'Don't look, Ethel . . .': The 'streaker' fad in Huron

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It has been 50 years since the “streaker” fad reached its peak, when 34-year-old James Opel trotted nude across the stage during the live April 2, 1974, broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony, just as the debonair English actor, David Niven, was introducing Elizabeth Taylor.

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Unflummoxed, Niven reacted with a wry smile and said: “The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.” The Academy Award run was the high point of the fad, but it was too late, Huron County had already been exposed to the streaker craze.

In mid-March 1974, a Blyth Standard reporter described a streaking incident in Blyth when an unnamed man, on a bet, stripped off his clothing and ran from the Memorial Hall across the street to the Queen’s Hotel and back. Unfortunately for the streaker, his adventure did not end there. Someone hid his clothes and so the streaker “had to extend his streak several blocks to his home,” according to the Standard. The reporter, who seemed to have intimate knowledge of the streaker’s identity, quipped “lucky he didn’t live in Auburn.”

In Goderich, a pair of streakers made a sudden appearance that same week. The Signal-Star laid bare the streaking exploits of a miner wearing nothing but his safety equipment (boots, belt and hard hat) who ran through the mine shaft at 1,700 feet, perhaps setting a record for the lowest level streak in history. Despite the best efforts of three co-workers, the streaker was neither caught nor identified.

Another incident occurred at the Dominion Roads Machinery Company when a naked male “ran happily” through the plant causing only a minor disturbance. As with all other Huron incidents, recognition of the nude offenders was impossible as witnesses failed to identify faces. Another reported streaker at the Bedford Hotel was dismissed as only a “slight light” streaker who only “momentarily” dropped his drawers. One eyewitness claimed the Bedford streak was merely “an up and downer,” and not a Full Monty-type strip and streak, so the incident barely counted.

Considering the cold of the March weather, the streakers were a confident lot not afraid of risking the ridicule of showing their assets to the public. Clinton News Record editor Jim Fitzgerald has the distinction of capturing a streaking incident on film. Fitzgerald snapped the backside of another unnamed streaker who ran from the Clinton Hotel into a waiting taxi cab. Fitzgerald’s is the only known photo of a streaker in full stride from the rear. In the years since, the identity of the unknown streaker has been hotly debated online but, today, it would be hard to conclusively identify him.

After the Academy Awards, no event was immune from the streaker fad. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hamilton of 181 Blake St. were quietly celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary at the Maitland Golf and Country Club when a streaker made an impromptu run through the celebration. No mention was made of the Hamilton party’s reaction.

The streaker trend tried to gain a bit of respectability. An advertisement appeared in the Signal-Star for a “Hire-a -Streaker Service.” The new small business promised to take off their clothes “and will streak at weddings, church events, Academy Awards and other social happenings.” Hire-a-Streaker also offered discounts for charitable organizations.

Bill Findlay of the Wingham Advance Times attributed the streaker trend to alcohol and young people who took bets at parties and dances “to shed their clothes” and dash through a crowded room, which was a reasonable assumption. All reported streaking incidents involved young males (there is not a single reported incident of a female streaker in Huron County, which, undoubtedly, would have received far more media attention).

The excitement over streaking incidents soon petered out as law enforcement caught increasing numbers of bare devils. In Clinton, police nabbed a young man streaking through the town’s main intersection. In April, a 19-year-old streaker from St. Thomas was apprehended after he startled a St. Joseph woman when she answered a knock on the door. The OPP promptly charged the 19 year old with indecent exposure, trespassing, car theft and the theft of a fishing boat. In July, when the Zurich Citizen News reported that a streaker made a midnight jog down Bayfield’s Main Street, it was the last mention of a streaking incident in the local press.

Certainly, there were far more incidents of streaking in Huron County than the local media reported, but one thing was certain. By early summer, once the streaker fad was laid bare, it passed and became something of a bore for the staid good citizens of Huron County. After 50 years, the only cultural relic of the streaking fad is Ray Steven’s The Streak, of which the most identifiable line is “Don’t look, Ethel!” In fact, the shortness of the streaker fad became just a small part of our cultural history.