Editing Handkerchief code (section)

==Origin==
[[File:Handkerchief code.jpg|thumb|Two men using the hanky code|alt=Two men wearing colored in the back pockets of their clothes]]

The wearing of colored bandanas around the neck as a practical accessory was common in the mid- and late-nineteenth century among [[cowboy]]s, [[Railroad engineer|steam railroad engineer]]s, and [[miner]]s in the [[Western United States]]. It is thought that the wearing of bandanas by [[gay men]] originated in [[San Francisco]] after the [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]], when, because of a shortage of women, men dancing with each other in [[square dance]]s developed a code wherein the man wearing the blue bandana took the male part in the square dance, and the man wearing the red bandana took the female part (these bandanas were usually worn around the arm or hanging from the belt or in the back pocket of one's [[jeans]]).<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.thesaintfoundation.org/community/hanky-code-bob-damrons-address-book |title=The Handkerchief Code, According to 'Bob Damron's Address Book' in 1980 |last=Kacala |first=Alexander |publisher=The Saint |date=April 25, 2019 |website=The Saint Foundation |access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

In the 1970s, the modern hanky code developed as a [[Semiotics|semiotic]] system of sexual advertising popular among the gay [[Leather subculture|leather community]] of the United States<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Andrew |last2=Saethre |first2=Eirik J. |date=2013-10-01 |title=The hankie code revisited: From function to fashion |journal=Critical Studies in Men's Fashion |language=en |volume=1 |pages=69–78 |doi=10.1386/csmf.1.1.69_1}}</ref> and [[Cruising for sex|cruising scene]] more broadly. Businesses across the country used the hanky code in advertisements to gay clientele.<ref>{{Cite web |title=More than just a theatre! Big Top (UC12330163) |url=https://doi.org/10.25549/one-c4-47112 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=USC Libraries |date=2021 |doi=10.25549/one-c4-47112 |via=[[ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bandana night, every Tuesday : Larry's, 5414 Melrose Los Angeles (UC12351950) |url=https://doi.org/10.25549/one-c4-44052 |website=USC Libraries |date=2021 |doi=10.25549/one-c4-44052 |via=[[ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives]]}}</ref>

The origin of the modern hanky code is disputed. The modern hanky code is often reported to have started in [[New York City]] around 1970, when a journalist for the ''[[Village Voice]]'' jested that instead of simply wearing a set of keys on one side or the other (then a common code to indicate whether someone was a "top" or a "bottom"), it would be more efficient to subtly announce their particular sexual focus by wearing different colored handkerchiefs.<ref>{{cite book |first1= Susan |last1= Stryker |author-link= Susan Stryker |first2= Jim |last2= Van Buskirk |title= Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area |location= San Francisco |publisher= [[Chronicle Books]] |year= 1996 |page= 18 |isbn= 0-8118-1187-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hsieh|first=Carina|date=2020-07-02|title=What Is the Hanky Code?|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a33078811/what-is-hanky-code-how-to-use/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-23|title=Fifty Shades of Gay – The Hanky Code|url=https://www.ambushmag.com/fifty-shades-of-gay-the-hanky-code/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Ambush Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> However, other sources attribute the expansion of the original red–blue system into today's code to marketing efforts around 1971 by The Trading Post, a San Francisco [[department store]] for erotic merchandise, promoting handkerchiefs by printing cards listing the meanings of various colors.<ref name="gay-semiotics">{{cite book |last=Fischer |first=Hal |date=1977 |title=Gay Semiotics ♂ |url=http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/HalPages/GaySempg2.html |location=San Francisco |publisher=NFS Press |isbn=0-917986-03-2 |quote=In San Francisco, the signs began appearing around 1971. The Trading Post, a department store specializing in erotic merchandise, began promoting handkerchiefs in the store and printing cards with their meanings. The red and blue handkerchiefs and their significance were already in existence, and meanings were assigned to other colors as well. |access-date=2017-06-23 |archive-date=2019-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018053832/http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/HalPages/GaySempg2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Alan Selby]], founder of Mr. S Leather in San Francisco, claimed that he created the first hanky code with his business partners at Leather 'n' Things in 1972, when their bandana supplier inadvertently doubled their order and the expanded code would help them sell the extra colors they had received.<ref name="selby">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Jordy|date=2017|title=The Mayor of Folsom Street, The Auto/Biography of "Daddy Alan" Selby aka Mr. S|publisher=Fair Page Media LLC|isbn=978-0-9989098-0-6|pages=61–62}}</ref>

Around 1980, ''Bob Damron's Address Book'' published a yearly chart for the meaning of each colored handkerchief.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Color Codes.jpg|thumb|Color Codes from ''Bob Damron's Address Book'' (1980)]]