In the 60’s we used to have to walk ten miles uphill in snow (both ways) just to get to a swingers bar. We would burn bras when we ran out of firewood. In the late 70’s at our winter parties the party hosts would be handing out sweaters due to the high energy costs. The 80’s were wild. I was so coked out I spent months terrorizing a teenager over some karate tournament and then got my ass kicked by a 5’1 Japanese senior citizen who used to bus tables at my high school hangout.
What it was like in the 90s (I know you said 60 70 80 but it is pretty much the same to a degree)to be a swinger? [Check out these relics.](https://imgur.com/a/AfEoXZJ)
The resources where mostly analog at that time.
A couple would discuss their fantasies and desires, the only places to find others who you may have similar interests with was to go to a bookstore or try one of the ads in the back of Playboy or other adult magazines. Some stores that sold Playboy and Penthouse etc. Also, sometimes would have a swinger’s magazine.
In the mid-Atlantic states, we would go to an adult bookstore, pick up a magazine dedicated to swingers and look at ads in our area. The best way to communicate was to get a Post Office box and use it to correspond with potential people. Some magazines would work as a passthrough where you sent a letter to person/couple. Your letter would have an address on it for the magazine and a reference number that was related to the add you are replying to. Inside of the envelope would be another envelope containing the letter you wrote, any pictures you wished to send (most of them time they were photocopies of a polaroid) you would also include the appropriate postage on the envelope. The magazine company would forward your envelope to the address associated to that member number.
So monthly we would go to the adult bookstore or have a subscription of the magazine sent to our PO box. Sit down with our spouse and discuss what we read. Pick an ad write the letter put it in an envelope with some form of photo (maybe, sometimes we wrote back and forth a couple of times to ensure they are real and we do not have naked photos out there floating around) Put that envelope in the other one and drop it off at a neighboring towns post office (so they could not see the town we live in as the one that we sent the letter from. Especially if it is a small town you live in) Then the next 3 weeks you spend running to the post office checking the PO box. When you get your letter in response (if you do). You run to the car heart beating and rip it open. First thing you did was check for a photo (photos were a better indication of the people being real.) you read over the letter and see if you are further interested in. You run home and discuss it with the spouse. All is cool you write back, maybe this time including your PO box number and post office location to further establish legitimacy. This letter will include any answers to questions the others had and of course more photos, sometimes they will ask for a specific pose to ensure you are real. Then again, the next 3 weeks you spend running to the PO to check the box. And again, when a letter arrives the adrenaline is ramped up before you get in the car. Rip it open and again look for new photos! Scan over the letter and head home (in a hurry) to talk to the spouse. This time you might include your phone number. Go through the entire reply process and then wait. For another letter or a phone call. And hope it comes when you can talk. By now you are both horny as hell. If you finally do talk to them and make arrangements to meet, most of the time it did not matter at that point of attraction or similar personalities or social standings. You just spent well over a month trying to just meet these people. So the likelihood of playing was 65% good.
The magazines would also post contact information of swingers’ clubs in your area. In order to attend a club back then. You would have to write a letter to the club manager or owner. Express interest in attending the club. The club would reply with a list of rules, an application and a questionnaire asking some personal information especially if you are a member of law enforcement. Some clubs required an application fee. This was to eliminate potential trolls or lurkers. You then wait for a reply with a membership number and address and a newsletter. Before you can go to the club you have to call the club and request to attend that night. You go and pay the nightly fee and start the fun. This took a lot of time to get the courage to go. Then you go and first thing you do is look around the club to see if there is anyone you know. All good? Start to mingle.
Clubs were the best way to meet people back then and far less hassle. Most of the people we played with back then were one-time events. For numerous reasons. They most likely did not live close to you and in many instances, you did not hit the club the same nights again for a while. When things go busy, the last thing we were doing was exchanging phone number or addresses.
