Abraham is the owner/designer of Floggers by Abraham. With much creativity (as you can see here from the Barbie legs flogger) Abraham and his company are committed to making quality, handmade rubber floggers from recycled materials. Abraham's custom designs are on display and available at events such as the NELA Fetish Fair -- which is how he happened to be there to do this review! For more information about exciting, rubber whips, e-mail abrahamarama@yahoo.com.
Twice a year in Boston, kinky folk of all ilk, genders, ages, gather by the thousands dressed in leather and lace, jeans and bondage gear, drag, corsets, frills, fatigues, to participate in a truly amazing event, the semi-annual Fetish Fair Flea Market. This fine August Saturday, the New England Leather Alliance (www.nelaonline.org) held their 27th FFF at Boston's historic (1880s) Center for the Arts Cyclorama on Tremont Street. In addition to performances and flower markets, the three hundred foot wide room with magnificent glass and iron skylights, has housed many a horse show. In fact, there was some horse-related activity happening on this particular occasion, but of a different kind: pony play. Don't worry that non-human pets aren't allowed at all; you'll see enough animal activity at this thing. Take a horseback ride on the back of a man outfitted in a full saddle with stirrups. Or pat the head of the girl in a tight, leopard print kitty suit as she crawls around, rubbing against legs, offering good purr and smiles for all. One booth was selling a very nice black rubber, full head pig mask, and another was selling long, shiny, silver claws. You'll find a booth or two devoted to horse gear -- ropes,and bits, high heel boots with horseshoes on the bottom, and butt plugs with long tails coming out the back.
People-watchers have plenty of sexy costumes to admire because people parade around, gladly modeling their newly purchased collars, corsets, ball-gags, and nipple clamps. Though no nudity is allowed, a bit of tape, ribbon, or liquid latex can cover just enough. But this is not a back-alley sex shop where people duck in and out, trying not to be seen. This is a fetish event with the air of a sexy social party where you can see and try out all kinds of kinky things while meeting new, kink-minded people. Everyone's there to have a good time and shop, shop, shop.
The range of things for sale at these events is as wide as the range of people attending. With 50 or more vendors, you can find homemade cane switches and floggers, wooden paddles with hearts cut out or with words like “slut” in raised reversed letters to leave a message behind, piercing jewelry, beaded collars, hand crafted leather bondage gear, and bondage spanking benches designed with care by people who use them. There are booths selling erotic photos, drawings, and homemade porn, and books on most any kinky topic. You can find mass-produced made-in-China sex toys at good prices, discount DVDs, medical gear, and military surplus, but also rarer things, like surgical steel sculptured dildos, and strange electrical stimulation machines -- vintage 20s and 30s. At past fleas Utilikilt has had a booth, selling utility kilts for construction site or dungeon wear. Some people in the fetish world are going high-tech. One booth was selling laser cut metal jewelry and chastity belts, and another was selling laser cut leather collars and cuffs featuring precise, intricate, and beautiful designs. Other items are lower-tech, with a handmade roughness or hardware store functionality that conjures up images of a dirty basement sex-fest or spanking at the kitchen table, as opposed to a clean, elegant boudoir or dungeon with leather and velvet everywhere. The mix of styles and aesthetics is refreshing, and the environment is relaxed and friendly. People smile and introduce themselves, try out new products and new ideas with lots of open-mindedness and no pressure. Everything is pretty sexually charged, but even the dirtiest of dirty things seems a lot more inviting and accessible when presented in such an accepting environment.
Vendors come from around the country to participate, and some familiar faces of shoppers and vendors, staff and volunteers, return year after year. There are information booths with lots of pamphlets and other handouts for people interested in learning about what’s going on around the local fetish scene, and there are workshops throughout the day on topics like bondage, spanking, and needle play.
The summer fleas are one-day events that are heavy on shopping, while the winter fleas are two or three days, usually at hotel convention spaces, with much larger crowds, and people come to buy presents for the holiday season and attend the many workshops and demonstrations throughout the weekend.
Of the four Fleas I've attended, this is the second time I've vended. Still, I had time to attend a cross dressing makeup workshop and a bondage knotwork seminar, both with lots of demos and willing audience participation in some of the hotel’s private event rooms, also very ornate and fancy. The hotel designers probably did not have quite this type of event in mind when planning convention spaces, and just a few short months after one of the fleas, I attended a Model UN conference in the very same space. (shhhh)The workshop teachers really know their stuff and are genuinely interested in sharing it with others. For many people this is the only regional venue they might be able to find out not only the new sexy tricks, but also important safety information and practical tips to make their fetish experiences safer and more sustainable. This year there was a demonstration of flogger designs and techniques to minimize carpal tunnel problems. Last year a hot wax demonstration began with the instructor explaining the importance of covering the carpet with plastic, watching the temperature of wax so as to avoid late night emergency room visits, and the different advantages of candles versus crock-pots. Only after the safety talk did she ask the model to disrobe and lie on the table so she could demonstrate different techniques of pouring hot wax, candle play, and caressing with ice cubes. The audience sat with rapt attention as she slowly brought the young woman to a powerful climax by dribbling hot wax over her skin, teasing her with different temperature changes, and then finishing her off with an improvised dildo molded from still warm wax peeled from her body. “You can see, class, how the contractions of the vagina distorted the wax when she came.”
