Remembering Bob, the World’s First Gay Doll, Who Wanted To Be a Hero

In 1977 toy designer Harvey Rosenberg created Gay Bob, the world’s first gay doll as a gag gift for adults.

Rosenberg modeled his 13-inch doll as a cross between actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The anatomically correct doll wore a flannel shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, and one earring, and he was packaged in a box illustrated to look like the inside of a clothes closet.

Initially, the doll sold only through mail-order advertising, but after selling 10,000 dolls, Rosenberg offered the doll in stores.

The advertising executive proclaimed Bob symbolized that every individual was entitled to say: “I have a right to be what I am.”

At the time of Gay Bob’s introduction, however, not everyone thought so.

Popular advice columnist Ann Landers wrote that she would believe such a doll existed when she saw one in the respectable stores she patronized.

Esquire magazine conferred its Dubious Achievement Award of 1978. The doll represents times when Americans were less tolerant of diversity.

KQED:

Rosenberg wanted Gay Bob to normalize the coming out process, while also acting as a fun accessory for those who were already out and proud. In an interview to promote Gay Bob, Rosenberg once said, “Bob’s perfect for an executive’s desk, dash board ornament, the attache case, the bathtub rim, a health club gym bag.”

Despite Gay Bob having a realistic penis, the snazzy fashion catalog contained in the doll’s packaging was distinctly child-friendly:

Hi boys, girls and grownups, I’m Gay Bob, the world’s first gay doll. I bet you are wondering why I come packed in a closet. ‘Coming out of the closet’ is an expression which means that you admit the truth about yourself and are no longer ashamed of what you are… Gay people are no different than straight people. If everyone came out of their closets, there wouldn’t be so many angry, frustrated, frightened people… It’s not easy to be honest about what you are, in fact it takes a great deal of courage. But remember, if Gay Bob has the courage to come out of his closet, so can you!

Conservatives pounced on the gay toy. Edward Rowe, the executive director of Protect America’s Children, was quoted in a 1978 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette describing Gay Bob as “another evidence of the desperation the homosexual campaign has reached in its effort to put homosexual lifestyle, which is a death style, across to the American people. I can only hope that the children who are given these Gay Bob dolls will not comprehend the meaning and intent of the campaign.”

Rosenberg failed to garner the interest of department stores and primarily sold Gay Bob via mail order ads in gay magazines. One doll cost $19.50, including shipping and handling, and it was $35 for a pair. Two thousand people snapped up their own Gay Bobs in the first two months of the doll being available, and Bob was later stocked in San Francisco and New York boutiques.

Bob remains a collectible. Even a pre-owned in used condition can fetch $250 on eBay.

Before he completely bombed Rosenberg did gave Bob a family of his own, with brothers Marty Macho, Executive Eddie, Anxious Al, and Straight Steve (who lived in the suburbs and wore blue suits), and sisters Fashionable Fran, Liberated Libby, and Nervous Nelly.

Seriously.