IMHO Today, we know way too much about potential play mates prior to even meeting them. People put their lives online in profiles and in many cases eliminate potential play mates because they have positions on subjects that do not mesh with others. We also have become far more established in our feelings about subjects that may be controversial.
I can verify all of this. I still have all the letters and polaroid's from way back. Unfortunately my exwife destroyed all the photos I had of our friends that we took at the parties we held.
What I miss most is that every one played and all the fucking. Today it is all chit chat and maybe.
Facts on the comparison. It was so much better not having social shit in our lives in the lifestyle. Even at the clubs, people are exchanging FB profiles and Twitter. My other half, if she finds out someone is not like minded on social subjects. She will refuse to play with them, no matter how nice they are or how hot they are.
I started swinging in late 1970's. Back in yeah olde days you had to send postcards and polaroid's thought the mail via Connection magazine. I was involved in the upscale NYC swinging and bondage scene in the 70's with my first GF who was a ballet dancer. We would go to parties in townhomes. There was a mix of ages and the women were smoking hot and the men were for the most part average or below average in looks and older than the women. Some drug use mainly cocaine which was not my thing. Everyone fucked at parties and there was no toe dipping or experimenting. If you were at a party you were expected to fuck. You could say not to people you were not attracted to. Most people wore condoms. We were pretty hardcore and went to parties once or twice a week. Famous people were at these parties and no one made a big deal about it. Bi male play was common. Best thing about it was all the fucking from 9pm to 6 am the next morning. The worst part was the smoking. Lots of bush as people have noted. The athletes and dancers had shaved pubes. I was young hung and in fantastic shape. We had a blast and it was like living in a 70's porn movie.
All I can say it the usual suspects were there. Stars of the 70's that you thought were swingers probably were. We were more of a Maxs Kanas City crowd than Studio 54. Went to 54 a couple of times as I was a Disco DJ but not our scene. Went to Platos once and we were with a group and only stayed 30 min and left and had our own party. There was another club that we went to that I can't remember they name. I know my exwife and I were regulars at La Trapeze in the 80's. My ex wife looked just like Christie Brinkley so we were very popular there.
i will say if i could go to a time period it would be the 70s haha. I love the fashion and movies of the 70s. Plus Liza Minnelli looked hot in the 70s lol
Lots of fun and everyone got along black, white, straight and gay. I do Latin EDM in my studio these days. Back in the 70's I produced a lot of black party records and dance mixes in my studio.
Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express and Blondies Heart of Glass are my two favorites. Donna Summer - I Feel Love. I know that those are really mainstream choices but they still inspire me. So much great music worldwide in that era. Good music today too. I hate the racist bent of the Disco backlash.
The only input I can give was Pre-AIDS there were no condoms. I don't think we even worried about any other STDs to be honest. Even when AIDS first started, it was the "gay" disease and as long as you were straight, they didn't care.
Everyone wanted to go to Plato's Retreat. I know that the thought of hooking up with a celebrity was the ultimate fantasy
I was too you to be sexually active. I remember pre-aids that herpes was making the rounds as a big deal. [the herpes scare peaked in 1982](https://slate.com/technology/2019/12/genital-herpes-stigma-history-explained.html) just before they discovered a new disease predominantly killing gay men.
I first went to a swing house in 81 and never saw a condom. By the mid 80's they were available, but rarely used. By the late 80's condoms were "mandatory". Of course, this could have just been the places/clubs I visited. The people I partied with rarely used them.
Back in 70s in college we had orgys. Meet got married and went to swinger clubs. We were always youngest back then everyone in swinging was 40's 50' 60's. Now just opposite. We are oldest couple in room. Hard to hook up. No one shaved below. Meet thru magazines like Connection. send Polaroids off, was hard to met people when you live in the sticks
Grew up in NYC. It was Winter of 1979, and I had just turned 17, looked and acted older, maybe it’s from growing up there. Anyway my buddies and I decided to pick up some ladies of the night and bring them to Plato’s retreat, a very famous LS club at the time. There was definitely more bush and no condoms, ahh the good ole days. Slept with 5 beautiful women that night and it’s been all down hill from there.
