[Ads-l] antedating "French postcard"

Jonathan Lighter 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Sat Apr 18 12:37:02 UTC 2026


Not in OED, but HDAS dates it to WW1 era.

Apparently French postcards were notable for photos, caricatures, etc.,
before British and American manufacturers adopted this style. Earlier refs.
in Newspapers.com are to entirely innocent cards, some featuring views of
chateaux and cathedrals.

1907 _The Age_ (Sydney) (Dec. 21) 10: Strong complaints have been received
from Sydney by the Postmaster- General concerning an attempt to send
through the post advertisements incorporating some very obscene French post
cards.

1912 _Manchester [Eng] Courier_ (Feb. 5) 8:  It was there the French post
card and other obscene prints were to be found.

JL

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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