Claim: The mens underwear section of a 1975 Sears catalog featured a picture of a male model whose penis could be seen peeking out from beneath a pair boxer shorts.

UNDETERMINED

Origins: A

page advertising mens’ shirts, boxers, and briefs in Sears’ 1975 Fall-Winter catalog displayed a picture of two male models, one wearing boxer shorts and the other clad in briefs. A small, rounded object or blemish could be seen on the inside of the boxer model’s left leg, apparently emerging from underneath the hem of the shorts. The size, positioning, and shape of the “object” were all consistent with that of a penis.

Although Sears did receive some letters of protest over their showing “this individual’s nakedness,” Sears maintains that nothing improper appeared in the picture.

Their official explanation is that the “object” was a blemish caused by water or some other liquid falling onto the artwork during the printing process, and that the same picture (sans “object”) appeared in the Spring catalog earlier that year.

We’ll leave it up to you readers. Penis or blemish? You decide.

Sightings: This Sears ad was immortalized in song by Zoot Fenster with a ditty entitled “The Man on Page 602.” (Listen to a RealPlayer version below.)

Additional information:

Sears catalog ad The Man on Page 602



Last updated: 4 May 2011



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