Item #5443 Outlaw Biker Vernacular Photography Collection [Bretheren M.C.]
Outlaw Biker Vernacular Photography Collection [Bretheren M.C.]

Outlaw Biker Vernacular Photography Collection [Bretheren M.C.]

Oakland: Bretheren MC, [ca. 1966-1973]. Sixty (60) color photographs, measuring 3 1/2 x 3 1/2-4 1/2 in . All photos very good to near fine. Housed in small cardboard box with "Bretheren M.C. Oakland CA." printed on lid; measuring 7 1/4 x 6 3/4 x 1 in. Near fine. Also included is a small pinback button (1 1/2 x 1 /2 in.) showing an iron cross and the number "69" printed
over it. Very good. Item #5443

Collection of vernacular photography from the late 1960s and early ‘70s documenting the lives of the members of the Bretheren Motorcycle Club in Oakland, California, a racially integrated and largely unknown M.C. This collection records daily life in the club including rides, barbeques and general rowdiness. Though no criminal activity is depicted outside of the occasional suspiciously hand-rolled cigarette, these photos reveals a darker underside to the club.

One photo shows a member pointing out what appears to be a shotgun hole in the side of a car; that same member, a light skinned Black man is shown elsewhere with a Nazi armband on his leather jacket and in yet another series of photos participating in weapons training.

Information about this club is scarce and we were unable to dig up much about what was surely a small, underground outfit in an already underground culture.

A rare look into the outlaw underbelly of the 1960s and ‘70s, complete with both casual fun and more sinister undertones of violence.

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