In England and Wales the
Sexual Offences Act 1956 made soliciting for
street prostitution 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
Soho, 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
large chest for sale. The abolition of the 1953
Post Office Act in 1984 inadvertently legalised the placement of advertisements in telephone boxes, and they became the main location for tart cards, particularly in London. The cards from the 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. 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 the passing of the
Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 which made carding punishable by up to six months imprisonment or a fine of up to £5000. However, despite police operations against carders the practice of carding still continues. The cards from the 1980s and 1990s have become a memorable part of London
counter-culture from that era. exhibitions and books such as the 2003 book
Tart Cards: London’s Illicit Advertising Art, Subsequently, they have been recognised as a sociological record of trends related to sex work, advertising, design and print. The
Wellcome Collection in London contains thousands of examples, just over half of which advertise
BDSM services. == Other countries ==