A Night Out with a Gay Icon

In common with certain other popular icons, this gay doll had a short yet eventful life. We have a Gala Night Out with Billy.

All set for a night on the red carpet, *Gold Lamé* Tuxedo Billy, a prototype designed by Charles Josef. In the background, Barbie Fashion Model Collection, *Chinoiserie Red Moon* Silkstone doll wears a red satin cocktail dress with boatline bodice and extravagant side peplum finished with a bow. Dress and jewelry by Dressmaker Details Couture. Red armadillo snakeskin effect bootees by The Vogue, Hong Kong.

Well before the commercial success of the vinyl Billy doll, his first incarnation was as series of 16-inch latex rubber figures. They were similar in construction to the Bendy Toys of the 1950s and 60s: supported by a wire frame skeleton, the latex rubber doll was molded in a solid color, then overpainted.

Sadly these early rubber Billy dolls are sharing a similar fate with the vintage Bendy Toys. The spongy material really does not stand the test of time, becoming brittle and crumbling with age. Additionally, the overpainting reacts with the substrate to become sticky and tends to flake off.

It’s still possible to find these early dolls. They were marketed in 1994 by F.O.B. (Friends of Billy) and sold from London, UK. The characters were based on drawings created by the artist John McKitterick. They were available as dressed dolls in guises such as Gym, Sailor, and Baby.

From left to right: *Sailor*, *Gym*, and *Baby*, three incarnations of the original latex rubber ‘bendy toy’ Billy dolls. An initial series of five versions was produced in limited numbers in 1994. These fragile 16-inch tall figures truly are collectors’ items, requiring careful conservation.

From a conservation point of view, the news is not great for these dolls. According to Christian Scheidemann, Senior Conservator at Contemporary Conservation Ltd., New York, “We would recommend not doing any treatment, but store the object in an appropriate environment. The only way to maintain latex rubber is to store it in an oxygen-free environment. This means a nitrogen bag. Cold temperature would also help. Unfortunately, there is no way to post-vulcanize the material.” Scheidemann has successfully conserved artworks made with latex, caviar, or even elephant dung. He’s known in the art world as The Art Doctor, so he should know. (For more details see The New Yorker, May 11, 2009.)

Gay Bob, the actual first gay doll, complete with his closet and a catalog promising many tongue-in-cheek-outfits that didn’t actually exist. Gay Bob was also anatomically correct – although his proportions were a little more modest than for the Billy line.

The more durable vinyl Billy was introduced in 1997, he was based on the latex rubber prototype, and marketed in the United States by London-based Totem International as “the first out and proud gay doll”, although that distinction actually belongs to Gay Bob, a doll introduced in 1977, and wittily packaged in his closet. After a successful limited-edition run of 1,200 dolls created to benefit an AIDS charity, McKitterick decided to mass market Billy as a 13-inch tall vinyl doll.

Billy was based on several stereotypical gay characters, including Sailor Billy, Cowboy Billy, Master Billy, and San Francisco Billy. The doll was available with either blond or brown hair. Other dolls in the Billy line include Carlos, Billy’s Puerto Rican boyfriend, and Tyson, their African American friend. All three dolls are beautifully sculpted and are noted for being exaggeratedly anatomically correct.

Call security! Oh, they’re on a donut break. Every Gala needs behind-the-scenes backup. In this case Billy, Tyson, and Carlos in their cop outfits. Donuts created for this image by Elaine Langley at etsy.com/shop/DollyDelectables. Coffee cups, holder and box by Re-ment from Elaine’s collection.

The doll was the subject of a 1998 exhibit at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. Several dozen fashion designers created custom outfits for the doll in support of a benefit auction for AIDS charity LIFEBeat. Also in 1998, Billy and Carlos served as the basis for the film Billy 2000, which featured segments based on the Master Billy, Cowboy Billy and San Francisco Billy figures.

Designer dolls created especially for the 1998 LIFEBeat exhibit in New York.

In 1999, Billy and Carlos were kitted out in drag, with Billy dressed as Dolly in a red gingham pantsuit, and Carlos as Carmen in a polka dot outfit reminiscent of Carmen Miranda. Billy, Carlos, and Tyson all appeared wearing a brown uniform with a patch pocket reading “BPS” (for Billy’s Parcel Service) in 2001. United Parcel Service sent Totem cease and desist letters warning that the uniform violated the UPS trademark. Totem agreed to stop selling the brown-uniformed Billy style. There were no more dolls in the range produced after this and the company ceased trading.