Jul 1, 2008 · Resultant police measures gave way to media spectacle—one documented by the found footage and media accounts presented by artist and filmmaker William E. Jones. In a two-week sting procedure, the Mansfield police department deployed its men to film (in 16mm) the underground public bathroom from a two-way mirror.

Tearoom consists of footage shot by the police in the course of a crackdown on public sex in the American Midwest. In the summer of 1962, the Mansfield, Ohio, Police Department photographed men in a restroom under the main square of the city. The cameramen hid in a closet and watched the clandestine activities through a two-way mirror.

Jul 17, 2023 · Archival Mansfield, Ohio police footage from inside a public bathroom

Jun 10, 2019 · With an officer underground manning the camera; one up in a nearby department store window with binoculars; and one on the street to gather identification data; they conducted their sting operation quietly.

While researching this sting operation for a documentary, filmmaker William E. Jones came into possession of the unedited footage shot by the police. Using this footage with very little intervention, he created the film Tearoom.

Feb 20, 2008 · Dozens of men were arrested in the sting operation, their lives irreparably changed. Jones was able to obtain the original surveillance footage from Atlantan Bret Wood (in full disclosure, my husband).

Tearoom consists of footage shot by the police in the course of a crackdown on public sex in the American Midwest. In the summer of 1962, the Mansfield, Ohio Police Department photographed men in a restroom under the main square of the city. The cameramen hid in a closet and watched the clandestine activities through a two-way mirror.

Jun 19, 2019 · A guy involved in making that video later gave the original footage to artist William Jones, who made it into his own movie, called Tearoom, which is freely available on the internet (usually on porn sites).

These stills show men from all walks of life who met for furtive sex under the central square of Mansfield, and who went to jail as the result of a law enforcement sting. Tearoom provides a unique view of the clandestine sexual life of a small Midwestern city at the beginning of the 1960s.

William E. Jonesʼ Tearoom consists entirely of footage created in 1962 by the Mansfield, Ohio police department documenting clandestine sexual encounters between men in a public restroom. Ultimately, this footage led to the arrest, prosecution and …