 July 2013 |
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Happy I.B.P.D. everyone!! We hope you all got out to celebrate or perhaps did something special in your shops. Since International Body Piercing Day just past, we decided to dedicate this issue of our newsletter to everything I.B.P.D.
We are revisiting our interview with Jim Ward, the granddaddy of the modern piercing movement. We also look back at The Gauntlet, and what that piercing shop did for the piercing industry.
Instead of our normal Fan Photos, we have featured some of the amazing pictures you guys shared with us throughout the day.
We had and awesome International Body Piercing Day and hope you did too. We are already counting down for next year!
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| These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things |
Have you seen our new Marquise Eyelets? Available from 3/4" to 1": more sizes coming soon! Our Marquise Eyelets are machined out of ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM F-136 titanium, or cast in solid 18k gold (white or yellow). Choose from any of our Marquise-cut gemstones to be set in this designs.    |
Meet Anatometal - Special Guest Jim Ward
|  Generally in the section of our newsletter, we introduce you to an employee here at Anatometal. This month however, we are trying something a little different. We were lucky enough to have a special guest at headquarters without whom the piercing industry would not be what it is today, and were very excited to sit down with him for a few minutes and ask him a handful of questions about his life and his newly published book, Running The Gauntlet.
This month we bring you the "granddaddy of the modern piercing movement"...
Jim Ward
Anatometal: We don't want to give away too much of what you have written in your book, but could briefly tell us how you first because interested in body piercing?
Jim Ward: It was in the late sixties in New York City, and I came across an article in a magazine about a man who had made an ocean voyage and pierced his ears to mark the event. That article just set something off in me and I had to pierce my ears but it didn't stop there. In discovering my sexuality, I found that I liked nipple play and thought "wouldn't it be great to have pierced nipples". The fantasy just wouldn't go away so I got a push pin and a wine bottle cork and pierced my nipples. Of course at this point piercing was very closeted and I had never heard of anyone else doing this until one night when I went out to one of the leather bars in New York along the waterfront. There at the bar, was a bare chested man with his nipples pierced as well and I knew I wasn't alone.
Anatometal: What brought you to write this book?
Jim Ward: It was a story that I needed to tell. When the business went under there was so much pain and so much hurt, I needed to get it out. So many of the younger generation did not seem to know the history. It was important to me and it was cathartic. It let me put it all behind me.
Anatometal: Why did you choose the name "The Gauntlet"?
Jim Ward: When Doug Malloy proposed the start of the business and we were looking for a name, Doug was leaning towards something with mythological undertones. I was watching TV and glanced at my watch. The band was leather with pyramid studs and it reminded me of a gauntlet. It just clicked; it was masculine and rugged. It also related to a challenge, like "thrown down the gauntlet" and an ordeal as in "running the gauntlet". It just seemed appropriate for a business.
Anatometal: How did you come up with the designs for the body jewelry you were producing?
Jim Ward: I found inspiration in many different places. The Bead Ring was a modification of an existing earring design. The Barbells for example, the first were German made, were another piece we wanted to change. I was duplicating and improving. Many of the more aesthetic designs however, were my own creations. We were always looking for how the jewelry affected the healing of the piercing as well. The Nipple Retainer worked well in practice but has not been reproduced as far as I know.
Anatometal: What was your favorite memory that was re-lived through writing the book?
Jim Ward: Discovering piercing; this was really important to me. I loved making the jewelry and doing the piercing itself. I loved the challenge. I was venturing into unknown territory. No one had gone there before, it was like I was an explorer. It was all uncharted territory.
Anatometal: Did you ever think body piercing would become so main stream?
Jim Ward: Not to this degree, no. I anticipated it would grow which it clearly did but I had no clue. After the publication of Modern Primitives the landscape changed over night. Everyone wanted to be involved.
Anatometal: If there is one thing you would want your readers to walk away with after finishing Running The Gauntlet, what would that be?
Jim Ward: Follow your dreams and do it responsibly. We enjoy so much freedom, the flip side is responsibility. The greater the freedom, the greater the responsibility.
