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1980s and 1990s often included black-and-white drawings printed on neon-coloured card along with tongue-in-cheek phrases. In larger cities, the cards were placed in phone boxes. The style of illustration changed in the early twenty-first century, when tart cards began to appear with full-colour nude photographs, mobile telephone numbers and websites.
60:. Originating in the 1960s, the cards are placed in locations such as newsagents' windows or telephone boxes. Alternatively they are handed out or dropped in the street. Legal action is sometimes taken against their use. Illustrated tart cards from the 1980s and 1990s have come to be regarded as examples of sub-cultural accidental art.
81:, London, where they were typically handwritten postcards which were displayed outside prostitutes' flats or in the windows of newsagents or shops. As direct references to prostitution would generally be unacceptable, the cards were carefully worded and often contained euphemistic references to sex, with terms such as
187:
United
Kingdom: in London tart cards are placed in phone boxes by professional "carders", who tour the phone boxes, replacing cards which have been removed by the telephone companies' cleaners. Carders often remove cards placed by rival carders. Placing tart cards in phone boxes was made illegal by
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which made carding punishable by up to six months imprisonment or a fine of up to £5000. By 2002 most convicted carders were receiving fines of £200–£1000, although persistent offenders were receiving jail terms of 28 days. An estimated 13 million tart cards per year were being distributed across
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in 1984 inadvertently legalised the placement of advertisements in telephone boxes, and they became the main location for tart cards, particularly in London. By the late 1980s the cards had become black-and-white photocopied cards containing printed text and telephone numbers. The cards from the
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illegal. As a result, indoor sex work became more common and sex workers began to advertise their services and telephone numbers on small, cheaply produced cards in the windows of newsagents. Known as tart cards, they became established in the 1960s in places such as
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was removing 150,000 tart cards per week from central London telephone boxes and it had call-barred 500 of the telephone numbers used on tart cards. However, despite police operations against carders the practice of carding still
172:: Cards advertising "massage" services, often printed with images of women, are delivered to people's homes, placed onto car windows, and distributed by hand in the street. This practice is illegal.
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104:" and developed a cult following. They have influenced the work of mainstream artists, inspiring collections, research, exhibitions and books such as the 2003 publication
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108:. Subsequently, they have been recognised as a sociological record of trends related to sex work, advertising, design and print. The
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166:: They are commonly put under the doors of hotels during the day after the cleaning staff have finished in the rooms.
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632:"'Chica Chica' cards pimp hookers and prostitution, says state senator who wants to make them illegal"
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parts of New York City they are known as "Chica Chica" (Girl Girl) cards and men hand them out as
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they are known as "sex cards" and left on sidewalks and hotel stairways or handed out as flyers.
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238:"Dial 'S' for Sex: A History of a Phone-Booth Subculture in the United Kingdom"
679:"The life of the Vegas 'porn slapper': 'I don't care if they punch or hit me'"
49:
320:"London Calling: a Look at Vintage 'Tart Cards' Used by English Prostitutes"
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in London contains thousands of examples, just over half of which advertise
37:
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The cards from the 1980s and 1990s have become a memorable part of London
457:"London's 'tart cards' reveal history of sex work, design and printing"
475:"Goodbye to the public telephone: only half are left and rarely used"
258:
Villains' Paradise: Britain's
Underworld from the Spivs to the Krays
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Cards placed in phone booths to advertise the services of call girls
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from that era. Over time they have become regarded as items of "
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402:. Plymouth College of Art. 9–27 January 2012. Archived from
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Pictures of the inside of a phone box covered in tart cards
184:: They are dropped in the city's sidewalks and underpasses.
376:. Birmingham Institute of Art & Design. Archived from
496:"Prostitutes and their adverts are coming to Twitter"
178:: In Japan they were known as "pink flyers" (ピンクチラシ).
