We're Here: Inside a Gay Photo Album of the '40s and '50s

Figuring out who these people are or were is something I could spend a lifetime doing — and in some ways, have

December 4, 2025

Based on the number of images my album boasts of the guy on the right, I think it was his album. Whether he is Eddy, Ed, Peter or something else … is a question mark. I found only one other image that could be the guy on the left — and it notes

Earlier this year, I bought a vintage photo album said to belong to a gay man. I love preserving gay historical ephemera and spending forever and a day sussing out who the people pictures are/were, fitting all the pieces together, so it was a no-brainer.

The man noted as having died in a car crash while very young

All I knew for sure was it contained a pile of photographs that showed unquestionably gay men, some drag shots at a party, some commercial beefcake images and what appeared to be some genuine, albeit minor, celebrity autographs.

When I received it, I set about trying to figure it out. What’s odd about it is it’s fairly pristine and the images are arranged quite cleanly, and yet the content is a little all over the place, including some pages that are strictly personal images, others that mix personal images with sexy Hollywood hunks and still others that are devoted to ephemera, like invitations and business cards.

I half-wondered if someone had haphazardly put a bunch of vintage images together in an album to make it feel more worthwhile as a historical piece, but there is definitely a thread, and the thread seems to be images of a man named Ed/Eddy.

Whoever you are, Ed (?), you were fabulous.

The images of Ed included some childhood images that looked ‘30s, and then lots of shots from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

Frustratingly, it wasn’t exactly clear he had created the album, even if that makes the most sense. There are a few captions, but just a few, to guide me.

Letter from P-Town from a pal named “Michele” — possibly a femme guy named Michael but going by Michele in this telling note.

A fabulous signed photo from bodybuilding legend Ed Yarick (1910-1988) to Ed. So many Eds, so little time.

One man whose face is seen throughout is the Nordic femme type who is all over this post, so it would seem logical to assume he is the “Eddy” to whom several celebrity photos are addressed. But another notation suggests he might have been the nephew of the creator of the photo album. Odd to have so many photos of one’s gay nephew.

The other clue is among the ephemera. There is a custom New Year’s greeting from an “Ed and Peter” in P-Town, and I was able to trace them to Howard’s End, a B&B in Provincetown that was built in 1840 and that became, in 1946, the first openly gay guesthouse in what would become the gayest enclave on the Eastern Seaboard.

Peter Hand established the business with his partner Edward Daminger (who died in 1970) that year, running it until his death in 1994. It was bought by Howard Weiner, who in turn died in 2015, and it’s now run by Howard’s widower and his husband.

Confirmed as Peter (L) and Ed (R), this image — supplied by Howard’s End — does not really look to me like the people in my book.

Peter Hand around 1950

The current owners kindly sent me an image of Ed and Peter. They assumed it was a match to the one couple image I have — but I don’t really see it.

Guy seen over and over again in my album who loved the camera …

… and, presuming this is the same guy (gap in teeth gives that away, I believe), the camera also loved him.

Usually, when I post stories, I like to have considered every angle and to have parsed my post for meaning — resolution. In this case, because I have acquired so much fantastic stuff, and am in the process of archiving so much art, porn, ephemera and personal photography, I decided simply to do something of which I don’t do enough: SHARE. So, I am sharing this and inviting your feedback on if anyone has thoughts on who various people are.

Enjoy, and reach out if you have any queer-past items you don’t know what to do with — I probably want them!

I love the original invitations in the book, at least some of which may not exist elsewhere.

The fangirl image alone is priceless.

Local businesses represented, as well as a very interesting newspaper clipping about P-Town homos

I wondered if the Ed & Peter card were received by my album’s creator, a totally different Ed, or if perhaps the same Ed had saved a copy of his greeting for posterity.

I think these scant few snapshots from a drag party are among the book’s most interesting items.

Notice how a single photo of Ed (?) is mixed in with beefcake, Vince Edwards and John Derek …

These autographs are not originals, but some others (including two of Farley Granger) are real. Along with bad copies of Hollywood-star photos, Ed had quite a few others like these — originals, often trimmed down.

My favorite item in the album is on this spread — an original snap of a young man posing nude as an artist’s model in the 1930s.

Whoever you are, I’m looking at your images and wondering …

So, let me know if you have any information about these images, especially the personal snaps (the movie stars are less interesting).

Thanks! ⚡️