Page 503 - Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer - Vol. 1

Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer 483
II. The feature essay as published in Drummer 19, December 1977

Men’s Bar Scene
Manhattan’s Divine Decadence. . .

The Mineshaft

Hot spots get too hot not to cool down. So hit them while you can. Like
The Mineshaft in New York, New York. Two floors and a roof of whatever
flips your switch. In San Francisco, a friendly stranger asks your sign. In
LA he asks what part of town you live in. New Yorkers just do a two-
handed fine-tuning on your tits and lift an armpit, either yours or theirs,
for openers. That’s the “Manhattan Hello.”

UP A STEEP AND VERY NARROW STAIRWAY

Cab it to The Mineshaft. It’s tucked in among the meat-packing houses
at the Little West 12th Street. Head on up the stairs. At the entrance, a
man checks your membership or issues you a card renewable every three
months. For members the door charge is minimal and the stub is money
at the bar.
Best of all you can check any or all of your clothes. You aren’t going
to need them anyway unless they are fetish items. For instance, a new
group called The Jock Strap League tends the bar Monday nights. Those
quiet dudes you see roaming around in their Bikes are actually in their
club uniform. (You can join the JSL by calling (212) 580-9582, but don’t
wash your jock first.)
The jock fans are typical clientele. Tuesdays, for instance, during
this first year of Mineshaft festivities, have been reserved for live bouts
by the New York Wrestling Club. Wednesdays the FFA takes over both
slings and the pool table: left ball in the side pocket. A can of Crisco sits
behind the bar. Ask for some with an outstretched hand and you get an ice
cream scoopful to lube up to your elbow. Thursday the A.E.A. (Ass Eaters
Association.) takes over the downstairs, although they’re there every night
everywhere. Other nights, uniforms are as varied as a surplus fantasy can
get. Obviously, The Mineshaft has a Dress Code, basically macho and
fetish, and strictly enforced.

OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS

©Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved—posted 05-05-2017
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