The Official Cockettes Paper Doll Book, Last Gasp, 1971, RARE, Fine

Flowers, John (Art), and Clay Geerdes (Photography). The Official Cockettes Paper Doll Book (San Francisco: Last Gasp Eco-Funnies Co., Inc., 1971).

English, RARE, Fine, SC, 4to, 11" x 8 1/4," unpaginated, 23 pp., including illustrations.

ISBN: N/A

RARE. Fine black-and-white pictorial paper wrappers with staple binding. Black-and-white wrap-around illustration on covers and spine. No lettering to covers or spine. Covers pristine and intact, binding tight, sharp tips. Pages pristine and intact. Principally black-and-white illustrations, 23 paper doll designs included. RARE in the trade. A unique paper doll book featuring "characters" from the Cockettes, a group of avant-garde experimental theater performers who were active from 1969-1972 during the height of the Height-Ashbury Summer of Love. Each paper doll design features a photographed portrait of a performer from the Cockettes who has a matching garment. Text is brief and comes in the form of names, superlatives, or witty quotes accompanying each performer. The Cockettes were pioneer performance artists who paved the way for non-binary, Trans, and LGBTQ+ social acceptance. Men, women, and non-gender-conforming artists donned colorful, gender-bending costumes inspired by early Hollywood, Broadway musicals, Surrealism and Cubism, putting on spontaneous, unscripted shows, often under the influence of psychedelics. The paper dolls show the performers interchangeable identities. SAdly, many of these brilliant and outrageous artists were victims of the AIDS crisis. Out of print and rare, this copy came from a rediscovered box in the Last Gasp warehouse.