French postcard

For the 1979 film, see French Postcards.

A French postcard is a small, postcard-sized piece of cardstock featuring a photograph of a nude or semi-nude woman. Such erotic cards were produced in great volume, primarily in France, in the late 19th and early 20th century. The term was adopted in the United States, where such cards were not legally made.[1] The cards were sold as postcards, but the primary purpose was not for sending by mail, as they would have been banned from delivery. The cards sometimes even depicted naked lesbians.[2] French street vendors, tobacco shops and a variety of other vendors bought the photographs for resale to tourists.

French postcard images

A number of photographers and studios produced French postcards, with some of them featuring particularly popular models.

• 
  Jean Agélou[3]
  Model: Fernande[4]
• 
  Pseudo-classical scene with kithara
• 
  Image of the Gulf of Naples with Mount Vesuvius on left
• 
  Alexandre Jacques Chantron
• 
  "Formato Gabinetto"
  Pantano, Naples
• 
  Zoro Garden Nudist Colony
  San Diego, California
• 
  E. Le Delay
  "Five nude women in dance"
• 
  "Postcard of French woman", non-nude
  in style of French postcards
• 
  Postcard, Seated woman with a herma, 1920s

Orientalist images

Many photographers and studios specialized in images with an Orientalist theme.

• 
  Adia
  Algerian Moorish girls
• 
  Aqua-Photo L.V.S.
  Moroccan slave serving her master
• 
  Behar
  Arab girl
• 
  J. Boussuge
  Moroccan slave from Casablanca
• 
  Combier (CIM)
• 
  Compagnie des Arts Photomécaniques
  "The siesta"
• 
  P. Cousin et Cie
  "Bedouin"
• 
  Roger-Viollet/Alinari
  Two prostitutes in an Algerian brothel
• 
  Ephtimios
  Egyptian girl at the fountain
• 
  J. Garrigues
  Young Bedouin girl
• 
  Jean Gieser
  Young Bedouin girl
• 
  Collection idéale PS
  "Moorish"
• 
  Lehnert & Landrock
  "Oriental Type - slave"
• 
  Levy & Fils
  "Moorish"
• 
  Frères Neurdein
  Young Algerian woman
• 
  Regence
  "Beautiful Zinah" - Algiers
• 
  Société Industrielle de Photographie (S.I.P.)
  Young Arab girl
• 
  Raphael Tuck & Sons
  Egyptian beauty
• 
  F. Viala
  "Young woman at Moroccan massage"
• 
  Pseudo-Oriental theme
  Jean Agélou
  Model: Fernande

References

1. The Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States, Philip Herbst. Intercultural Press, 1997, page 86
2. Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2014, p. 48-49
3. De l'académisme à la photo de charme, Christian Bourdon. Paris: Marval, 2006 ISBN 978-2862343945
4. "Fernande 1910s Nude Model". Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.

Further reading

• French Postcards: An Album of Vintage Erotica, Martin Stevens. Universe Books/Rizzoli, 2007, ISBN 978-0789315342.
• P. Hammond French undressing: naughty postcards from 1900 to 1920. London: Jupiter, 1976.
• W. Oulette, B. Jones Erotic postcards. New York: Excalibur, 1977.