovers and life-long partners—their business and personal lives entwined. Together they started Kris Studios—one of the first male physique photography modeling houses, unique in its leather appeal. At the time Renslow was working full time as a manager at Walgreens and Dom (having graduated two years early from high school) had the time and talent to handle many of the Kris management details. Dom’s personal and business partnership with Chuck led to other successful ventures which are landmarks of leather history—most notably the Gold Coast bar, Man’s Country bathhouse and International Mr. Leather contest.
