[BITList] Bawdy seaside postcards on display

[John Feltham]

Bawdy seaside postcards on display

Bawdy seaside postcards that sold by their millions before World War Two are to go on display for the first time since they were banned for indecency in 1954.

By Nick Collins
Published 05 Aug 2010


Banned saucy seaside postcards by Donald McGill go on show


A self-portrait by Donald McGill

 

Bawdy seaside postcards that sold by their millions before World War Two are to go on display for the first time since they were banned for indecency in 1954.


The risqué collection by Donald McGill, which features corpulent old ladies, drunk middle-aged men and salacious vicars, have been put on show at a new museum.


McGill was a prolific artist, designing more than 12,000 cards over six decades, and selling more than 200 million cards in British seaside towns.


But a particularly raunchy collection was banned due to their inappropriate content during a clean-up of British seaside resorts in 1954, and the artist charged with publishing obscene images.


Now each can be viewed at a museum in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, which is home to the world's largest collection of McGill's work.


The artist's fame was such that George Orwell termed him "the most prolific and by far the best of contemporary postcard artists.


At the height of his fame McGill only earned three guineas a design, but today his original artwork sells for up to £1,700 in auction and up to £2,500 in London galleries.


James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum, said: "What is startling is how innocent the majority of these 'obscene' cards were...


"It seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt and was really very sad. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society. "


The artist's career began in 1904 when he sent a cartoon to a nephew in hospital which featured a man up to his neck in a frozen pond and read "Hope you get out!"


It was submitted to a publisher who commissioned his work, and he went on to design a number of cards riddled with double-entendres ranging from the clever to the vulgar.


One of the banned saucy seaside postcards by Donald McGill


A stamp indicating that a card had been approved for sale

Bawdy seaside postcards on display

Bawdy seaside postcards that sold by their millions before World War Two are to go on display for the first time since they were banned for indecency in 1954.

By Nick Collins
Published 05 Aug 2010


Donald McGill's career spanned nearly six decades of keen observation Photo: GEOFF ROBINSON
The risqué collection by Donald McGill, which features corpulent old ladies, drunk middle-aged men and salacious vicars, have been put on show at a new museum.

McGill was a prolific artist, designing more than 12,000 cards over six decades, and selling more than 200 million cards in British seaside towns.

But a particularly raunchy collection was banned due to their inappropriate content during a clean-up of British seaside resorts in 1954, and the artist charged with publishing obscene images.

Now each can be viewed at a museum in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, which is home to the world's largest collection of McGill's work.

Examples include a fat man saying: "It's been years since I've seen my little Willy" and a shop assistant telling a customer: "Gentle-man's Requisites? Yes, Sir, go right through Ladies' Underwear."

The artist's fame was such that George Orwell termed him "the most prolific and by far the best of contemporary postcard artists."

At the height of his fame McGill only earned three guineas a design, but today his original artwork sells for up to £1,700 in auction and up to £2,500 in London galleries.

James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum, said: "What is startling is how innocent the majority of these 'obscene' cards were.

"It seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt and was really very sad. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society. "

James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum, said: "What is startling is how innocent the majority of these 'obscene' cards were.

"It seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt and was really very sad. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society."

The artist's career began in 1904 when he sent a cartoon to a nephew in hospital which featured a man up to his neck in a frozen pond and read "Hope you get out!"

It was submitted to a publisher who commissioned his work, and he went on to design a number of cards riddled with double-entendres ranging from the clever to the vulgar.

But in 1953 he faced obscenity charges over his cards after what appeared to be an orchestrated clean up around the country.

In Ryde a prudish vicar complained to his local paper and the police raided five seaside shops and confiscated more than 5,000 cards.

Other raids took place in resorts across the UK leading to a magistrates sessions where thousands of McGills cards were ordered to be destroyed under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act and burned.

The following year a show trial was held in Lincoln where the artist, who was 79 by then, was persuaded to accept a guilty plea on four cards which were immediately banned.

McGill and his publishers also agreed not to republish another 17 cards once the existing stocks had been sold.

The artist lost around £100,000 of revenue – by today's value – as a result.

"McGill's career spanned nearly six decades of keen observation and he charted changing society through the Suffragette movement, transport and two world wars," added James.

"He is the man who shines forth when it comes to seaside postcards as he was so prolific and so talented.

"He was just like a machine churning out these incredible postcards.

"He was so clever with the English language, his postcards are also timeless and translate well to the 21st century.

"We've only been open a few weeks, but the public loves the museum and agree that McGill has been overlooked as an important artist in his own right."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7928443/Bawdy-seaside-postcards-on-display.html

Saucy seaside paintings which inspired postcards for auction

An original set of saucy seaside paintings which were turned into politically-incorrect postcards are expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.

11 Aug 2009


Saucy seaside postcards: The 25 risqué paintings by Phil Millar were the original designs for a set of 'Carry On' style postcards which were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Photo: SWNS
The 25 risqué paintings by Phil Millar - nicknamed Pedro - were the original designs for a set of 'Carry On' style postcards which were popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

The pristine watercolours - measuring 19cm by 27cm - were almost lost forever when they were dumped in a skip in Calne, Wiltshire, in 1989.

Des Hudd, 69, who runs the skip firm with wife Barbara, 55, discovered the paintings stuffed in a plastic bag and decided to keep them safe.
Mr Hudd, who now lives in Hatherleigh, Devon, said: ''I'm a bit of a magpie and thought these paintings might be worth a few bob so kept them in my loft. I was always a fan of the naughty postcards so was overjoyed when I stumbled across this pristine collection.''

On Wednesday the pictures will be auctioned by Warwick and Warwick Auctioneers in Warwickshire and are expected to fetch upwards of £50 each.

One of the postcards features a leggy blonde being asked at a job interview: ''I want a girl used to handling tools, and not afraid of getting a bit dirty.''

Another features a large woman being prodded by a man using a garden hoe. She cheekily remarks: ''Don't apologise Mr Brown, - it takes more than a little poke to offend me.''

Colin Such, postcard expert for Warwick and Warwick auctioneers said: ''You cannot get any rarer than this set of pictures which show just how suggestive the humour was in the 1960s.

''Pedro would have been commissioned to do the paintings which would then go to the studio and be printed into postcards. The postcards were then sold to thousands of holiday makers visiting the seaside.

''It is a thrill to see the original paintings these postcards came from because they were part of the fabric of the times.''

Mr Hudd took over from famous seaside postcard artist Donald McGill who had his artwork banned by the Seaside Authorities because it was deemed ''too suggestive''.

Mr Such said: ''Pedro took Donald McGill's work that much further and was far more racy in his humour. It was a sign of the times that he was never banned while Donald's work was.''

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6014128/Saucy-seaside-paintings-which-inspired-postcards-for-auction.html




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