‘Tom’s Men’ is a reference to the Finnish illustrator, Touko Laaksonen better known as Tom of Finland (1920 – 1991). Laaksonen introduced a series of the now ubiquitous, macho, physical types into mid-century gay culture and erotica such as the cowboy, sailor, biker and policeman making his work extremely influential to the development of queer imagery.
The image of patch is featured on the leather jackets of some of Laaksonen’s illustrations of police officers.