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Our museum pays homage to Donald McGill, who
spent his life creating comic artworks for the then thriving postcard
industry
We are located at 15 Union Street, Ryde Isle of Wight PO33 2DU.
In the early 1930's cartoon style saucy postcards became widespread and at
the peak of their popularity the sale of saucy postcards reached a massive
16 million a year. They were often tacky in nature making use of innuendo
and traditionally featured stereotypical characters such as priests, large
ladies and put-upon husbands in the same vein as the Carry On films.
In the early 1950's, the newly elected Conservative government were
concerned at the apparent deterioration of morals in Britain and decided on
a crackdown on these postcards. The main target on their hit list was the
renowned postcard artist Donald McGill. In the more liberal 1960's the saucy
postcard was revived and became to be considered, by some, as an art form.
The demise of the saucy postcard occurred during the 1970's and 1980's, the
quality of the artwork and humour started to deteriorate with changing
attitudes towards the cards content.
Despite the decline in popularity of postcards that are overtly saucy,
postcards continue to be a significant economic and cultural aspect of
British seaside tourism. Sold by newsagents and street vendors as well as by
specialist souvenir shops. Modern seaside postcards often feature multiple
depiction's of the resort in unusually favourable weather conditions. These
continuously draw tourist to the seaside. The use of saturated colour and a
general departure from realism have made the postcards of the later
twentieth century become collected and desired by undiscriminating taste.
Original postcards are now highly sought after and rare examples can command
very high prices at auction.
Donald created over 12,000 postcards from 1904 till his death in 1962.
Telephone: 01983 568 555
e-mail: info@donaldmcgill.info
We are located at 15 Union Street, Ryde Isle of Wight PO33 2DU.
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