The naughty postcard museum

The British have always been famous for their humor, both dry wit and the naughtier brand. One man who combined the two is being celebrated in a new museum that opened in Ryde in the Isle if Wight yesterday.

Donald McGill, Britain’s “king of vulgarity”, illustrated thousands of postcards over an almost sixty-year career. He was best known for simple double-entedres like the one pictured to the right. He also has the distinction of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most sales of an individual postcard–one featuring a bookish man and an attractive young woman sitting under a tree. The guy peers over a volume and asks the girl, “Do you like Kipling?” to which she replies, “I don’t know, you naughty boy, I’ve never kippled!” That sold more than six million copies.

One of his most popular, and most controversial, shows two men admiring an attractive woman as one says to the other, “She’s a nice girl. Doesn’t drink or smoke, and only swears when it slips out!”

In the age of Internet pornography these barely qualify for a PG rating, but in Britain before the Sixties they shocked stogy traditional sensibilities. In 1953 many local jurisdictions raided the shops selling his postcards and burned any they found. The next year at the age of 79, McGill had to face what the museum’s curator called a “show trial” for obscenity. He got off with a fine, but the ruling almost killed the saucy postcard industry.

The Donald McGill Museum website is still under construction but shows some more examples of McGill’s work.


Photo courtesy Donald McGill via Wikimedia Commons.

3 men, 1 van and 48 states in less than 120 hours

This morning, when there was one woman (me) in one car (a Toyota Corolla) going along 3 streets in 5 minutes on my way to teach a class, I heard about these 3 guys who are in a car traveling this week to all 48 states in the continental U.S. They’re not traveling through each state, but are at least crossing borders to say they’ve been in each one.

One of the guys, Joshua Keeler, was being interviewed on the radio about the trip. Originally, years ago, this was going to be his father’s trip. His dad, James, had mapped out the journey, but James’ mother’s death kept him from going. Joshua got hold of the maps and corralled his two friends Joey Stocking and Adam Gatherum to go along with him on this journey they are calling, “The Great American Road Trip.” There is an attempt to break the Guinness record for a similar trip, although, Guinness no longer keeps such records for road safety sake.

This morning the trio was in South Dakota. They started in Vermont on Sunday, and tomorrow they will end their trip at Four Corners, the spot where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. You can see the path these three took and get more details about them at their Web site greatamericanroadtrip.us

Keeler said they are eating a lot of cold canned soup and snack packs. There really isn’t any time to stop except for gas and to use the toilet. They’ve noticed a 50 cent fluctuation in gas prices and have found that their 2005 Toyota Scion is perfect for the journey.

Here’s the route they’re taking.