Newsagent cards current and yesteryear

[advent2016]

My starter


Hidden Image/Members Only

[latecomer]

Is this picture "yesteryear" as it's not something I've seen for ages?

[Corus Boy]

Anyone remember when every telephone box looked like this?

Hidden Image/Members Only

[mr.bluesky]

Anyone remember when every telephone box looked like this?

Hidden Image/Members Only

Never seen them as populated as that in my area. Never risked seeing anyone from a card posted in a phone box. To be honest never wanted to be in a phone booth for long anyway as they always stank of piss or vomit.
I remember seeing a few ads in local newsagents windows

[tesla]

you can never find a phone box when you want one...

whatever happened to press button "B"

[Jumping Jack Flash]

I don’t remember cards in phone boxes in Birmingham but I do remember seeing them whenever I was in London. Brum punting always seemed to be either parlour based or from a small ad in the local paper.

[Romeo Sensini]

Yeah, only ever saw the phone box cards in the smoke. Do cards in newsagents still exist?

[Zeusthedoc]

Yeah, only ever saw the phone box cards in the smoke. Do cards in newsagents still exist?

Not seen anything in local newsagents in ages... Don't know when I last saw a phone box, let alone the cards

[bossanova]

Never seen them as populated as that in my area. Never risked seeing anyone from a card posted in a phone box. To be honest never wanted to be in a phone booth for long anyway as they always stank of piss or vomit.
I remember seeing a few ads in local newsagents windows

First escort I ever saw was from a phone box card!

[Wadebridge]

Is this picture "yesteryear" as it's not something I've seen for ages?

Indeed! I would've thought a more appropriate term would be "yesterdecade", or even "yestercentury".

[Wadebridge]

My starter
Hidden Image/Members Only

Very interesting topic and picture Advent2016. 
I assume this is an 'old' photograph from your archive and not something you've seen recently.
I must say I do like the advert with 'Painting, Decorating, Plastering' highlighted in yellow. 
I remember a similar one back in a Brighton telephone box in the 80's advertising, for furniture buffs (of course), a 'large chest for sale'.

[David1970]

My starter


Hidden Image/Members Only

I wonder if any of the phone numbers are still in use by SP?

[TomTank]

the only places I ever saw the phone box cards were London and Brighton ..... very useful, used them loads .... mind, it looked a bit dodgy when I often ended up on my mobile in a phone box 

[WARSZAWA16]

Have recently seen some cards in shop windows and stickers on lamposts(!) in SE London advertising "massage". 

[bossanova]

I wonder if any of the phone numbers are still in use by SP?

No – having very little else to do I checked!

[advent2016]

A colleague (in the early 1990s) used to put them randomly in people's raincoats or suit pockets in pubs at lunchtime for a bit of fun. Also when he didn't get his perceived pay rise/bonus instead of his usual destroying some piece of very expensive telecommunications equipment he would write the phone number of a manager he did not like on cards and place them in local phone boxes with extra lurid descriptions of sexual services.

[Kool Keef]

A colleague (in the early 1990s) used to put them randomly in people's raincoats or suit pockets in pubs at lunchtime for a bit of fun. Also when he didn't get his perceived pay rise/bonus instead of his usual destroying some piece of very expensive telecommunications equipment he would write the phone number of a manager he did not like on cards and place them in local phone boxes with extra lurid descriptions of sexual services.

  

[beerbelly]

My starter


Hidden Image/Members Only

and of course like now, every pic is genuine....

not that anyone back then would believe the pics to be legit.... but i wonder if scammers back then , before the internet and sites like these were milking it in, or would recommendations by "word of mouth" be something a working girl worry about

[oap69]

Not seen anything in local newsagents in ages... Don't know when I last saw a phone box, let alone the cards

In February saw cards in a newsagents window at Bournemouth

[oap69]

First escort I ever saw was from a phone box card

Same here. When I worked in London phoned one of the numbers on a card in a phone box and went to a basement flat in Nevern Square.
The numbers on the cards were not mobile ones then !
First wg and first bj for me.