At the Fetish Fair Flea you can get a foot rub and some custom made vampire teeth. You can refill your lube supply, buy replacement switches for the ones you broke on someone’s backside, and check out the new CBT (cock bondage torture) device on the market. You can buy toys and gifts to feed the fetishes of yourself, your friends, and loved ones, but also see what kinds of things turn other people on.
For me, selling floggers at an event like this is about spending time with a bunch of kinky people in a fun environment. I like making whips for people to enjoy, but I really like meeting and talking with other vendors at the flea, and to the wide range of people who come up to the table to check out the wares. The table next to me was Black Rose Leather, so I had pleasant company through the day and someone to talk to during lulls. She told me all about what it was like to make quality leather bondage gear as a full-time job, talked about changes in her business over the years, and introduced me to some other vendor friends. I got to try on things I would probably not have if I had just been walking by, and at the end of the day I went home with a comfortable choker and some sturdy, comfortable wrist cuffs. A different set of customers visited her booth than those who stopped by mine, but we could also encourage interest in each other’s wares.
Directly behind me sat Pencildragon, with a variety of erotic sketches and prints for sale. As we were all setting up in the morning, he was wrapping a woman from head to toe in red gauze, her arms crossed at her chest so she was completely immobilized, a bright red mummy. For two dollars a linear foot people could cut off a piece of gauze to participate in an extremely slow striptease, the profits going to an AIDS charity. Over the course of the day, 8+ hours, she gained mobility incrementally, first her face, head, and neck, then her feet and legs, until she could stand up and take a walk around the place, still half-bound. In the morning I opted to cut off a piece that exposed an inch or two of ankle, and she rotated her feet to give them a stretch. It was funny to be able to turn around now and then to see a bit more of her peeking out.
I started making floggers after the first Fetish Fair Flea that I went to a few years ago. I don’t fancy myself to be particularly kinky or deviant, but someone recommended the flea as something to check out, and I was thoroughly blown away by the event and all the crazy things for sale. I was particularly intrigued by the leather and rubber floggers, but I was also on a grad-school budget and realized that I was perfectly capable of making my own for a fraction of the price. I tried out a few designs, and was hooked on the look and feel. People who saw them said I could sell them, and I thought it would be a fun way to make a few bucks. Once when I was selling them, someone made the point that most of the people at the FFF could probably make most of the things they buy, but that the fun is in trying out other people’s designs and sharing in the fetish community spirit. I have a variety of functional and non-functional floggers, and I make them out of found objects and rubber from bicycle inner tubes. I will turn broomsticks, old chair legs, paintbrushes, and plastic toys into whips. Someone suggested a piano leg, so I’m keeping an eye out for a good one. The Barbie leg floggers are very popular, and always get a reaction, from amused to creeped-out. I got the idea when someone gave me a handful of legs and asked if I could do anything with them. My problem now is finding a source for more Barbie legs, so I always put out a request for people who are throwing out dolls to think of me first.
Some people approach knowing they want to purchase a good solid rubber whip to do some serious, sweaty, hardcore flogging. Some are curious about the differences between leather and rubber whips, or want to expand their dungeon tool collection. Other people aren’t ready for the serious stuff and prefer the cute, delicate, mini floggers, maybe to play with the idea of sexy whipping, or maybe for a present. Other folks are just browsing to see what’s out there. When people come up to the table in groups or with partners come up to the table, it is funny when they want to buy presents for each other but can’t let their partners know. More than a few times a couple would come up, test out the whips with much interest, and then one would says something like, “Hmmm, I’m not sure.” Ten minutes or a half-hour later, she would come back with many nervous glances around, and whisper that she would like to buy one quickly. Sometimes people come up and want to show off their flogging technique, and of course other sellers of whips, especially rubber ones, come up to see the competition. There are always surprises, when I misjudge someone at first impression. The number of people who hinted that they were librarians, teachers, or other upstanding members of the community was a little surprising, but I remember that people are people, and think back to my elementary school teachers with a different perspective. I’ve had the nicest, sweetest-looking couples come up, ask to try out a whip, and before I know it one of them is spread-eagled against the table with the other flogging like crazy.
The strangeness of the Flea is a good reality-check for me and is part of the reason I like it so much. I am always surprised or seriously disturbed by something, and it keeps life from becoming too predictable. For instance, two years ago I learned about sounding. Even now, just thinking about it makes me feel queasy and walk a little funny, (eeegh) but it’s good to know there are people out there who will try things so I don’t have to.
At the Fetish Fair Flea you can get a foot rub and some custom made vampire teeth. You can refill your lube supply, buy replacement switches for the ones you broke on someone’s backside, and check out the new CBT device on the market. You can buy toys and gifts to feed the fetishes of yourself, your friends, and loved ones, but also see what kinds of things turn other people on.
You might come away from the FFF shocked and traumatized by something you saw, or you might find a whole new world of excitement and stimulation. Or a little of both.
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Floggers by Abraham is committed to making quality, handmade rubber floggers from recycled materials. Custom designs are available in a variety of sizes. For more information, please e-mail abrahamarama@yahoo.com.
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Next Fetish Fair Flea Market #28 (Winter, 2007):
Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA
(Exit 7A from I-95, near the junction of I-495)
Friday - Sunday, January 26-28th, 2007
For more information about Abraham's exciting rubber whips, e-mail abrahamarama@yahoo.com.
