Sailors in drag on S.S. Caronia. Photograph, 195-.

Date:
[between 1950 and 1959]
Reference:
2045317i
Part of:
The James Gardiner Collection.
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view Sailors in drag on S.S. Caronia. Photograph, 195-.

Contains: 2 images

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In copyright

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Credit

Sailors in drag on S.S. Caronia. Photograph, 195-. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

Photograph of a group of men standing and smiling at the viewer wearing a mixture of evening dresses, wigs, makeup, jewellery and gloves.

Publication/Creation

[between 1950 and 1959]

Physical description

1 photograph : print ; 8.7 x 12.4 cm

Series

Contributors

Lettering

On board Caroline (written in pencil, verso)

Notes

The following description was provided by James Gardiner: "A drag party on board S.S. Caronia, 1950s. The Merchant Navy to some degree provided a bolt-hole for many 'obvious' homosexuals in the 1950s, when the laws prohibiting any kind of homosexual activity were rigidly enforced in the United Kingdom following the spy scandals of Burgess and MacLean, and the Montague/Wildeblood trial of 1954. Gay life, however, flourished on board large ocean-going liners such as the Caronia, where drag parties and pageants were a regular entertainment for the crew (and sometimes the passengers)."
This work is untitled: the title has been supplied by the cataloguer.

Reference

Wellcome Collection 2045317i

Type/Technique

Subjects

Where to find it

  • Photograph album labelled ‘Drag'

    LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores

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