Willy warmer

History

According to the Croatian knitter Radmila Kus, knitted protector (nakurnjak) was traditionally worn by Croatian men, particularly in the Mrkopalj mountain region, as a guard against frostbite. Such garments were also worn in Norway, where they were called forhyse, vænakot, or suspensorium. Several examples are preserved in the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. On the Faroe Islands such garments are called kallvøttur (man mitten) or purrivøttur (testicles mitten).

In modern culture

Since the 20th century, willy warmers are usually made as novelties and joke gifts rather than to serve a functional purpose. In 1939, while filming Gone with the Wind, Clark Gable received a present of a hand-knitted genitalia warmer from Carole Lombard. In the 1950s, Joan Crawford knitted a "cock sock" as a parting present for Porfirio Rubirosa.

Dawn Steel, while working as a merchandiser for Penthouse in the early 1970s, found hand-knitted "cock socks" in Frankfurt, and subsequently secured the rights to market "extra large" red, blue and white versions through the magazine. By the early 1980s, the seaside resort Blackpool had willy warmers displayed alongside other merchandise in gift shops just outside the Pleasure Beach, where they were seen as reflecting the limit of sexually suggestive material which was considered permissible to display publicly. It was claimed in 1991 that King Charles III, received a green knitted warmer one Christmas, which was stored with other unusual gifts in the cellar at Highgrove House.

In male nude photography, as published in magazines such as Playgirl, cock socks have become a humorous substitute for the fig leaf, deliberately focusing attention upon the area concealed. In 1990–91, during the Gulf War, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun printed a pattern for a willy warmer, which it encouraged female readers to knit and send to soldiers in the Gulf. Early 21st century willy warmers are often made to represent religious or political themes, or in the form of animals. For example, in 2004 Ann Summers offered a horse's head design with a neighing speaker. and an anatomically correct variety.

References

References

1. Moore, Sally. (1991). "The definitive Diana : an intimate look at the Princess of Wales from A to Z". Contemporary Books.
2. Mokos, Jasna. (2014-12-29). "Exhibitions of the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb in 2012 and 2013". Etnološka istraživanja.
3. "nákurnjak - Hrvatski jezični portal".
4. Molloy, Mark. (29 March 2012). "Croatian woman making a fortune from made-to-measure penis warmers". The Metro.
5. "Suspensorium from the Norsk Folkemuseum". Digitalt Museum.
6. Joensen, Jóan Pauli. (2003). "I ærlige brudefolk : bryllup på Færøerne". Museum Tusculanums forl..
7. Norsk folkemuseum. (1960). "By og bygd". I hoveakommisjon, J. G. Tanum.
8. (19 November 2004). "Diary: Willy warmers prove unpalatable at WACL". [[PRWeek]] (originally published on www.campaignlive.co.uk).
9. Flamini, Roland. (1975). "Scarlett, Rhett, and a cast of thousands : the filming of Gone with the wind". Macmillan.
10. Considine, Shaun. (1990). "Bette & Joan : the divine feud". Dell.
11. Sloman, Toby. (24 December 1997). "Obituary: Dawn Steel". The Independent.
12. Dick, Bernard F.. (1997). "City of dreams the making and remaking of Universal Pictures". University Press of Kentucky.
13. Abramowitz, Rachel. (2000). "Is that a gun in your pocket? : the truth about female power in Hollywood". Random House.
14. Jameson, Fredric. (1983). "Formations of pleasure.". Routledge & Kegan Paul.
15. Schwenger, Peter. (1984). "Phallic critiques : masculinity and twentieth-century literature". Routledge & Kegan Paul.
16. (1994). "The War in Croatia through the Prism of Human Rights". Peace Psychology Review.
17. Mau, Dhani. (16 April 2012). "Rock out with your Cock Out: Penis Warmers are now a Thing". Fashionista.com.
18. Rees, Alex. (25 September 2014). "Again, You Will NEVER Be Able to Unsee This Guy's Insane Bathing Suit".
19. Campbell, Tina. (10 February 2015). "Forget the Schlong Thong, Bobby Cole Norris rocks a penis sock". Metro.