The Eulenspiegel Society was the first
BDSM organization founded in the United States. Bond placed an ad in
Screw magazine in December 1970, reading: The ad also ran in the
East Village Other. Fran Nowve, using the name Terry Kolb, was the first person to answer the ad. a decades-long-running magazine, in the early 1970s, exploring issues important to kinksters, ranging from advice columns and personal ads, to erotica and art, to conversation about the philosophy of consensual kink. The magazine now exists online. From 1973 until he died in 1983, Jack Jackson, a
black leatherman, was the first president of The Eulenspiegel Society; to “signal that he was forever one with the title”, The Eulenspiegel Society has not had a president since, leaving him as its only one. He was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame in 2021. In 1992, The Eulenspiegel Society's cofounder Pat Bond received the Steve Maidhof Award for National or International Work from the
National Leather Association International. In 1994,
Barbara Nitke attended her first meeting of The Eulenspiegel Society to see a presentation by underground photographer
Charles Gatewood. The couples she met in the SM scene fascinated her, and she began photographing them in 1994. They became the focus of her book,
Kiss of Fire: A Romantic View of Sadomasochism (2003). It was among the first mainstream publications to examine the subject of BDSM. In 1996, The Eulenspiegel Society hosted the first large BDSM convention, in celebration of its 25th anniversary. This event was so well attended that the organization took over two large clubs (Hellfire Club and The Vault) as well as a disco which was converted into a club. Over 1,300 people attended. This event inspired other
leather organizations to hold annual conventions as well. In 1997, this event received the Large Event of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. In 1999, Gary Switch posted to The Eulenspiegel Society's
USENET list "TES-Friends" proposing the term RACK (
Risk-aware consensual kink) out of a desire to form a more accurate portrayal of the type of play that many engage in. Noting that nothing is truly 100% safe, not even crossing the street, Switch compared BDSM to the sport of mountain climbing. In both, risk is an essential part of the thrill, and that risk is minimized through study, training, technique, and practice. In 2002, The Eulenspiegel Society reorganized as "The TES Association." It retains rights to its original name and historical intellectual property. In 2003, TES received the Large Club of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. In 2015, Bond and Nowve (the latter under the name Terry Kolb) were inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame. ==Organizational activities==