Open Showers for Men - A fond memory or still in use?

 

Recently there was a discussion on the YMNA2,(Young Men's Nudist Association) Yahoo group. It started when an old advertisement for Bradley Showers was shared (see photo above). Actually, the changes in acceptance (or tolerance) for nudity between men in places where it was formerly both accepted, required and even encouraged has caused there to be a lot of similar discussion in men's circles for many years now. One such example, a lengthy one, on a straight men's discussion board can be found at: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=294839&page=0

Here is the discussion over the past few days:



atitlan wrote: My thanks to the blogger who found this. I can't believe that the artwork for the advert wasn't done by someone with a wicked sense of humour - "pull and turn", the equipment says.

Pete added: Judging by the expression on their faces I would guess they've all pulled and didn't have far to 'turn'!
Can only have been done by someone with a great sense of humour or completely naive.
Aussie Kevin replied: I LOVE the eye-line on the guy on the left!

Actually, this is really heart-warming...and sadly something that most young guys would avoid, in Australia and the States anyway. Showering together, enjoying it openly, just being free and open and natural with buddies! it actually has a really nice energy to it. From days gone by though, sadly.


James of Louisville added:
Here's another ad for the product and a similar product in use.

The Bradley company is still in operation. http://www.bradleycorp.com/

RESPONSE by atitlan:
                                                                                     Thanks, James, for

these - excellent research! I remember moving from one gym with its long line of gang showers to another gym that had pole showers. I didn't like the pole variety overmuch. They were rather too intimate for comfort if all the shower jets were taken. Because we were so near one another, there was little personal space and always a risk of backing into people either side. Yes, that might not always have been unwelcome, except then there was then a further risk of developing a hard-on just inches away from a group of ostensibly straight men.


Pedro chipped in:
Those are the type I had in high school. A friend of mine would soap up my back for me.
This is where I started to develop my reputation as a tough guy.
I took cold showers.

Jason brings up his point:

I have fond memories of the pole type showers like Bradley Corp makes. We had them in junior high and high school both! talk about having nowhere to hide and really getting to check out your classmates!

I haven't seen one in use since then in all of my travels around the States, so I am not sure who is buying these products from Bradley! Even the new gyms I go to which have gang showers have the shower heads built in to the walls around the room. They don't have the 6-person "pole" variety. I do wish I could go to a shower room that has them though!

William wanted to know:
Several years ago I frequently went to the gay bath houses......like The Club, or Midtowne; they had the Bradley shower heads, and everyone loved them. Have no idea if they still use those or not. Anyone know?

ZeroFear replied:
The YMCA I belong to in New Hampshire still has a locker room with gang/open style showers that has both the shower heads built into one wall, and then in the middle of the room it has two of the pole showers. Each pole has either 4 or 5 showers heads on it.

Sunbuns (Kelly - that's me ) adds his experience:

The pole shower is still used in places like public beaches, where close contact isn't expected to cause a problem. 

 
You can find the 'Bradley' type showers along public beaches in Hawaii and Spain (I'm sure many other places, too).

What's nice about them is that you can take a shower in public and stand close to some guys while each of you is occupied with the getting clean without appearing to leer or be inappropriately 'interested.' It's fun when a guy pulls

his swimsuit out from his body (or even down somewhat) to help wash out the sand. You can sometimes get a glimpse of his pubic hair, ass or even more.

It seems obvious to me that some guys - straight ones - seem to enjoy this chance to do a bit of mild flashing - at least in the sexually repressed US.
Sometimes, a few teenager or older young men find it the perfect time to horse around - such as pulling down a unwary friend's suit, and so on. So when I hang out at the beach, I find it very entertaining to stay not very far from the Bradley public shower.

On the nude beach at Gandia (Spain) in Sept this year, it was nice watching guys use these open-air showers either alone or together and, especially when I had timed my shower with some other dude's.

Wild times at the baths: 24 Kaikan Tokyo's Shinjuku

I'll not go into too much detail (at least,  I say that as I begin this entry), but over the last few weeks, I've been going about a half-dozen times to one of the local gay baths (i.e. male saunas).

