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David Hurles Interviews
Coll2008-034
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Title: David Hurles interviews
Dates: 1998-1999
Collection number: Coll2008-034
Creator:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
Collection Size: 2 archive cartons.
0.8 linear foot.
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: VHS videotapes and compact audiocassette tape
interviews of David Hurles, founder and proprietor of Old Reliable Tape and
Picture Company, conducted by Pat Allen with the assistance of Bill Wyman,
September 1998-January 1999. The collection also contains two compilation
CD-ROMs of Old Reliable photographs, copyright 1998.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
David Hurles Interviews, Coll2008-034, ONE National Gay and Lesbian
Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Collection processed by Michael C. Oliveira,
June 16, 2008.
Processing this collection has been funded
by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
David Randolph Hurles was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the end of World
War II. By his teen years he recognized his attraction to the neighborhood
bullies and toughs. By the mid-1960s he was working for H. Lynn Womack at Guild
Press, in Washington, D.C. In 1968, Hal Call, who ran San Francisco's notorious
Adonis Book Store, persuaded Hurles to appear before the camera. His skill
before the camera and easygoing personality led Call to rent Hurles a room and
employ him. Hurles worked as a model, book store employee, and later as an
office manager in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Hurles gained experience
behind the camera with Ken Albert, and was introduced to a few models. In 1975,
with funds obtained from Womack, Hurles formed the Old Reliable Tape and
Picture Company, specializing at first in audio tapes and still photography,
and later in video tapes of street boys, tough guys, and "rough trade," men,
typically working class laborers and hustlers, who did not want their
masculinity or sexuality questioned, but would appear before the camera.
Sources:
Rex, text editor.
Speeding: The Old Reliable photos of David
Hurles>
. San Francisco: Green Candy Press, 2005.
Sears, James T.
Behind the Mask of the Mattachine: The Hal Call
Chronicles and the Early Movement for Homosexual Emancipation
. New
York: Harrington Park Press, 2006.
Scope and Content of Collection
The bulk of the collection consists of interviews of David Hurles,
founder and proprietor of Old Reliable Tape and Picture Company, conducted by
Pat Allen with the assistance of Bill Wyman. The materials consist of VHS
videotapes (masters and copies) of a nine-part interview conducted from August
18 to December 29, 1998, and 6 compact audiocassette tapes of what appears to
be a four-part interview conducted on January 12, 1999. The collection also
contains two compilation CD-ROMs, copyright 1998, of Old Reliable photographs,
As Seen from the Rear ... the Butt CD! and
Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar!
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Allen, Pat
Gay erotic photography
Hurles, David
Men photographers--United States
Old Reliable Tape and Picture
Company
Photography of men
Photography of the nude
Wyman, Bill