About
Normal Bob Smith is the nickname of New York City resident Bob Hain who is known for founding the blog “Amazing Strangers,” which highlights photos and videos of eccentric people recorded around Union Square Park in Manhattan, New York. In 2011, Hain’s blog was reported on by various news media outlets for his coverage of male voyeurs in the park.
Online History
Jesus Dress Up
In August 2000, Hain launched the single serving site Jesus Dress Up,[5] allowing users to drag and drop clothing items on top of an illustration of Jesus of Nazareth (shown below). Within a month a launch, the website received more than 150,000 unique visits.[6]
Amazing Strangers
On September 1st, the domain for the blog NormalBobSmith.com[3] was registered. In 2004, Hain launched the “Amazing Strangers” blog on NormalBobSmith.com,[9] highlighting photographs and videos of unique individuals around Union Square in New York City. In 2005, Hain began posting photographs of men attempting to look up women’s skirts at Union Square, referring to them as “peepers” (shown below).
On October 10th, 2007, the New York City news blog Gothamist[7] reported on Hain’s documentation of Union Square peepers. On July 22nd, 2011, Hain began uploading video footage of alleged peepers along with commentary describing their techniques (shown below, left). On September 12th, 2011, The New York Times City Room blog[4] published an article on Hain’s peeper blog. On September 22nd, Inside Edition aired a segment on the Union Square peepers, which included an interview with Hain (shown below, right).
On December 31st, 2011, the Normal Bob Smith YouTube[1] channel was created. On November 14th, 2014, the /r/NormalBobSmith[2] subreddit was launched. On March 11th, 2014, Hain uploaded a video titled “Bitches Don’t Know,” in which he interviews a man who repeatedly says the phrase “Bitches don’t know about my style” (shown below). On March 13th, Redditor GeorgeWatts submitted the video to the /r/videos subreddit, where it gained over 3,700 votes (87% upvoted) and 450 comments prior to being archived. On January 1st, 2015, Hain ceased updating NormalBobSmith.com, moving to the new domain NormalBob.com.[8]
Notable Videos
Search Interest
External References
[1]YouTube – Normal Bob Smith
[2]Reddit – /r/NormalBobSmith
[3]NormalBobSmith.com – Normal Bob Smith
[4]The New York Times – Taking a Gander at the Peepers in Union Square Park
[5]Jesus Dress Up (original) – Jesus Dress Up
[6]Wikipedia – Jesus Dress Up
[7]Gothamist – Union Square Peepers
[8]Normal Bob – Normal Bob
[9]Normal Bob Smith – Amazing Strangers