Thanks for letting us get to know you a bit Jim! Who will be featured next month? Be sure to check back to find out!
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What is the Gauntlet?
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Back in October of last year, we took a brief look at the life of Jim Ward and the effect he had, and continues to have on the body piercing industry. We mentioned the Gauntlet, the piercing studio he started with the help of Doug Malloy, and this month we want to delve a little deeper into the story of the studio that changed the world of body modification.
The Gauntlet, also known as Gauntlet Enterprises, was a business founded in November 1975 by Jim Ward, which pioneered the field of body piercing in North America. The original clientele came mostly from the gay S&M community of Southern California. During the years that Ward ran his business from his home, many Gauntlet customers belonged to a group of gay Los Angeles men named the T attoo & Piercing Group. The Gauntlet quickly became known as the location for body piercing, and its customer base grew beyond its original roots. Just three years after Jim began piercing in his home, on November 17, 1978 it celebrated the grand opening of its first commercial location at 8720 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. The prominent corner location on one of Los Angeles' busiest streets brought the public awareness of piercing to a new level, and attracted clients from outside the traditional subculture.  As piercing became more popular, the Gauntlet expanded, opening three more studios. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York City, the Gauntlet made body piercing big business. Piercers began to train at the various Gauntlet locations and often went on to open their own independent studios, further growing the industry and imitators opened all over the country. With The Gauntlet's help, body piercing went from the backroom pursuit of gay leathermen to a worldwide phenomenon.
At its heyday, The Gauntlet was much more than just a piercing studio, it operated a strong mail order business for piercing jewelry and manufactured its own jewelry as well. Manufacturing however was not the only thing that set The Gauntlet apart from other studios, Ward and his team developed a number of the types of body jewelry in use today. This included coining the terms "barbell", "circular barbell", and "captive bead ring".
Run for two decades by Jim Ward, the Gauntlet turned out many of the best piercers in the industry it helped create. In the mid 1990's Jim decided to sell controlling interest of the company, and without his guidance the company went bankrupt shortly after. In 2004 the trustee of the company's name, trademarks, and intellectual property put those assets up for auction on eBay. "My greatest fear," said Jim, "was that it would fall into the hands of someone who would not appreciate its historical significance. I only hoped that it would go to someone who would cherish and protect it and somehow make it available as a resource to the piercing community". On June 26 of that year, an anonymous bidder benefactor placed the winning bid of $6,623.32, in the last five seconds of the auction. Less than one month later, on July 20, 2004, the anonymous bidder sold the assets to Drew Ward's (Jim Ward's partner) corporation, re:Ward, Inc. for the sum of $1.00, returning the Gauntlet Enterprises name to its original ownership.
Got something to say? Wish you could pass that little nugget of information all over the world? You've likely seen our Newsletter and Catalogs in your orders - how would you like your name and your article featured in one of our publications? If so, send any ideas/articles that are *your* own personal work to gina@anatometal.com. By submitting, you give us permission to use them as we see fit. We also accept pictures you'd like to see featured to get your shop name out there - not everything will/can be used, but every submission will be considered.
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I.B.P.D. 2013 Round Up
| Here are some of the great photos we received from you guys from I.B.P.D.! We couldn't fit them all in this issue of our newsletter, so we made an album on Facebook. To see the rest, check out I.B.P.D. 2013
 
     
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Running The Gauntlet
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Hot off the presses! We now have Jim Ward's book, Running the Gauntlet in paperback! Each signed by the man himself! Do you have your copy yet? Know your piercing history, contact us to order yours today! What are you waiting for?
 
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Thank you guys for joining us once again and participating in all the fun we have here with the newsletter, on Facebook, Tumblr, and all over the web! Is there something on your mind? A nagging question that you have been meaning to ask? Are you a piercer who would like to contribute an article? Let us know! Just contact heather.anatometal@gmail.com
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Your friends at Anatometal
Questions? Comments? Please send them to heather.anatometal@gmail.com. If you know someone who will enjoy this publication as much as you do, don't hesitate to pass it along.
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