Peep show

For information about the British sitcom, see Peep Show (TV series).

A peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures or objects viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. This may or may not be a sex show, although the latter kind has eventually become the most common usage of the term since the advent of cinema and television, which destroyed various kinds of entertainment provided by wandering showmen.

History

Peep shows, also known as peep box or raree show ("rarity show") trace back to ancient times (15th century in Europe, by Leon Battista Alberti) and are known in various cultures. It could be a wooden box with a hole or several holes. It contained a set of pictures which the show-man can set into a viewing position by pulling the corresponding string. The boxes could be decorated inside to resemble a theatrical scene. The show was accompanied by "talk show" that explained what is seen or what expected to be seen.

Possible shows were exotic views and animals, scenes of classical drama or masques, court ceremonies, surprise transformations, e.g., of an angel into a devil, and of course, lewd pictures.

Raree shows were precursors of toy theatres, with movable scenes and paper figurines, popular in the 19th century.

Sex shows

By an analogy, the term "peep show" is applied to a piecewise presentation of pornographic films or a sex show using a coin-operated gadget, which shuts the view after a short time period, requiring more coins to be deposited for continuation. Some peep shows feature live nude strippers. Customers (generally male) enter booths with coin-operated opaque windows. These booths surround a stage upon which female sex workers perform stripteases and sexually-explicit poses. The booths include paper towel dispensers, for customers that are engaging in masturbation. The customers and the female sex workers can mutually agree to a fee for a "private dance". The "private dance" takes place in a peep show booth with a clear window and seating space for only one customer.

In New York's Times Square up until 1998, a number of shops offering peep shows were available. Customers would enter small booths and deposit $1 tokens into a machine. This would automatically open an opaque window into a small room. In the room a number of female employees of the shop, generally in their twenties and thirties, would line up wearing only bras and panties, or less. For the payment of usually only $2, the customer could select an employee who would then remove her bra and approach the customer's window with bare breasts. The customer could then fondle her breasts. After about a minute, the window would automatically close. Continuing the process for another minute would require a further $1 token and $2 tip. With a larger tip, the customer could usually place his hands further down. In an effort to change the image of Times Square, however, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1998, had most of these shops either closed, or they could remain open without the live peep open-window. New York City still has video peepshows, but these are common in any large American city.

"What the Butler Saw" machines are an early example of peep show gadgets.

The Lusty Lady peep show in San Francisco entered the news in 1997, when it became the first U.S. sex business to become unionized. In 2003 it was bought by the strippers and became a worker cooperative.

External links

• The Peep Show and Toy Theatre (many museum pieces)
• The Sunday Times 'Workers rule at the Soho Show', July 14 1985

Categories

Find

Find