It's called 24-Kaikan, a chain operation with at least 3 locations in Tokyo. Normally, I go to the one very near Tokyo's gay district in Shinjuku 2-chome.  It's  located in a 7-story building just around the corner and one block from the main gay ghetto intersection that's the famous Advocates Cafe, a street-side open bar. Inside 24-Kaikan (about $24 for a locker for 12 hours), there are 7 floors, 2F is the entrance and the floors for undressing and lockers, the third floor is a completely Wet Floor that includes a large Japanese style 'onsen' (hot springs) bath and showers, steam room, wet and dry saunas, and 4 more floors of group room where cruising and sex play go on 24/7, including about twenty private and double hotel-style rooms (which cost extra, of course).

The top three floors have hotels rooms from about $50 to $100 or so per night. Atop the seventh floor is a flat sundeck, partially hidden from the surrounding buildings along with a row of a partly enclosed shower room with 3 open showers side by side and a separate toilet.  Although complete nudity is forbidden on the roof because of possible neighbor's complaints, there can still be plenty to see

when guys lounge on the rooftop nearly naked. Invariably, if it's sunny and warm, there were be a small group of men who like showing off and seeing others who love showing. So I love to go to 24-Kaikan anytime of year, but especially when the weather is warm up to sunbathe and shower outdoors.

  Last Saturday was really a very erotic experience since there was a new guy on the premises. I am pretty sure he was a US Marine, probably on leave but possibly stationed in Tokyo (they are used at the US Embassy) or at the Marine base near Mt. Fuji. He as young, hunky, and tattooed. The auburn-headed jarhead had a nice dick - not huge by any means, and he had the boyish good looks of a young man rapidly becoming a stud.

  What was amazing about him that he was so open to sex and affection with most anyone. When I first saw him, he was on top of a bunkbed in the Bunk Room, where about 10 bunkbeds are lined up side by side, end first to the wall. He was engaged in sucking and kissing with several other Japanese guys. When he saw me standing at the end of the bed, he crawled over

and reached down to feel by erection, and tried to get me to get up into the bed. I declined because it seemed it was already sufficiently 'entertained'.

However, about 30 minutes later - after I had sunned myself on the top floor sun roof for a bit, I came back down to the 5th floor Group Room and found a couple fucking at the first floor mat near the door. I could only see the guy's ass of the one who was on top. Man, did it look delicious and so I leaned up behind his butt and took a good lick. The owner of that fine ass turned around to look and we recognized each other from earlier.  This time I could see his entire naked body and partly shaved head (no sides  - just having

left the top of his short straight auburn hair).  He seemed to enjoy by tongue on his ass and balls.. although the smooth young Japanese guy he was fucking didn't seem to appreciate having the 'older' white guy (me) horning in on his trophy dick.

Eventually, the young Japanese guy got off and get up, leaving Marine-boy open for this daddy's pleasure. We went at for I don't know how long, He'd apparently already cum - who knows how many times - so we didn't go for orgasm, and eventually he fell asleep with me sucking his armpits and stroking his now wilted cock. An hour or less later in the Play Room (with a sling and other

equipment) located in a small alcove on the same floor in the Shower Room , I was again plugging a guy's ass with my still hard dick along with another set of similar fuckers along side us. Guess who makes an appearance:  Jarhead Red, the Marine.  Yep, he smiled at me as I lunged back and forward into a middle-age Japanese businessman's ass, and then he did something I could only have imagined. He got up into the swing and although he didn't open his ass, I could only imagine that that act of submission was going to come.  This was just too much for my sorely (and sore) prolonged erection to withstand so I let loose inside the condom stretched over my engorged member that was buried deep in the ass.

Unfortunately, that signaled the end of my Saturday night reverie. When I left, I feel a foot grab my leg from behind. It was the Marine. I can only hope (and pray) that he'll be there again someday soon so that I'll have the chance to plow his gorgeous bubble butt or vice-versa.  Semper Fi.

Homo-erotic stimulation and budding bromance while traveling: Hostel's Showers

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