'The Cheat' added to the archive

 

Royale's storyette 'The Cheat' has been added to the Archive Gallery.

The Introduction, Background and Link are at 'The Cheat' Index page

Yves Grangeat second post added

Yves Grangeat hanging out on the rocks

 

The second set of Royale Studio pictures of Yves Grangeat has been added to the archive

Link at the Yves Grangeat index page

Soldier Sailor (FJSS) article improved

 

John Skilling & Fred Collins get their kit out

This article exists in almost complete form at the mitchmen blog but needs a lot of upgrading for import to the Archive. However, I have now linked together the 14 posts at mitchmen that made up the original article, so it's easier to read now. Check on the latest situation at the FJSS Index page

Yves Grangeat (new post announcement)

 Yves Grangeat by Royale

One of a series of images of this French model taken on the French Riviera. 

This set featured in Royale's 1960 Catalogue but the outdoor, (non-UK) beach location is unique for a Royale set and the model never featured in a conventional Royale studio set or storyette.

Photographs of him were also published by John Barrington who made an annual trip to the South of France to find and photograph new models and old friends on the beaches there. I suspect this is actually a contribution by him to the Royale Catalogue, he was friends with Basil Clavering and they also collaborated on other projects.

This picture is a good example of how difficult it is to capture the sexiness of jeans in a photographic  image. They probably looked great in real life.

Visit the Yves Grangeat Index Page for more images of the model by both Royale and Barrington

Shanghaied Sailor completed

 

Shanghaied Sailor - 08

Posting of  the 'Shanghaied Sailor' storyette is now complete.

It ends with an astonishing climax

Royale Sailors Remembered

 This image from 'Shanghai'd Sailor' was jokily adapted by Sir Gee magazine No 17, some time after Royale's demise (ca 1966). There were several other Royale pictures in this and other issues that nostalgically revisited Clavering's work, fondly poking fun at the contrived eroticism.

Publication of the  'Shanghai'd Sailor' continues progressively at the Gallery.

Image from Sir Gee No 17 courtesy of Tim in Vermont 

Shanghai'd Sailor set arrives at the Royale blog

Satty - Shanghai City

 The next set to be posted at the Royale Studio blog is Shanghai'd Sailor which seems to have been a direct inspiration for Etienne/Stephen's well known story 'Sailor Beware'. 

You can follow progress via the link above.

Shanghaiing sounds like some wicked, Oriental practice, but in fact it was widely employed by British and American Sea Captains to crew their vessels, by abducting men from waterfronts and forcing them to work on their ships. A civilian equivalent of the Royal Navy 'Press Gang'. 

The image above (attributed to 'Satty') shows a group of  kidnapped men being rowed to their new home and workplace under the direction of a Dickensian overseer. Their muscular, black oarsman seems to be providing a demonstration of their new working conditions as he reels back from a whip lash. A nice ship mate to have with you though! The picture itself seems to be a montage of different images rather than an original drawing.

According to some sources the reference to Shanghai was because it was the destination of many of the ships, but it seems more likely that it was simply a colourful example of a foreign place miles from home where the language and customs were so completely alien that abductee, should he escape or be dumped there, would be in a dire predicament.

Incidentally, Sailor Beware! was also a 1950's British stage play and film about a sailor who has doubts about his forthcoming marriage, thanks to his domineering, future mother-in-law. There's no gay subtext or enslavement angle beyond the traditional jokes about marriage, but the catchy title passed readily into British, camp, gay usage for obvious reasons. Basil Clavering didn't use it for his piece and I don't know what made Etienne settle on it for his American story.