A Short History of Glory Holes

From Lincoln’s Inn to New York City: We Explore the Evolution of these Infamous Holes

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BENJAMIN FREDRICKSON

TEXT BY SHIV KOTECHA

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Regardless of who passed through the dank suite of public toilets outside Central London’s Lincoln’s Inn before or after them, it’s  Thomas Vaughn and Thomas Davis who’ve been written into the annals of history when it comes to the emergence of the glory hole. That do-it-yourself void found at dick-height along the surfaces of innumerable architectures is a surprising little non-site, doubling as a fount, to sate parched gazes, fill hands, or quench the thirst of probing genitals.