While relatively unassuming today, Fourth Street in Ann Arbor had a bit of a reputation in the early 1970s as a “sex complex,” with several stores selling pornographic materials to students and area residents.
But on June 21, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. California that obscenity was not protected by the First Amendment. The expected result was a subsequent crackdown in the porn industry and a drop in business for Ann Arbor’s stores.
However, Dwight Williams, owner of Adult News — one of the stores located on Fourth Street — said in a Sept. 6, 1973 article in The Michigan Daily that the ruling had quite the opposite effect.
Despite the court ruling, Williams told the Daily at the time that he did not see the need to remove or censor any items from his shelves. In fact, he anticipated an increase in sales if he did.
“People dig what they can get,” Williams said. “It was getting too open here — like in Sweden. Everything was being exposed.”
In his store, paperback novels with colored covers bearing titles like “Deep Mouth” and “Born to Stud” lined the shelves. Films, sex tabloids and magazines were also featured among the products sold.
At the time, Williams told the Daily that his work wasn’t as exciting as some may imagine.
“When you’re staring at this stuff every day, sex just isn’t that important anymore,” Williams said. “You find there are more important things in life.”
Williams said at the time that he found interacting with his customers to be the most rewarding aspect of his job. Students composed 30 percent of his business, and couples also frequented the store on weekends.
Across the street from his shop was Figure Modeling Agency, and right next door was Adult Books and Peep Shows — infamous for its free half-hour massages that came with every purchased sex movie of a certain value.
According to the Daily article, none of these stores appeared to be affected at all by the Supreme Court ruling, and local officials interviewed at the time didn’t seem concerned with the state of business.
Washtenaw County Prosecutor William Delhey said at the time that he didn’t “think the decision will have any bearing on things here.”
Additionally, while in the Adult News store one Ann Arbor policeman said, “If people want to see this kind of stuff, they have a perfect right to, it’s fine with me.”