Bear Bones

Interrupted Journeys:

Thanks to RickBear for this little slice of history . . .

I have a feeling Freddy Freeman was born before the Bear Movement even began.

 

Here's a photo of us with the original logo of the 1992 Bear Bust (Orlando) with the club President.

 

Bears were around LONG before they started to get organized!

 

RickBear

Posted by SFBrawnyBear at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So when we were sniffin’ around for a new name for the newsletter, when we were drawn to the old colloquialism - “Chewin’ the Fat.” There are a few theories about the origin of Chew the Fat:

• Perhaps it’s a derivative of “Chewin’ the Rag” – In the late 1800’s, soldiers would chew a piece of cloth (“the rag”) when they ran out of tobacco. Naturally, they’d be bitchin’ about the absence of tobacco at the same time (ragging?”).
• Elizabethan lore that farmers kept a haunch of smoked pork hanging by their kitchen hearths. On rainy or snowy winter days when no fieldwork could be done, the family and visitors would sit around the hearth talking, and slice off slivers of pork to "chew the fat."
• In the far North, it is suggested that the term has to do with the preparation of caribou hide. Native women used to chew the scraped and smoked hides to increase the flexibility of the garments made there from. Since it would take hours to soften an entire hide, this became a social pastime involving several women in their "spare" moments.

Another guess is that this expression was originally a nautical one: Sailors working their jaws on the tough salt pork rationed out when supplies ran low constantly grumbled about their poor fare while literally chewing the fat."

Seems there are two themes that continue to emerge: chatting and bitchin'. Hey - wait, that’s us!!

We are here to listen to you and talk about what matters to you. We love to hear from you and what is on your mind. Talk to us, we don’t bite…

Bear newsletter

Posted by SFBrawnyBear at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

Freshly home from IBR 13, today is a good time to pause and take note, as my impressions and experiences already begin drifting into memory. 

Whoever, back in the 1980s, would have thought? What began as not much more than a night of hanging out with friends at the Lonestar, an evening of play at a Bear Hugs party, or picking up a copy of that funky, one-handed ‘zine full of personals ads, would grow into such a vast community, a global-sized community? Bears today are in instantaneous, and frequently constant, touch with each other. Bears have pioneered the Internet, built up a social network of clubs, interest groups, weekend events, bear bars, contests, and cruises, spanning the globe.
 
Today IBR is one stop – granted, a big one, and one of the longest running – on the international bear circuit. IBR and similar events are important, not just because they are times of celebrating the bear lifestyles. As the 21st-century bear circuit emerged, IBR was alive and well, with a long record of doing good works. For those who did not know, IBR’s primary purpose is as a charitable fund-raising event, the instrument through which the Bears of San Francisco provide charitable service to the communities of San Francisco, bear, GLBTQ, and others in need. (Check out their website for the current year’s worthy recipients.)

IBR continues a wonderful tradition of the bear community – having fun and being of service at the same time, all the while providing community space. We grow and prosper by such means.
Thank you to all those who volunteered to put on another successful, mammoth weekend. Thanks to all the members of the Bears of San Francisco, and to the BOSF’s hard-working leadership for your example, your vision, and your commitment to the bear community and the GLBTQ community as a whole. And, of course, thank you, San Francisco -- part sophisticated lady, part raucous Forty-Niner, part bearishly down-to-earth, openhearted, and unsated rover -- for your legendary hospitality.

On a related note, you read it here first. The Bear History Project is being restored to active status. After a three-year hiatus of the BHP history archives and related bear art and cultural work (under the Nashoba umbrella), this grassroots “bearstorian” is settling in back home in San Francisco and ready to answer the call. (Is that a phone in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?)

In a mere five years, the bear community has grown and transformed exponentially. As we all venture forth in a much-changed 21st century, bears continue to forge the way. And often do it with a great deal of style and taste. As I said earlier, who knew?

It’s good to be back, and it’s good for the BHP to be in its new home in San Francisco.

Thank you!
Papa Bearstorian
(Les Wright)

 

Posted by Bearstorian at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In a mere twenty years, bears have evolved from small clusters of buddies, playmates, and guys recognizing a tacit bond of kindred spirit to the largest, and fastest-spreading, new expression of gay (queer, bi, lesbian, trans, and even straight) identity. Bears today come in all shapes and sizes, across the socioeconomic spectrum, and across the range of sexual self-expression.

We're Everywhere Now
by Les Wright © 2006

We've Come a Long Way, Cubsters
by Les Wright © 2006

The Wired Network: Bears in the 1990s
by Les Wright © 2007

Posted by SFBrawnyBear at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the beginning there were no bear clubs, there were few formally organized groups in the earliest days. The bear community originated in the 80's by men who felt that mainstream gay culture was unwelcoming to men who did not fit a particular bodily norm (thin, hairless, gym toned and young).

The original "bear bar" was the Lone Star in SF - in its early days they played only hard rock 'n' roll and heavy metal music at the bar. It was in the South of Market district of San Francisco - the other bars in the area were Leather/Levi bars. It was frequented by the Rainbow Motorcycle Club and other bikers. The Rainbow Motorcycle Club was instrumental in the formation of SF's Bear community. They weren't into fashion leather - only biker leathers. The original Lone Star was closed due to the October 'quake of '89 and opened shortly after in its present location. When the original owner Richard died, it was sold by his survivors to the bar's present owner.

Today's bear runs are an outgrowth of the motorcycle runs of the 50's and 60's.

Originally, Bear had nothing to do with size - they weren't a group of guys that went to the gym but neither were most of them big Girth & Mirth sized. That is evidenced by the early couple years of Bear Magazine where there were many thinner guys featured as "models" in the magazine. Many of the "centerfold models" were just guys that hung out at the Lone Star back then. Common denominator was facial hair and a masculine, friendly attitude. But the simplest definition of Bear comes from that magazine's tag line -Masculinity Without the Trappings" - a line that was coined by the original owner of Bear Magazine, Richard Bolger (who has been seen on Bear411 recently).

Girth and Mirth members (an organization for large guys) started to merge in with the bear community in the early-90s. Bears eventually began to be associated with size. In recent years, websites like Musclebear.com & Lazy Bear Weekend have had a huge impact on the so-called definition of a Bear, further dividing much of the community into 2 camps (gym and no gym - or muscle and chub). Bear Magazine was sold in the 90s. It became more of a showcase for porn stars. American Bear was the next magazine on the scene aimed at our community.

The early Bear gatherings in San Francisco were called Bear Expo. Many of the men involved in putting those on created International Bear Rendezvous (Rainbow MC members Lurch, David Dysart, Steve Stafford - all now gone)so the funds could go to charity. By the mid-90s the triple crown of Bear events was considered to be IBR in SF, Bear Pride in Chicago and Bear Bust in Orlando. Many men traveled the circuit making new friendships and renewing old ones. By that time Bear Clubs were all over the US and beyond.

And so begins our history . . .

Want to add something?  Check out The Wiki!

Posted by SFBrawnyBear at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)