The following presents a timeline of major events in the history of MIR Contest, NPO (formerly known as Mr. International Rubber) as an organization. A more fulsome account of the early years of the contest may be found in the excellent book "Skin Tight: Rubbermen, Macho Fetish and Fantasy" by author Tim Brough.
1992 & 1993
~The Boston Knights present a rubber title contest, Mr. Vulcan Rubber.
1994 & 1995
~The Mr. Vulcan Rubber contest is not held.
1996
~Mister Vulcan Rubber 1994, Ryan Johnson, receives permission to hold the Mr. Vulcan Rubber Contest as part of the first Rubber Blowout Weekend at Cell Block, a gay mens leather bar located in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood.
1997
~The Boston Knights are unwilling to allow the contest to be held again in Chicago. In response, Cell Block creates the Mr. International Rubber Contest and holds the new event weekend in November of 1997. The winner, Christophe Lehner, is titled Mr. International Rubber 1998. The contest weekend has been held annually ever since.
2004
~A website, MIRubber.com, is established to broaden the reach of the Mr. International Rubber contest weekend.
~Additionally, the contest is opened to transgender men, provided they have changed the gender marker on their official identification.
2009
~In May of 2009, the Mr. International Rubber contest is purchased by community member John Jacobs. Jacobs realized that bar ownership of an international fetish contest was hindering growth. Jacobs sets up the newly independent contest as a private entity known as MIR Contest, Inc., doing business as Mr. International Rubber. Longtime weekend coordinator and Mr. International Rubber 2003, William "Rubberwilli" Schendel, is made a co-owner of this new entity. Events move to the newly constructed Chicago LGBTQ+ Community Center. This new space provide ample room for the expansion of the event weekend. As the weekend no longer has a full-time bar staff to support the event, a growing team of volunteers step forward to lead areas of the expanded Mr. International Rubber event weekend. Jacobs will continue to be the majority owner of the annual contest weekend through 2016.
~The requirements for transgender men to have changed the gender marker on their ID is dropped, and the contest is opened to all those who identify as male.
2010
~A Facebook account is established to join the growing movement towards social media.
2013
~The contest is live streamed for the first time, via the MIRubber.com website, free of charge.This is also the first year that the weekend has an overarching theme. MIR17 : Karnival of Kink celebrates the dark side of carnivals and sideshows. Contestants and attendees bring rubbery costumes that fit the theme, and add to the ambiance of the entire weekend's events.
2016
~Preston So is the 20th person to be named Mr. International Rubber. He is the first person of color to hold the title, and the first man of Asian heritage to hold an international fetish title. Separately, at the conclusion of the 2016 contest, John Jacobs announces that he will be retiring from leadership and ownership of MIR and passing the baton to a younger generation.
2017
~New ownership was announced in January, with Brad Bartley joining William Schendel as the new co-owners of MIR Contest, Inc. As part of the MIR21 weekend, the first Rubberists of Color Meet-Up is held. This community led meet-up during MIR weekend will create a template for the Mr. International Rubber organization to create intentional space for under-represented groups within the rubber community.
2018
~Having outgrown the capacity of the theater at Center on Halsted, the contest portion of the Mr. International Rubber weekend is moved to a new venue, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Response to this move is overwhelmingly positive, and the expanded contest venue sells out requiring overflow viewing space elsewhere in the museum. A small art exhibition is mounted as part of the theme for the year, "The Art of Rubber."
2019
~MIR Contest becomes an Illinois Not For Profit Organization. A three member Board of Directors is appointed from the existing leadership of the organization. Work begins to seek federal non-profit status. The 23rd Mr. International Rubber Contest is held in a new venue, the 1,500 seat Vic Theater. 16 individuals compete for the title of Mr. International Rubber, the largest class of contestants to date.
2020
~While the global Covid pandemic prevents an in-person gathering, organizers of Mr. International Rubber plan a weekend of virtual events so community members can still connect with each other. The program featured classes, affinity group meet-ups, a virtual dance party, and two nights of global livestream content under the title of "RubberLab."
2021
~MIR Contest receives federal non-profit status as a 501(c)4 social welfare organization. The Mr. International Rubber weekend returns to an in-person event, with Covid protocols in place to help ensure the safety of all attendees. As the United States has a ban on global travelers entering the country, our contestant pool is severely limited. 3 individuals from the United States and 1 person from Denmark compete for the title of Mr. international Rubber. The ban on global travelers entering the country is lifted on the Monday following MIR weekend.
2022
MIR Contest, NPO expands the Board of Directors to 5 members, with the new board members drawn from existing MIR staff. While daytime events remain at Center on Halsted, The Mr. International Rubber contest moves to a new venue, The Riviera Theater. Pusckatt Pumera ONYX is named Mr. International Rubber 26, becoming the first African American man to hold the title. Also, at the conclusion of the 26th Mr. International Rubber Contest it was announced that the event would become a hotel based event beginning in 2023 and shift to an October date. The event would be based at the Doubletree by Hilton in Skokie, with the contest being held at the adjacent North Shore Center for the Performing Arts.
2023
~The 27th Mr. International Rubber contest was held in October and was the first year as a hotel based event. At the conclusion of the contest, the board of the organization announced several changes. Firstly, beginning with the 2024 event, the contest would become gender inclusive. Contestants of all gender identities would compete on the same stage in one contest, with the winner being able to select from one of four honorifics for their title year: Ms. International Rubber; Mx. International Rubber; Mr. International Rubber; or MIR International Rubber Ambassador. Secondly, in keeping with this change to a gender inclusive event weekend, the organizations public facing name would change to simply being "MIR".
2024
~In the first year as a gender inclusive contest weekend, MIR saw significant increases in gender diversity among our attendees and our contestants. Rush was named the winner of the contest and chose the honorific of MIR International Rubber Ambassador for his title year. He is the first Latino to hold the MIR title. Delsi Cat was named first runner-up becoming the first woman to mount the podium at an MIR contest. Banjo was named second runner-up becoming the first publicly non-binary person to mount the podium at an MIR contest. At the conclusion of the contest, the board of MIR Contest announced that the contest weekend would move to the Rosemont/O'Hare area. This new arrangement would include our first full-hotel buyout, and would provide additional space for growth of programming.
2025
~MIR29 saw the first hotel buyout exclusively for MIR attendees at the Hilton Rosemont / O'Hare. Additional rooms were secured at the adjoining Embassy Suites hotel. The weekend saw increased attendance with approximately 1,500 people of all backgrounds attending. Elliott Eve of Melbourne, Australia was the winner of MIR29 and chose the title of Mx. International Rubber for their title year. Elliot's "Rubber Fantasy" segment was a powerful statement about their coming to terms and coming o0ut as a non-binary person. MIR XXX was announced for November of 2026 and would take place under one roof at the Marriott Chicago O'Hare, with 470 guest rooms exclusively for MIR attendees, and three ballrooms for MIR events.
2026
~MIR XXX, the 30th edition of MIR International Rubber Weekend will be held November 5-8, 2026 in Chicago.