The internet cannot handle the fabulousness that is Gay Bob, the world’s first gay doll.
First released in 1977, the doll made waves at the time for its ‘outrageous’ marketing.
Standing at 13 inches tall, Gay Bob wore a flannel shirt, tight jeans, cowboy boots and even had one ear pierced. His packaging was also designed to resemble a closet for him to come out of.
He was even anotomically correct (click this NSFW link at your own risk!)
Creator Harvey Rosenberg said he was supposed to look like Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
Original 1978 advert for Gay Bob. | Photo: Joe Wolf / Flickr
A 1978 advertisement for Gay Bob reads: He sits, he stands. He gets into any position… and since he is anatomically correct, he can even play with himself without going blind.’
‘Barbie and Ken move over, Gay Bob is here!’
Men’s magazine Esquire awarded the doll a Dubious Achievement Award in 1978 and controversy followed.
Atlas Obscura reports a lobby group called Protect America’s Children came out firing against it. They released a statement that said: ‘It’s another evidence of the desperation the homosexual campaign has reached in its effort to put homosexual lifestyle, which is a deathstyle, across to the American people.’
Complainants at the time said the gay doll would lead to the creation of other ‘depraved’ dolls, like ‘Priscilla the Prostitute’ and ‘Danny the Dope Pusher.’
But 40 years on from its creation, people are losing their minds over how amazing Gay Bob is.
Someone posted the doll on Reddit and it’s absolutely blown up, amassing 42,000 up votes in one day.
One user joked: ‘Strictly Bob would have been one of the first openly gay dolls. There were rumors about Ken for years.’
Another commented: ‘Holy shit! When I was growing up, kids would call each other “gay-bob” all the time! I never knew the origins.’
