Opened in 1962 in the South of Market district, the Tool Box was one of the earliest and most influential gay leather bars in San Francisco. It became internationally known for its unapologetically masculine, blue-collar aesthetic—leather, denim, boots, and a sense of brotherhood that helped define the emerging leather scene on the West Coast.
In an era when gay bars were still closely watched and often raided, the Tool Box stood out for its confidence and visibility. It attracted bikers, longshoremen, servicemen, and visitors from around the world, and its famously erotic mural by Chuck Arnett—visible from the street—became a landmark image of pre-Stonewall queer life.
