25 Gay Things from When 'Gay' Didn’t Mean Gay

So, as most of us know, the word “gay” wasn’t always used as a term to describe a queer person. 

It was first used as another word for happy or joyful and was used as such all the way up to the 1970s. It started becoming associated with sexual orientation in the 1800s, when a “gay woman” first meant a lady who just really liked sex, and then came to describe prostitutes.

Because this word has been used in a few different ways, there are tons of vintage ads and pieces of history that are kind of hilarious out of context. If copywriters way back when knew what this term would become, they’d probably go for a rewrite.