Thursday, September E, 1973
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Poei.v
Thursday, September 6, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Local
'porn':
Business
as
By DIANE LEVICK
"When properly viewed, every-
thing is lewd;
I could tell you tales about
Peter Pan,
And the Wizard of Oz is a 'dirty
old man!"
-Tom Lehfer from
his song "Smut"
In view of the June 21 Supreme
Court r uli n g and subsequent
crackdowns on obscenity, Lehrer,
the Harvard math teacher turn-
ed humorous songwriter, must
be h a v i n g an "I-told-you-so"
chuckle. But no one in Ann Arbor
is laughing. In fact, no one here
is doing much of anything about
"porn."
At the city's "dirty" book
store, massage parlor, and nude
modeling agency, it's business as
usual.
"I'll be laughing all the way
to the bank because of that rul-
ing," says Dwight Williams, own-
er of the Fourth St. Adult News
shop. Although he doesn't an-
ticipate having to remove certain
materials from his shelves, he
figures business volume may
even improve if he does.
"People dig what they can get.
It was getting too open here-
like in Sweden. Everything was
being exposed."
The court ruling may mean.
more innocuous materials will be
printed. H o w e v e r, says the
young-looking Williams, "You'd
be amazed, but nice legs still
turn some people on. They still
have imaginations."
As it stands now, imagination
has little place in Williams'
store, as most materials are fair-
ly graphic. Paperback n o v e 1 s
with such enticing titles as Deep
Mouth, Born to Stud, and The
Whoring Hitchhiker g r a c e the
shelves with their color photo
covers.
A variety of magazines are ar-
ranged by subject matter on the
stands with such helpful signs as
more interesting than his stock.
Although the majority of the cus-
tomers are predictably males
between 35 and 50, surprisingly
enough, students make up about
30 per cent of the shop's business.
According to Williams, women
buy a total of about $25 to $30
of books a week, but it's more
common to see women enter the
store with male escorts. "I get a
1
usual
of stuff, they have a perfect right
to. It's fine with me." He had
removed his name badge before
entering .
Williams expressed hope that
the policeman's superiors felt the
same way. After all, the Supreme
Court ruling does mean that
local- standards instead of a na-
tional one will be used to deter-
mine what is obscene. The state
of Michigan is expected to issue
guidelines by September.
Possibly with fingers crossed
beneath the counter, Williams
says he doesn't foresee any trou-
ble. "People in Ann Arbor have
their heads pretty much to-
gether," he adds.
And that could prove to be
important, for the Supreme
Court ruled that material would
be obscene if it appealed to the
age person applying contempo-
"prurient interest" of "the aver-
rary community standards."
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WEDDING INVITATIONS
"People dig what they can get. It was getting
too open here-like in Sweden. Everything was
being exposed."
-Dwight Williams, owner of Adult News
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"B o n d a g e" and "Boobs and
Busts." Films are shown in the
back of the store. And, of course,
all the major sex tabloids like
Screw are sold.
Whatever your taste - be it
sodomy, incest, homosexuality,
or plain old heterosexual inter-
course-you'll find some com-
pany has filled your needs .
for a price.
Is working in such a store "ex-
citing?" "From a non-business
standpoint," says Williams, "it's
pretty boring. When you're star-
ing at this stuff everyday, sex
just isn't that important any-
more. You find there are more
important things in life."
He probably finds the clientele
Daily Photo by DAVID MARGOLICK
A CURIOUS PASSERBY GAZES into the display window of
Dwight Williams' Adult News shop (foreground). In the back-
ground stands the massage parlor which was raided last year
as shown below.
lot of couples on weekends," he
says.
Williams' business doesn't ap-
pear to be suffering from the
competition of his next - door
neighbor, Adult Books and Peep
Shows. One of its added attrac-
tions is the infamous massage. 4-
By purchasing a sex movie of a
certain value, customers receive
a half-hour massage free. But
just to enter the store, you must
shell out a 50 cent "cover"
charge.
The establishment was raided
by police last October after a
tip-off that the masseuses were
offering a bit more than just
massages. Plus ca change, plus
c'est la meme chose?{
Across the street in this little {
sex complex is the Figure Model-I
ing agncy, also apparently un-
hassled by the court ruling as
yet.
Washtenaw County Prosecutor
William Delhey and Ann Arbor
Police Chief Walter Krasny both
have indicated they have no de-
sire to begin a crackdown now.
Delhey says, "I don't think the
decision will have any bearing on
things here."
In fact, one of Ann Arbor's
"boys in blue" sauntered into
Williams' shop while this report-.
er was present and remarked,
"If people want to see this kind
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--
Daily Photo I
ANN ARBOR POLICE RAID the American Massage Parlor on Fourth St. Oct. 17, 1972, after a tip-off that it was a front for prosti-
tution. Fourteen prisoners, customer records, and a quantity of marijuana were seized.
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