THE GALLERY

Show World was indeed many things, and to be fair, not all of them were palatable to the general public. The fact that it existed and stood out on the corner of 8th Avenue and 42nd Street was an outrageous testament to the hanky-panky of that period. Even when there were those obviously disgusted by it, there were those equally enthralled. For some a guilty pleasure, a tasty-treat; while others were simply revolted, they didn’t take it tongue-in-cheek. Show World appealed to a certain segment of our society, and using the vernacular: ‘they let it all hang out’. Show World presented a challenge to the blatant hypocrisy of our times. Show World simply offered an alternative to the puritanical dogma perpetrated by politics and religion; whereas on the surface we maintain a moral façade quite contradictory to the repressed stirrings underneath. Show World evoked sexual desire, with lewd attractions on its very premises. With abstinence unequivocally a bona fide perversion, Show World presented a safe discharge for those disproportionate accumulations. 

This much, however, is indisputable. Show World and all it encompassed was an equal-opportunity employer of all nationalities and religions, and didn’t discriminate against anyone. And no one respected the privacy in regards to one’s proclivities more than Show World and the right to bare those proclivities among their clientele. The Gallery segment of Show World Legacy is strictly devoted to a melting pot of workers employed by Show World; from cashiers to mechanics, to managers and performers. Not just the Fantasy Booth babies; but the boys who mopped their booths. We honor them as they saw themselves and their unmistakable sense of pride. Although often misconstrued nowadays, pornography was once a good source of income, and earned wages for those with mouths to feed. In other words, we went to work just like everyone else. We attracted customers from all over, and we were not looked down upon. And the business we were involved in was a legitimate entertainment source that served as a function in our great society.