Guide to the Prostitute Advertising Cards, circa 1991-2006

900 different prostitutes' trade cards, plus some duplicates, produced primarily as advertisements to be posted inside traditional red London phone booths (on the glass itself or inserted between the glass and frame), from which these were regularly retrieved by Timothy d'Arch Smith and his godson Matthew Ayres from 1991-2006, almost entirely in the Baker Street/Paddington area and in Earls Court. Ranging from visiting card to postcard size, they were printed on paper or card stocks (mostly colored card stocks) in a variety of typefaces, although many others were handwritten. Almost all of the cards are illustrated, some with photographs, most with drawings. The majority promote the services of women, with a handful representing male transvestites or transsexuals. In many cases, special services are mentioned (and illustrated), e. g., dungeons, bondage, spanking, caning, as well as other special features (ethnicity, bust size, age, etc.).

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Item Information:

Identifier: 2j62s486f
Collection: Discovery Resources
Institution: Human Sexuality Collection, Cornell University
Creator(s): Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Date Created: Jul. 2008
Dates Covered: 1991 to 2006
Genre: Finding Aids
Subject(s): Matthew Ayres
Topic(s): Advertising
Prostitutes
Resource Type: Text
Language: English
Related URL: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07743.html
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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