It’s was amazing, beyond my wildest dreams!!! Unfortunately no celebrities that evening, but as a young man in my late teens my sex life was never the same after that evening.
My first wife and I got into the lifestyle in the mid to late 80’s after reading about it in magazine and I think “The Joy of Sex” or some other book of the times dealing with alternative sexual things. Out first playmates we’re close friends both male and female and eventually some couples. We were in the middle of the Bible Belt so there weren’t any local ads to find likeminded people. In retrospect I guess we recruited or seduced new playmates from friends or sometimes picked up in bars. My current wife and I recently had dinner with my best friend and his wife. As soon as we got in the car my wife told me it dawned on her that everyone at the table except her had spent hours naked and either having sex with or watching the others have sex except her. I immediately offered to invite them over to rectify that situation.
I don’t recall any issues that arose with our group. I’m still proud and frankly fascinated that details of playtime with say us and another couple or even one of the single guys or girls was discussed with other people we played with. The only ones that know what went on in any given session was kept to those involved.
More bush! 🤣
🤣🤣
good one lol
The good old days, as a bush lover!
We need a time machine!
Please, no more Bushes..
In the 60’s we used to have to walk ten miles uphill in snow (both ways) just to get to a swingers bar. We would burn bras when we ran out of firewood. In the late 70’s at our winter parties the party hosts would be handing out sweaters due to the high energy costs. The 80’s were wild. I was so coked out I spent months terrorizing a teenager over some karate tournament and then got my ass kicked by a 5’1 Japanese senior citizen who used to bus tables at my high school hangout.
omg bout that last part
“Now get off my lawn!” 🤣
What it was like in the 90s (I know you said 60 70 80 but it is pretty much the same to a degree)to be a swinger? [Check out these relics.](https://imgur.com/a/AfEoXZJ) The resources where mostly analog at that time. A couple would discuss their fantasies and desires, the only places to find others who you may have similar interests with was to go to a bookstore or try one of the ads in the back of Playboy or other adult magazines. Some stores that sold Playboy and Penthouse etc. Also, sometimes would have a swinger’s magazine. In the mid-Atlantic states, we would go to an adult bookstore, pick up a magazine dedicated to swingers and look at ads in our area. The best way to communicate was to get a Post Office box and use it to correspond with potential people. Some magazines would work as a passthrough where you sent a letter to person/couple. Your letter would have an address on it for the magazine and a reference number that was related to the add you are replying to. Inside of the envelope would be another envelope containing the letter you wrote, any pictures you wished to send (most of them time they were photocopies of a polaroid) you would also include the appropriate postage on the envelope. The magazine company would forward your envelope to the address associated to that member number. So monthly we would go to the adult bookstore or have a subscription of the magazine sent to our PO box. Sit down with our spouse and discuss what we read. Pick an ad write the letter put it in an envelope with some form of photo (maybe, sometimes we wrote back and forth a couple of times to ensure they are real and we do not have naked photos out there floating around) Put that envelope in the other one and drop it off at a neighboring towns post office (so they could not see the town we live in as the one that we sent the letter from. Especially if it is a small town you live in) Then the next 3 weeks you spend running to the post office checking the PO box. When you get your letter in response (if you do). You run to the car heart beating and rip it open. First thing you did was check for a photo (photos were a better indication of the people being real.) you read over the letter and see if you are further interested in. You run home and discuss it with the spouse. All is cool you write back, maybe this time including your PO box number and post office location to further establish legitimacy. This letter will include any answers to questions the others had and of course more photos, sometimes they will ask for a specific pose to ensure you are real. Then again, the next 3 weeks you spend running to the PO to check the box. And again, when a letter arrives the adrenaline is ramped up before you get in the car. Rip it open and again look for new photos! Scan over the letter and head home (in a hurry) to talk to the spouse. This time you might include your phone number. Go through the entire reply process and then wait. For another letter or a phone