Footage Released from a 1940s Gay Pool Party and It’s Wonderful

Listen, Wednesday 8/10 might have been the last day we New Yorkers are going to spend enjoying an 8pm sunset, but that doesn't mean that we're done with pool parties for the season. Which is why the revelation of footage from a 1940s gay pool party has my gay ass' heart all aflutter.

The tapes were originally found 20-ish years ago at an estate sale of the late Buddy Walton. St. Louis-based filmmaker Geoff Story snatched them up and is now sharing them with the world. But the trove won't exist as stand-alone art. Story was inspired by the found-footage to create a documentary about gay men who were alive in the '40s who could share what their experiences were like. This pool party footage is essentially the first big tease, the first dipping of toes into the documentary waters.

The documentary, titled Gay Home Movie is currently in the works as Story continues his journey to find even more footage that will lead to even more stories being told. And this pool party, in a mere 17-second span, tells such a wonderful - and to a degree sad - story. At that point in history, these men could lose their jobs, their family and friends, and even their lives for being themselves. Yes, there's still a danger to being Queer in 2022, but it was a much different beast back then. But if there's one thing I take away from this footage, it's that at its core, though 80 years ago, this pool party is the same story now as it was then. The men are so young, so horny, so in love. They're just barely entering the prime of their lives and are bursting at the seams to express it in a society that tells them to keep it quiet.

In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio's Nancy Fowler, Story said, "These men are still in their 20s in the sun, swimming, like they always will." The footage also acts as a conversation across Space-Time. “What are the chances someone would go to an estate sale and pick up these canisters of old footage? It’s almost like these men are trying to talk to us from beyond the grave.”

Hollywood exec. Brian Graden, one of Out Magazine's 2007 10 Most Powerful Gay People In America, told Fowler, "There’s a real sweet pain, and when you watch it, there’s a happiness but you can’t believe it’s so long ago and you can’t touch it–it’s gone." Saying also, “It speaks to a wide array of people on a very deep level."

This is definitely going to be a documentary I keep my mind on and follow as it develops, but for now, let's just enjoy this wonderful footage of our Foredaddies paving the way for us all simply by existing and enjoying a wonderful gay pool party.

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