Sideswipe
How men freed their nipples
It used to be illegal for men to reveal their nipples in public — a shorts/tank top combo was the norm for togs back then. But in the 1930s things changed after Olympian Johnny Weissmuller wore nothing but a loincloth in 1932’s Tarzan and the Apes. And off screen, male swimmers at Coney Island began intentionally flouting the cover-up rule by going bare chested to the beach. After a series of fines, a judge overturned New York state’s male shirtless bans in 1937. But even after New York state lifted its male nipple ban, publicly shirtless men still risked arrest if they were perceived as gay. In 1947, for instance, Harvey Milk was among a group of shirtless men arrested for indecent exposure in Central Park, yet the barechested married men in the park weren’t harassed. (Stuff Mom Never Told You.)
Amusing pet names
“Love being at the vet and hearing pet names,” tweeted Juliet Mushens. “Helmet the dog just arrived.” And it didn’t take long for others to share . . .
1. “Nothing but nothing will beat the tortoise called Voldetort.”
2. “At the vets and the receptionist called out “Tinkerbell Jenkins”. When we saw this massive Rottweiler being led out we were in hysterics.
3. “For years I had a cat named Schrodinger. My vet gave up and called him my name.”
4. “I am a veterinarian nurse. We have a patient called Belinda. She is a chicken.”
5. “I once met a tiny dog in a bar wearing a T-shirt. His name was Jpeg.”
6. “Our cat is Kitty Purry.”
7. “A friend of mine has Dave, the female cat.”
8. “There’s a French bulldog called Gemma Pell.”