LAS VEGAS, NV—Mel Gordon isn't exactly a household name when it comes to the history of eroticism, but he's the author of a couple of exceptionally well-done and profusely illustrated books on mid-20th century European erotica, Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin and Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris 1920-1946—and on August 17, the Erotic Heritage Museum will open its brand-new exhibit devoted to Gordon, titled, oddly enough, Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin. Based on the book by scholar, activist, archivist, writer and teacher Gordon, this new exhibit celebrates sexual positivity in the years before Hitler’s reign.
The EHM’s sprawling exhibit explores the care-free sexual times in Germany between the years 1918 to 1933, the time of the Weimar Republic, the last German democracy before the ascent of Adolf Hitler. From just after WWI to just before what would become one of the most repressive and destructive regimes ever seen on the planet, Weimer’s Berlin was a time especially ripe for sexual researchers, hedonistic partiers, family-friendly nudist colonies… and the curious onlookers that always orbit such expression. This new exhibit, which contains scholarly notes, books, magazines, posters and photos Gordon collected, joins both the permanent and changing array of significant historical accounts of positive sexuality and freedom the Erotic Heritage Museum consistently displays to the public.
In addition to the many artifacts gathered from the treasure trove of Mel Gordon’s collection, the Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin exhibition also features newly discovered works by the father of Sexology, Magnus Hirschfeld.
“Surely, people are well acquainted with the movie Cabaret, and have probably seen or read about some of what was happening in Berlin just before Hitler came to power,” Dr. Victoria Hartmann, the EHM director, observed. “But what Mel Gordon studied, and what this exhibit reiterates, is what a fresh and free cultural spirit Berlin presented to the German people at the time. Hitler did his best to stamp out that spirit, burning great works of art, censoring pretty much all expression not in lock-step with his insane vision. The EHM was created to champion, explore and celebrate the spirit of free and positive sexual expression as seen in Berlin, and lovingly championed throughout Mel Gordon’s work.”
Mel Gordon spent most of his adult life teaching drama scholars, emphasizing “bad acting.” During his free time, he authored an extensive collection of books, all based on highly sexualized subjects, with an emphasis on the “strange and the bizarre.” Mel was also an avid collector of a wide variety of ephemera reflecting his interest in sexual subcultures and the various pleasures people could get up to.
The Erotic Heritage Museum is owned and managed by the Harry Mohney Erotic Museum LCC, a Nevada corporation, and is located at 3275 Sammy Davis Jr. Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89109. For more information, visit EroticMuseumVegas.com or call 702-794-4000.
