Larry Blagg gay club matchbook covers and ephemera, 1969-1989.
Collection Number: 7738

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Larry Blagg gay club matchbook covers and ephemera, 1969-1989.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
7738
Abstract:
Over 300 matchbook covers from gay bars, discos, private clubs, restaurants, and bathhouses across the United States. There are also over 30 business cards from these establishments and over 30 personalized membership cards from private clubs of the early 1970s in New York.
Creator:
Blagg, Larry.
Quanitities:
.2 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Blagg assembled this collection by visiting at least 90 percent of the establishments from which these items come. Friends who knew he was collecting matchbook covers from gay bars and clubs around the country gave him the rest. Blagg was a member of a number of private New York City clubs in the early 1970s.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Over 300 matchbook covers from gay bars, discos, private clubs, restaurants, and bathhouses across the United States. Most from the early 1970s are from New York City, and matchbooks from the 1980s are mostly from Los Angeles. Included are some from Germany in the 1970s. There are also over 30 business cards from these establishments and over 30 personalized membership cards from private clubs of the early 1970s in New York. These precursors to Studio 54 include Flamingo, 12-West, Buttermilk Bottom, Starship Discovery, Les Mouches, Galaxy 21, and Truck Stop.
NOTES

Gift of the Cornell University Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association.
Collection was initially cataloged incorrectly as "Larry Bragg" and was corrected in June 2016.
RELATED MATERIALS

Collecting Program: Human Sexuality Collection.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
Cite As:

Larry Blagg gay club matchbook covers and ephemera, #7738. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
SUBJECTS

Places:
New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social life and customs.
Subjects:
Gay men -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
Gay bars -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Gay bars -- Germany -- History -- 20th century.
Disco music.
Bathhouses -- United States.
Form and Genre Terms:
Matchbooks.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1
Matchbooks, business cards, membership cards