[Cambridgy]

They were great if you ever needed a bit of blu-tack

[smiths]

Pre-net the methods I contacted WGs were newsagents cards, indirect and direct contact mags where I may of got a really bad photocopied pic of the WG that didn't show me what she actually looked like. For the indirect mags I had an accommodation address for many years where I also had my porn vids sent to me.

And my primary method was personal ads in my local newspapers and there were 3 at one time in my area. Met some good WGs over those years but also really bad ones. A difference with some WGs nowadays in my experiences is there were more what I would call amateur WGs about then, looking for some pin money, some of them were very flexible about the length of the punt and what they really did compared to what they said they did. So I may of booked for an hour but stayed 3 at the WGs invitation. Kissing generally wasn't on offer back then, the time of AIDS and John Hurts doom and gloom advert about it. Most WGs of the day said kissing was for their partners only.

This all changed when EE WGs started to come here in numbers, many offered kissing and OWO and for cheaper than the Brits, some of those Brits who didn't offer kissing started to when faced with the competition. I recall speaking to a Brit about this and she said well its either offer kissing or a lack of johns as she called punters. I said but you told me it was for your partner only, she said that was then, this is now, a pragmatist living in the real world. Bless those early EE WGs, they shook things up and helped my wallet plus I got more for my money. The one downside was loads of Irish WGs went back home, some of these were repressed catholics and filthy rebelling.

Even arranging a punt in my area could be a chore, I used phone boxes to ring WGs, problem sometimes was the phone didn't work, the box had been pissed or shate in or set on fire.

[smiths]

Yeah, only ever saw the phone box cards in the smoke. Do cards in newsagents still exist?

Yes mainly in Central London and the WG I met through them never looked like the card, though some weren't bad, many were though. Advertising wise they are one of the few illegal ways of a WG/pimp advertising for punters assuming the WG isn't being coerced/forced and/or isn't underage. It was made a specific offence some years ago now as so many people complained about seeing them and their kids seeing them. Not seen any for a long time but I am not in Central London that often anymore.

[stampjones]

Yes mainly in Central London and the WG I met through them never looked like the card, though some weren't bad, many were though. Advertising wise they are one of the few illegal ways of a WG/pimp advertising for punters assuming the WG isn't being coerced/forced and/or isn't underage. It was made a specific offence some years ago now as so many people complained about seeing them and their kids seeing them. Not seen any for a long time but I am not in Central London that often anymore.

There are still a few around but not like the old days where 20 cards meant 20 flats. These days all the cards tend to go to the same place.
The phone boxes around warren street still have cards most of the time if anyone fancies some nostalgia - the flat is a walkdown on whitmore street I think. This was all pre-covid obviously. Who knows if they’ll come back after

[smiths]

There are still a few around but not like the old days where 20 cards meant 20 flats. These days all the cards tend to go to the same place.
The phone boxes around warren street still have cards most of the time if anyone fancies some nostalgia - the flat is a walkdown on whitmore street I think. This was all pre-covid obviously. Who knows if they’ll come back after

Interesting info thanks. I don't get to that area much on foot nowadays.

[Bonker]

They were great if you ever needed a bit of blu-tack

Do you often find yourself in this desperate situation?

[redveee]

Last time I saw cards in a phone box was in London when I was walking back to Waterloo, the phonebox was a modern open one not a red old skool phone box so it only took a casual glance to see the cards stuck in there.

[george r]

Anyone remember when every telephone box looked like this?

Hidden Image/Members Only

saw some in london about 12 yrs ago, some in blackpool newsagent shop windows but that was yrs ago also.

[Kool Keef]

Pre-net the methods I contacted WGs were newsagents cards, indirect and direct contact mags where I may of got a really bad photocopied pic of the WG that didn't show me what she actually looked like. For the indirect mags I had an accommodation address for many years where I also had my porn vids sent to me.

