Crafted and created by our friends at Seagrape Apothecary in Portland, Oregon, these hankies have a long history. Seagrape says:
"The Hanky Code originated in the 1960s in a series of gay leather bars around Los Angles, California. The hankies functioned as a color coded system for communicating illegal or stigmatized sexual desires within the construct of top/dominate and bottom/submissive. While the hankies lubricated one’s navigation through sexual relations, the very existence of such strategically codified garments illuminates the grave reality of extreme sexual oppression and persecution during that time period. The use of the Hanky Code has trickled into the present with slightly less severe undertones, but our intention in illustrating, printing and distributing this new version of the Hanky Code was to remove its historical connotations of shame and fear entirely. The drawings assert sex and body positive visibility not only within queer enclaves but to the masses as well.
The Code:
left (top/ dominant) || color || right (bottom/ submissive)
piercer | purple | piercee
likes drag | lavender | drag queen/king
bondage top | grey | bondage bottom
anything, anywhere, anytime | orange | not now, thanks
spanker | pink | spankee
daddy |hunter green| wants a daddy
heavy s&m top | black | heavy s&m bottom"
- ~13"x13"
- Hand silkscreened in Portland, OR
