A note about the history

In 2018, the California B&B Corps, the world’s first and now oldest uniform club for gay men, celebrated its Golden Anniversary. This history documents the club’s origins in the 1960s and its evolution over the succeeding decades.

This history incorporates both information and original text from club histories prepared in 1993, 1998, and 2003. The material from the older histories has been supplemented by the results of additional research. This research included consultation of histories of gay and leather life in Los Angeles, as well as review of club meeting announcements and notes, event posters, and photographs found in the club’s archives and in the collections of the One Archive at USC.

A posthumous thank you is due to founding member Mel Saddler, who created notebooks of club records, prepared summary notes about the early years and created albums of club photos, all of which constituted an invaluable resource for this research. The history has also been enriched through information and insights gained through interviews and correspondence with Neil Cowan, one of the club’s founding members; with Jim Neuman who has been active in the club since the early 1970s; with Bruton Peterson, who played a leading role in the club in the 1980s and 1990s; and with George Fouras, who was active in the club in the 1990s and is again a member of the club. A special thanks is due to Neil Cowan, the author of the 1993 history, which describes the early years of the club in colorful detail.

A thank you is also owed to Robert Green, who provided access to and scanned portions of Mel Saddler’s archives, videotaped several of the interviews, and helped to select and edit the photos used to illustrate the history.

Photo caption

In 1967, before the club got started, Gordon Marten and Mel Sadler on a motorcycle outing to the desert in their LAPS motor uniforms.

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A note about the history

The club's beginnings

The club’s beginnings go back to the early 1960s and several individuals — Mel Saddler, Ron Tonkins, and Gordon Marten — who had strong interests in both motorcycles and uniforms.

Development of the club's uniforms

During the club’s initial years, members would wear uniforms to the meetings that they had put together on their own. Over time, what we now know as the club uniforms were defined and codified.

The Constitution

The club constitution that was hammered out in contentious meetings during
the course of 1973 and 1974 was formally adopted at the club’s 67th meeting
that occurred on July 13, 1974 at Neil Cowan’s house on Stanley Avenue in Hollywood.

The B&B in the 70s

Throughout much of the 1970s, the club remained highly closeted, with its gatherings continuing to take place in members’ homes, and later in the decade at gay-friendly Hollywood area restaurants.

The 1980s

In the 1980s, membership in the club fluctuated between 11 and 16. A regular schedule of monthly meetings was maintained, primarily in members’ homes, but sometimes involving dinner at nearby restaurants.

The 1990s

The first half of the decade of the 90’s represented something of a peak for the B&B. During the period from 1990 through 1994, membership was high, ranging from 17 to 20 active members.

The 2000s

As the new millennium began to unfold, there was an uptick in activity in the club. The LA Division attracted new members, including three men who had been members of the Corps of Rangers who came to the B&B after the Corps of Rangers dissolved.

From 2010 to the present

After taking a slight dip in 2010 the LA Division’s membership has been increasing steadily, and the number of active officers is now up to 17.

Jim Neuman's role in the B&B story

This history of the B&B would not be complete without a mention of the important role that Officer Jim Neuman has played over the years in supporting the B&B and in ensuring the continuity of its core values and traditions.

The future of the B&B

Although the conditions that once made clubs like the B&B necessary — the criminalization of homosexuality and the limited acceptance of uniforms in gay world — have changed, the B&B is continuing to thrive and meet the needs of its members.

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