And my primary method was personal ads in my local newspapers and there were 3 at one time in my area. Met some good WGs over those years but also really bad ones. A difference with some WGs nowadays in my experiences is there were more what I would call amateur WGs about then, looking for some pin money, some of them were very flexible about the length of the punt and what they really did compared to what they said they did. So I may of booked for an hour but stayed 3 at the WGs invitation. Kissing generally wasn't on offer back then, the time of AIDS and John Hurts doom and gloom advert about it. Most WGs of the day said kissing was for their partners only.

This all changed when EE WGs started to come here in numbers, many offered kissing and OWO and for cheaper than the Brits, some of those Brits who didn't offer kissing started to when faced with the competition. I recall speaking to a Brit about this and she said well its either offer kissing or a lack of johns as she called punters. I said but you told me it was for your partner only, she said that was then, this is now, a pragmatist living in the real world. Bless those early EE WGs, they shook things up and helped my wallet plus I got more for my money. The one downside was loads of Irish WGs went back home, some of these were repressed catholics and filthy rebelling.

Even arranging a punt in my area could be a chore, I used phone boxes to ring WGs, problem sometimes was the phone didn't work, the box had been pissed or shate in or set on fire.

Thanks for that, very interesting. 
Didn't know that it was EE WGs who brought in kissing, I'm assuming that it was Polish girls rather than Roms, who generally don't do kissing in my experience, that brought it over?
Kissing is very much a preferred part of my build up & foreplay during a punt to get me in the mood, the more 'transactional' type punts don't do a lot for me,  so I don't think I'd have been a regular punter back in''t day judging by your info.
I also don't think I'd have had the stones to phone a number blind & turn up at a random address 
Thank God for t'internet!

[davidgood]

Pre AW days when I used to travel a lot around the country I used to look for cards in newsagents' windows and make a note of a few numbers which I might ring to make enquiries about price and services. Often the reception was frosty and not welcoming so I took things no further. But occasionally I got a good feeling and went as far as a meeting. I recall meeting 2 ladies who lived next door to each other in Brentwood, noty far from the newsagents their cards were in. I saw one a couple of times and the other who I hit it off better with maybe 3 or 4 times when I detoured off the M25. 

They had done doubles in the past but had fallen out over who should do what as such sessions, and one having a bit of a bad attitude.

I also used to pick local free papers when I was in a new area and they were a source of a few encouters.

Although I have looked at cards in telephone boxes in Central London and been tempted I have never taken it further.

I believe that one of the reasons why cards in phone boxes died a death in London was that the GLA got some powers to make posting them a criminal offence. A woman I knew who had a flat in Victoria which was used by WGs told me that she had been fined for posting on more than one occassion.

Thesedays the Net and AW and similar sites  are far better for advertising than cards in boxes.

However in  East London there are stickers with phone numbers stuck up on lamp post, bus stops, shop fronts etc. I have never been tempted to make a call yet.

Regards,

davidgood

[Jonestown]

Thanks for that, very interesting. 
Didn't know that it was EE WGs who brought in kissing, I'm assuming that it was Polish girls rather than Roms, who generally don't do kissing in my experience, that brought it over

Before the Roms & polish farmer's wives were the Baltic Beauties, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, plus the "Russians" from Siberia, St Petersburg, and the Ukraines, heady days, cool slim blonde beauties, tight and eager.

[Muff licker]

I did start a similar thread sometime back but did not get any traction, i still see paper shop adverts for massage

https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=262388.msg2696632#msg2696632

[smiths]

Thanks for that, very interesting. 
Didn't know that it was EE WGs who brought in kissing, I'm assuming that it was Polish girls rather than Roms, who generally don't do kissing in my experience, that brought it over?
Kissing is very much a preferred part of my build up & foreplay during a punt to get me in the mood, the more 'transactional' type punts don't do a lot for me,  so I don't think I'd have been a regular punter back in''t day judging by your info.
I also don't think I'd have had the stones to phone a number blind & turn up at a random address 
Thank God for t'internet!

