A Fascinating Look Inside A San Francisco Bath House Circa 1978

If you haven't heard of the Fairoaks Project, it was launched in 2010 as a way of preserving a large number of photographs that were taken inside the Fairoaks Baths, which operated in San Francisco between 1977-1979. The Sword (link below) recently republished a number of these photos on their site, along with some information about the Fairoaks Project, and they provide a fascinating look at a bygone, but crucial era in gay culture.

During the late 1970′s, the gay community in San Francisco was thriving, vibrant and sensual. There were numerous venues for gay men to congregate, such as bars, social clubs, political action groups and perhaps a half dozen bathhouses. Unique amongst these bathhouses was the Fairoaks Hotel which was located at the corner of Oak and Steiner in the Hayes Valley district. The hotel was a converted Victorian apartment building owned and operated from 1977 to 1979 by a group of men who had formerly lived together in a commune. These men infused the Fairoaks with a different atmosphere than was evident at other bathhouses at the time. For example, all the rooms were normal scale (no cubicles), there were non-institutional furnishings, artists had been commissioned or allowed to decorate and paint the rooms, and it was generally lighter than a normal bathhouse. Most significantly, the Fairoaks was racially inclusive, and was promoted as a party location. This party atmosphere fostered a lenient climate for informal photography… These photographs capture an aspect of the gay community rarely seen in snapshot photography: sexually frank, playful, spontaneous, and often-affectionate encounters. The storm clouds of drug abuse and disease that will soon overtake the community are not at all evident in these images.

See the rest of the photos over at The Sword