Have to find a forever home for erotica.
March 23, 2018 7:17 PM Subscribe
(tw: non-explicit discussion of erotic materials)
Recently on the Blue's front page was a post about a UK shop that will take vintage erotica from embarrassed families.
I need to find a US equivalent, preferably within 100 miles of Chicago, strongly-preferably within the next 30 days.
Snowflakes inside.
I have to find a forever home for boxes of VHS and boxes of gentlemen's magazines.
The used bookshops I know in Chicago either never dealt with erotica, or went out of business. The Gallery Bookstore on Belmont is the only one I know left, and the owner only pays store credit (not useful in my situation) and has no shelf space for the volume of volumes I have to re-home.
And I really don't want to fill landfill space with all of it. And it's not the 70's anymore, so I cannot and will not leave random footlockers of erotica in random woods/culverts/abandoned-lots as a modern Johnny Smutcaster.
And my Google searches seem to find web pages that haven't been updated in ten years.
And I am unsure whether craigslist would work; and I am unsure that I have the time to use Ebay to sell things; and I assume other web-trading platforms have TOS restrictions on this. (But, hey, if I am wrong, I trust you will gently let me know.)
So, MeFite brain trust, has anyone any contact information for vintage* mag-and-video dealers, or for fledgling Gender Studies programs, or for a third possibility I haven't even counted upon?
* 1970s through 2000s, which, yes, strains the definition of 'vintage'.
I have to find a forever home for boxes of VHS and boxes of gentlemen's magazines.
The used bookshops I know in Chicago either never dealt with erotica, or went out of business. The Gallery Bookstore on Belmont is the only one I know left, and the owner only pays store credit (not useful in my situation) and has no shelf space for the volume of volumes I have to re-home.
And I really don't want to fill landfill space with all of it. And it's not the 70's anymore, so I cannot and will not leave random footlockers of erotica in random woods/culverts/abandoned-lots as a modern Johnny Smutcaster.
And my Google searches seem to find web pages that haven't been updated in ten years.
And I am unsure whether craigslist would work; and I am unsure that I have the time to use Ebay to sell things; and I assume other web-trading platforms have TOS restrictions on this. (But, hey, if I am wrong, I trust you will gently let me know.)
So, MeFite brain trust, has anyone any contact information for vintage* mag-and-video dealers, or for fledgling Gender Studies programs, or for a third possibility I haven't even counted upon?
* 1970s through 2000s, which, yes, strains the definition of 'vintage'.
If it helps at all, this stuff is going in the landfill eventually regardless. Well, the magazines can be recycled and will eventually biodegrade in any case,
but the VHS tapes are trash for the next 100,000 years whether they get thrown out now or 100 years from now. That's the thing about plastics. So from an environmental standpoint, it doesn't really matter.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:49 PM on March 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
but the VHS tapes are trash for the next 100,000 years whether they get thrown out now or 100 years from now. That's the thing about plastics. So from an environmental standpoint, it doesn't really matter.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:49 PM on March 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
This happened to my best friend (location in small town Ohio). Her father had, in addition to his vast erotic collection dating back to 1975, many other items that put him into hoarding territory. Upon his death, our friends helped her clean the house out which was both painful and cathartic as most of us had considered it our second home. We ended up with two gigantic plastic containers of various VHS, DVD and magazine porn. We, too, did not want to see it go to the landfill as it had become part of my friend's dad's personality - I swear not in a creepy way, he was a standup guy who had an acknowledged collection of erotic stuff that he didn't flaunt or try to push onto anyone, he was a very sex-positive guardian of information.
We went outside on a warm spring day as the last dumpster was full of stuff from the house, we saw two twenty-somethings driving by in a pickup truck, we shouted out to them, "Do you guys want two huge bins of porn?" They replied, "Yes!" then came into the house full of other twenty-somethings, hauled the bins out to the pickup truck, saluted us and drove off.
It's one of the favorite stories from our group of friends.
posted by Merinda at 8:21 PM on March 23, 2018 [41 favorites]
We went outside on a warm spring day as the last dumpster was full of stuff from the house, we saw two twenty-somethings driving by in a pickup truck, we shouted out to them, "Do you guys want two huge bins of porn?" They replied, "Yes!" then came into the house full of other twenty-somethings, hauled the bins out to the pickup truck, saluted us and drove off.
It's one of the favorite stories from our group of friends.
posted by Merinda at 8:21 PM on March 23, 2018 [41 favorites]
Best answer: A friend of mine is an antiquarian bookseller in Ann Arbor. Maybe send him a note and ask his advice? 1970s is probably too new for him but he may know someone who'd be interested. Good luck.
posted by Sublimity at 4:56 PM on March 24, 2018
posted by Sublimity at 4:56 PM on March 24, 2018
If it was gay porn, from the 70s, I'd pay for shipping.
posted by Goofyy at 4:10 AM on March 25, 2018
posted by Goofyy at 4:10 AM on March 25, 2018
Best answer: Cornell's Human Sexuality Collection isn't "fledgling" at all, but you might try dropping them an email anyway.
posted by dizziest at 8:02 AM on March 25, 2018
posted by dizziest at 8:02 AM on March 25, 2018
Response by poster: I appreciate everyone's answers. I am probably going to try offering specific lots on Chicago Craigslist.
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 11:42 AM on April 3, 2018
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 11:42 AM on April 3, 2018
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It would. List it as Vintage Erotica for free as two complete lots: one VHS, one magazines.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:28 PM on March 23, 2018 [3 favorites]