542:"Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts"
52:. The cards are found in many countries, usually in
751:
Vice Art: An
Anthology of London's Prostitute Cards
785:Tart Art: the prostitute calling cards of London
128:Tart cards in a telephone booth in Brazil, 2006
358:. The Wellcome Collection Blog. Archived from
48:is a card which advertises the services of a
8:
702:Tart Cards: London's Illicit Advertising Art
607:Tart Cards: London's Illicit Advertising Art
193:Britain at that time; the telephone company
106:Tart Cards: London’s Illicit Advertising Art
335:
333:
588:"Call box cards used to evict prostitutes"
658:"'Just Say No' – to sex – hits Las Vegas"
511:"Massage cards menace continues in Dubai"
565:"The dark side of Asia's gambling Mecca"
341:"Crackdown on telephone box 'tartcards'"
231:
229:
227:
144:Phone box with tart cards, London, 2017.
719:Archer, Caroline (2003). "Tart cards".
700:Archer, Caroline; Clayton, Rob (2003).
605:Archer, Caroline; Clayton, Rob (2003).
290:"17 Boxes of Smut From The Euston Road"
223:
455:Bosset, Stephanie (28 February 2020).
732:The X-Directory: kink cards 1984/1994
7:
313:
311:
309:
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190:Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001
546:Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies
509:Mariam M. Al Serkal (14 May 2014).
494:Kanno, Maurício (1 February 2010).
800:Prostitution in the United Kingdom
677:Dan Hernandez (4 September 2014).
14:
704:. West New York, NJ: Mark Batty.
374:"The Typographic Hub: Tart Cards"
630:Kenneth Lovett (27 March 2011).
354:Russell Dornan (21 March 2014).
236:Lister, Kate (17 October 2018).
753:. Harrogate: Broadwater House.
656:Russel, Sabin (29 June 2003).
498:(in Portuguese). Folha Online.
483:(in Spanish). 7 February 2009.
432:. 11 June 2009. Archived from
1:
356:"Putting the art into "tart""
149:Argentina: They are found in
586:Diane Taylor (8 July 2002).
426:"Sex Issue: Type Tart Cards"
261:. John Murray. p. 528.
209:at night on the streets. In
36:advertising the services of
563:Katie Hunt (18 June 2013).
540:Borggreen, Gunhild (2011).
821:
780:Pages from The X-Directory
730:Devlin, Tony, ed. (1994).
318:Cherrybomb (5 July 2017).
292:. Londonist. 27 March 2008
156:Brazil: They are found in
88:The abolition of the 1953
18:
136:Tart cards in Tokyo, 2005
68:In England and Wales the
749:Jewell, Patrick (1993).
70:Sexual Offences Act 1956
32:Tart cards in a British
19:Not to be confused with
663:San Francisco Chronicle
400:"Tart Cards Exhibition"
343:. PA News. 16 May 1999.
255:Thomas, Donald (2005).
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120:Tart cards by country
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83:large chest for sale
72:made soliciting for
188:the passing of the
110:Wellcome Collection
74:street prostitution
58:red-light districts
430:Wallpaper magazine
201:United States: In
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151:Buenos Aires
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794:Categories
525:7 December
242:Brewminate
218:References
198:continues.
116:services.
50:prostitute
38:call girls
641:23 August
571:15 August
515:Gulf News
211:Las Vegas
158:São Paulo
46:tart card
34:phone box
722:Baseline
552:(1): 50.
461:Euronews
274:9 August
440:18 July
410:18 July
384:18 July
296:18 July
64:History
40:in 2005
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480:Clarín
265:
207:flyers
23:cards.
567:. CNN
182:Macau
176:Japan
170:Dubai
164:China
21:Tarot
755:ISBN
736:ISBN
706:ISBN
643:2014
611:ISBN
573:2014
527:2014
442:2014
412:2014
386:2014
298:2014
276:2015
263:ISBN
114:BDSM
79:Soho
56:or
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