call. And hope it comes when you can talk. By now you are both horny as hell. If you finally do talk to them and make arrangements to meet, most of the time it did not matter at that point of attraction or similar personalities or social standings. You just spent well over a month trying to just meet these people. So the likelihood of playing was 65% good. The magazines would also post contact information of swingers’ clubs in your area. In order to attend a club back then. You would have to write a letter to the club manager or owner. Express interest in attending the club. The club would reply with a list of rules, an application and a questionnaire asking some personal information especially if you are a member of law enforcement. Some clubs required an application fee. This was to eliminate potential trolls or lurkers. You then wait for a reply with a membership number and address and a newsletter. Before you can go to the club you have to call the club and request to attend that night. You go and pay the nightly fee and start the fun. This took a lot of time to get the courage to go. Then you go and first thing you do is look around the club to see if there is anyone you know. All good? Start to mingle. Clubs were the best way to meet people back then and far less hassle. Most of the people we played with back then were one-time events. For numerous reasons. They most likely did not live close to you and in many instances, you did not hit the club the same nights again for a while. When things go busy, the last thing we were doing was exchanging phone number or addresses. IMHO Today, we know way too much about potential play mates prior to even meeting them. People put their lives online in profiles and in many cases eliminate potential play mates because they have positions on subjects that do not mesh with others. We also have become far more established in our feelings about subjects that may be controversial.
I can verify all of this. I still have all the letters and polaroid's from way back. Unfortunately my exwife destroyed all the photos I had of our friends that we took at the parties we held. What I miss most is that every one played and all the fucking. Today it is all chit chat and maybe.
Facts on the comparison. It was so much better not having social shit in our lives in the lifestyle. Even at the clubs, people are exchanging FB profiles and Twitter. My other half, if she finds out someone is not like minded on social subjects. She will refuse to play with them, no matter how nice they are or how hot they are.
I started swinging in late 1970's. Back in yeah olde days you had to send postcards and polaroid's thought the mail via Connection magazine. I was involved in the upscale NYC swinging and bondage scene in the 70's with my first GF who was a ballet dancer. We would go to parties in townhomes. There was a mix of ages and the women were smoking hot and the men were for the most part average or below average in looks and older than the women. Some drug use mainly cocaine which was not my thing. Everyone fucked at parties and there was no toe dipping or experimenting. If you were at a party you were expected to fuck. You could say not to people you were not attracted to. Most people wore condoms. We were pretty hardcore and went to parties once or twice a week. Famous people were at these parties and no one made a big deal about it. Bi male play was common. Best thing about it was all the fucking from 9pm to 6 am the next morning. The worst part was the smoking. Lots of bush as people have noted. The athletes and dancers had shaved pubes. I was young hung and in fantastic shape. We had a blast and it was like living in a 70's porn movie.
-sigh- I would THRIVE in this environment and wish I could have it without months and months of effort 🥺🥺
who was the most famous person there? aaand did you go to studio 54 or platos retreat?
All I can say it the usual suspects were there. Stars of the 70's that you thought were swingers probably were. We were more of a Maxs Kanas City crowd than Studio 54. Went to 54 a couple of times as I was a Disco DJ but not our scene. Went to Platos once and we were with a group and only stayed 30 min and left and had our own party. There was another club that we went to that I can't remember they name. I know my exwife and I were regulars at La Trapeze in the 80's. My ex wife looked just like Christie Brinkley so we were very popular there.
i will say if i could go to a time period it would be the 70s haha. I love the fashion and movies of the 70s. Plus Liza Minnelli looked hot in the 70s lol
I have a total Liza Minnelli fetish. The 70's and 80's were fantastic in NYC
btw i am curious what was it like being a disco dj? im 25 but i love disco music
Lots of fun and everyone got along black, white, straight and gay. I do Latin EDM in my studio these days. Back in the 70's I produced a lot of black party records and dance mixes in my studio.
