auflusl 20.2Q04 • just out 33
PEOPLE
................▼................
eatingout
It's a queer world after all
M eg D aly
t first glance, Kevin Thomas seems
an unusual suspect for an entrepre
neur of a gay and lesbian greeting
card company.
The 46-year-old history buff is the cre
ator of Our World Press, publisher of
glossy black and white and sepia-toned
cards depicting same-sex couples from
the early to mid-20th century. But
Thomas, who has lived in Southeast
Portland for four years with his partner
and their son, is straight.
“It’s something that needed to be
done,” says Thomas, who for decades has
collected images and objects from U.S.
history that he feared would be “forgot
ten.” His 14 years as an antique dealer
has given him special access to a world of
memorabilia.
As a child of an interracial marriage,
Thomas took a particular interest in saving
pictures of nontraditional couples and has
created an informal photo history of anony
mous same-sex and interracial pairs. The
images, he says, “tell a story of our history.”
The idea occurred to him a few years
ago that many of the photos would make
great greeting cards. March 3 of this year Kevin Thomas (right) and his
catapulted him into action. Watching so best-selling wedding card
many queer friends and fellow Oregoni
ans line up for marriage licenses at the Mult
existence shows they
nomah Building, Thomas knew he had the
were taken “by peers
perfect wedding cards just waiting to be made.
who also accepted
Less than two months later, Our World
this lifestyle.”
Press rolled out its first nine cards targeted at
Thomas has found
newlyweds. Each one has a salutation inside
a wide audience
congratulating the lucky couple.
through distribution
Thomas says it was “very difficult” deciding
to card and other spe
which images to use for his first print run.
cialty shops. In the
Many he ultimately chose are posed family por
Portland area, you
traits. Others are candids. One card that looks
can find them at In
to be set in rhe 1950s features a woman on
Other Words, Powell’s City of B<x)ks, Powell’s
bended knees, head upturned, taking a bite of
B<x)ks on Hawthorne, Greg’s, Wham! and New
an apple being fed to her by a female compan
Seasons, to name a few.
ion. Inside it reads, “Yes!”
“People love them,” says Sue Bums, man
Another shows the backs of two men with
ager of In Other Words. “I’ve even had people
polka-dotted aprons doing dishes. This one, his
come in and buy them for straight couples
best seller, reads, “Congratulations on your
who are getting married.”
Thomas has also marketed the cards national-
domestic bliss!”
Thomas tries to stay away from explicitly
ly, including to stores in Massachusetts, New
sexual or nude photos for the cards. “I wanted
York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. He
something that your grandmother could get
says shop owners have been responsive, often
thanking him for providing these kinds of images.
you,” he smiles.
Next up on the Our World production line
But, by the same token, there is no way of
will be a series of cards for same-sex parents.
proving whether the “couples” featured are
Thomas says it was particularly difficult find
actually lovers or just friends or relatives. “One
ing a photo of gay dads from the mid-1900s,
never knows,” Thomas muses. “Still, same-sex
but find one he did.
couples did pose for these types of photos, they
After that, he plans to make cards that
were just not allowed to talk about what was
aren’t necessarily wedding or family related but
really going on.”
that reflect happy queer couplehocxl in general.
After spending years poring over thousands
One particularly striking image features a 1950s
of old photos, Thomas feels convinced his
interracial lesbian couple on a motorcycle.
cards contain images of actual couples. Either
“I want to see the expression on a black
way, they “read” gay and lesbian, especially to a
‘dyke on a bike’ to the fact that she existed
queer audience.
back then, too,” he says.
Thomas acknowledges that Our World
ccording to Rob Douglass of the Gay and
Press is not a get-rich-quick scheme. “I could
Lesbian Archives of the Pacific North
probably make more money doing other
west, historical photos are important to
things,” he notes. But he loves old photos, and
modern-day queers. “The photographs are
he feels good about filling an important niche
valuable because they validate that homosexu
in the greeting card business.
als did indeed exist across all strata of society,"
Like other same-sex marriage proponents,
he says. “Oftentimes the only proof we have is
Thomas
shows no sign of losing momentum in
some round-about yam in the family about old
the celebration and legitimization of queer
Auntie being ‘a little peculiar.’ ”
love and family. JH
Douglass also notes that the photos’ very
eatingout
eatingout
eatingout
New greeting card company records same-sex history
by
eatingout
TOFST VflllR^EI F1
SAVANNAH
cflpibbffin pfSTflUBfinT a bflp
5204 ME. SscRûMedfo BblD.WiANci»
ORe&ON T12IS
l\
a
Rich FI avors
írom t L íe
CARibbcAN
Ltnvch 1 1:5()-2pM T ufs - ìrì
D ìnner 5-9:50 F ijes -S ai
SPECIALTIES
r
CoNch F rimers
ft
CATERING
Ro i i
C ha I) C a II a I oo
BANQUETS
link Chick» n
SeRviMS 'Breakfast AhdUJNch
hrs.-'Th vrsâaY - lAo u v ay *7** - 2- p*'
at Couch • 505 274
WWW.SAVANNAhpORTlANd.COM
105 NW Jud
<5^)281’1155
2510
■.V,. sä
;
ffaMMaMaaaaMMMaa
is
:■ ■
j-T'.:-' '
A
r.
A
modern meals
“Ü
a
>
00
io
is
IUOV7 opeivi
Kids eat for $11W>
New seasonal menu
Mostly vegetarian
options
F
3om ne aiber+a
por+iand or <112.11
ßgg S03.33SZZ33 qj
or
FRESH
CREATIVE
MENUS
Œ)
CO
IN YOUR
HOME
OR BUSINESS
X
FORMAL DINNERS
Ul
o
WEDDINGS
"n
>
CO
So
00
00
BOXED LUNCHES
CH
0)1. ^
50j.2jii.948d
f—
a:
<
L l J
I
:
"V Jw*
.
Z)
COCKTAIL PARTIES
ffreàkfaW «Uunch Dinner
To^Go & Catering
1718 SB 7th Ave
X
BUFFETS
£
sŒlfSwaiK
cr
Ld
PICNICS
to
I
o
Cafe Pasión 11718 SE 7th Ave |
soj . ìjó
9486 | çam-çpm