One day in 1863, his mind reeling from the endless pressures of the endless war, Abraham Lincoln opened an envelope in the White House and out tumbled an ad for girlie photos. The handbill touted that photos could be ordered by mail for twelve cents a piece or $1.20 a dozen, twelve-inch-by-fifteen-inch pictures suitable for framing. Choices included "Indian Maidens," "Wood Nymphs' Frolic," or "Circassian Slavegirls."One Union Captian M.G. Tousley had written this letter directly to President Lincoln complaining about the deluge of pornographic photos and pictures being passed around by soldiers and even officers. To drive his message home, Tousley had slipped into the envelope a handbill he had confiscated, called "New Pictures for Bachelors."
There's no record of Lincoln's response - either to the captain or to the mail - order company.
Excerpt page 306 - 307 An Underground Education: The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of Human Knowledge
http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Education-Unauthorized-Outrageous-Supplement/dp/0385483767
No comments:
Post a Comment