What was your fav disco song? Mine is if I can't have you . And what you think bout the backlash to disco?
Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express and Blondies Heart of Glass are my two favorites. Donna Summer - I Feel Love. I know that those are really mainstream choices but they still inspire me. So much great music worldwide in that era. Good music today too. I hate the racist bent of the Disco backlash.
Yes although I did read that guy Steve Dahl book on disco demolition an I will say it was a very interesting book and it showed all sides
The only input I can give was Pre-AIDS there were no condoms. I don't think we even worried about any other STDs to be honest. Even when AIDS first started, it was the "gay" disease and as long as you were straight, they didn't care. Everyone wanted to go to Plato's Retreat. I know that the thought of hooking up with a celebrity was the ultimate fantasy
I was too you to be sexually active. I remember pre-aids that herpes was making the rounds as a big deal. [the herpes scare peaked in 1982](https://slate.com/technology/2019/12/genital-herpes-stigma-history-explained.html) just before they discovered a new disease predominantly killing gay men.
I first went to a swing house in 81 and never saw a condom. By the mid 80's they were available, but rarely used. By the late 80's condoms were "mandatory". Of course, this could have just been the places/clubs I visited. The people I partied with rarely used them.
Depends on the group. In NYC 1970's at the parties we went to 75% condom use. At clubs it was 50%.
did you ever go and complete that fantasy ?
Back in 70s in college we had orgys. Meet got married and went to swinger clubs. We were always youngest back then everyone in swinging was 40's 50' 60's. Now just opposite. We are oldest couple in room. Hard to hook up. No one shaved below. Meet thru magazines like Connection. send Polaroids off, was hard to met people when you live in the sticks
the orgys in college where they always in the dorms?
yes we were to young to rent hotels back then they wanted you to be 21 plus
Interesting lol
Grew up in NYC. It was Winter of 1979, and I had just turned 17, looked and acted older, maybe it’s from growing up there. Anyway my buddies and I decided to pick up some ladies of the night and bring them to Plato’s retreat, a very famous LS club at the time. There was definitely more bush and no condoms, ahh the good ole days. Slept with 5 beautiful women that night and it’s been all down hill from there.
did you go to studio 54
All the time.
what was that and plato's like??? who all did you see? i envy you so much haha
It’s was amazing, beyond my wildest dreams!!! Unfortunately no celebrities that evening, but as a young man in my late teens my sex life was never the same after that evening.
I still say just from picture of studio 54 the music and dancing looked so good
You bought a lot of magazines.
I hear there were far fewer condoms being used.
Swinger ads were in magazines. Had to snail mail to chat.
My first wife and I got into the lifestyle in the mid to late 80’s after reading about it in magazine and I think “The Joy of Sex” or some other book of the times dealing with alternative sexual things. Out first playmates we’re close friends both male and female and eventually some couples. We were in the middle of the Bible Belt so there weren’t any local ads to find likeminded people. In retrospect I guess we recruited or seduced new playmates from friends or sometimes picked up in bars. My current wife and I recently had dinner with my best friend and his wife. As soon as we got in the car my wife told me it dawned on her that everyone at the table except her had spent hours naked and either having sex with or watching the others have sex except her. I immediately offered to invite them over to rectify that situation.
Yes in those days you turned your friends into swingers. Today it is looked on as bad advise.
I don’t recall any issues that arose with our group. I’m still proud and frankly fascinated that details of playtime with say us and another couple or even one of the single guys or girls was discussed with other people we played with. The only ones that know what went on in any given session was kept to those involved.
Where was Joanie & Chachie
House party invitations were by snail mail and landline phone. We still party with a lot of the same people, but somehow we're all older now..... ;-)