HOW THE GLORY HOLE GOT ITS NAME

A Glory Hole, as you no doubt know, is a hole bored through a wall, about hip-high, and just large enough to accommodate a penis. An erect penis is simply inserted through the hole where the person on the other side of the wall performs fellatio or other sexual acts on it. The separating wall, of course, provides anonymity of either one or both parties.

But why do we call it a “glory hole.” The term, it seems, has been around a lot longer than most realize.

The origin of the term is unknown, but may have come from the mining industry, where the opening to a mineshaft containing the "mother lode" would be considered to be the "glory hole." (Hummm…hole with a big load….yeah, that makes sense.)

Or it could perhaps be in reference to the "glory hole" of a kiln used in glass blowing--an auxiliary furnace for reheating glass that has cooled during offhand blowing. (ummm…blowing….yeah, that origin also makes sense.)

In civil engineering, water from a reservoir can be quickly "sucked" through a glory hole and out of a dam. (um-hum, quickly sucked. Yeah, that makes sense, too.)

It could also have its roots in one of several meanings from seamen and shipbuilding. Sailors in the Royal Navy refer to a “Glory Hole” as any locker or enclosed space for loose gear, or any repository for general untidiness. A glory Hole can also be one or more rooms between decks aft used as sleeping quarters for stewards. (interesting…those Navy boys and their walls…)

The Army also uses the term Glory Hole for a “dug-out.” (I guess that’s the least convincing…but who knows, maybe those GIs invented the first Glory Hole.

Who knows, maybe Army and Navy guys, civil engineers, miners and glass blowers, have all used a glory hole in their own ways….

As for the actual wall with the cock-sized, hip-high hole, those began getting seen in men’s bathrooms sometime around the 1950s. Some say suburban heterosexual males would turn to glory holes to engage in homosexual contact without risk of being identified. Beyond the simple thrill provided by anonymity, keeping one’s identity undisclosed may have been also critical for gay men before the Gay Rights movement, when they were often at risk of severe discrimination and violence.

Once considered far to the fringe, Glory Holes have become much more mainstream. Glory Holes are commonly found in suburban adult video stores and there are many website posting amateur pictures of middle class couples engaging in the anonymous thrill the glory holes provide.