In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, French erotic postcards became very popular. In the 1920’s and 30’s specifically, dancing girls from Folies-Bergères and Moulin Rouge often supplemented their incomes by posing for photographers.
The images created were spicy and sapphic; possibly reflecting the newly assertive attitudes of women following the Great War. The cards were produced in great volume (most of them were done as silver prints on baryte paper using gelatin-bromide plates, and printed by the kilometer), and distributed in secret by street vendors in neighborhoods such as Pigalle, Rue Saint-Dennis and the Madeleine. They have become incredibly hard to find today, but here are some of our favorites.