One thing many foreign WGs have always done in my experiences is lie about where they come from, many a time I have punted with an EE WG, I assume she was EE and she said she was say from Latvia but when I punted with her again she said she was say from Lithuania, I don't know the difference.

Advertising wise the Czech Republic used to be a popular nationality, yes Poland, less so Romania, Baltic states as mentioned above. The thing to bear in mind about those early punting days is kissing wasn't on the menu usually so my expectation didn't include it then. And just turning up blind was the way to punt unless you went to a brothel which I did as well where you might get a line-up of WGs to choose from.

[sparkus]

My starter


Hidden Image/Members Only

That was pretty much my entree to punting and certainly a common sight around East and South London in the late 00s.  Adultwork was in its infancy and other sites hadn't entered the market yet so this was, other than the backpages in local newspapers, the only game in town.  I actually used to go to certain newsagents periodically to see if there were any new cards up. 

I did notice after 2010 or the number of shops prepared to allow them in the window went into rapid decline, I did wonder why as such shops weren't likely to fall foul of the same clampdown as befell local newspapers thanks to Harriet Harman.  I suppose a lot of publicity did, to the annoyance of HH, go online and also standalone brothels and saunas fell by the wayside in favour of WGs who moved around.  The shop next to Walthamstow station still had them up not long ago but I think the actual shop itself has gone now so he did hold out until the end

Tart cards are still all over central London but again I notice they're not up in places they used to be like Clerkenwell or Old Street.  Gentrification.

[BarneyBubbles]

Took one look at the OPs photo and thought 'I know that number!'  I'm pretty sure the "english girls up for it" card is for Affinity near Croydon... closed a couple of years ago I think but had some good (and some not so good) girls in its day.

[advent2016]

I have scans of newspapers from the 90s on I might dig out

[Bonker]

I tried one of these phone box fucks.
Not enough room and people kept staring in. Guess I shouldn't have gone for an out call.

[WASA38]

As a schoolboyI recall a large sign outside a church in London proclaiming:

Tired if sin ? Enter in.

Below it some comedian had posted a card:

If not; ring GERard 3291

[smiths]

That was pretty much my entree to punting and certainly a common sight around East and South London in the late 00s.  Adultwork was in its infancy and other sites hadn't entered the market yet so this was, other than the backpages in local newspapers, the only game in town.  I actually used to go to certain newsagents periodically to see if there were any new cards up. 

I did notice after 2010 or the number of shops prepared to allow them in the window went into rapid decline, I did wonder why as such shops weren't likely to fall foul of the same clampdown as befell local newspapers thanks to Harriet Harman.  I suppose a lot of publicity did, to the annoyance of HH, go online and also standalone brothels and saunas fell by the wayside in favour of WGs who moved around.  The shop next to Walthamstow station still had them up not long ago but I think the actual shop itself has gone now so he did hold out until the end

Tart cards are still all over central London but again I notice they're not up in places they used to be like Clerkenwell or Old Street.  Gentrification.

Harman wasn't able to get the support required to change the law about local papers having personal ads with WGs though, she asked them to stop running such ads, some paper groups did so, some didn't, my local paper didn't and still runs them. The only illegal advertising assuming the WG is an adult and not being coerced are phone box cards which were made a specific offence as they were too blatant and many people complained, some whose kids had seen them, too in your face and quite right they were made an offence.

[sparkus]

Harman wasn't able to get the support required to change the law about local papers having personal ads with WGs though, she asked them to stop running such ads, some paper groups did so, some didn't, my local paper didn't and still runs them. The only illegal advertising assuming the WG is an adult and not being coerced are phone box cards which were made a specific offence as they were too blatant and many people complained, some whose kids had seen them, too in your face and quite right they were made an offence.

As I recall, the outcry over them was sufficient in most cases.  I remember local ones in East London not only running articles on why they'd no longer accept ads of that sort next to ones for used cars and lock ups but even ramping up their brothel raid coverage to atone.

[pewpewpew]

I used to love the phone box cards. Was too young to punt back then but me and my mates would go box to box nicking all the sexy photos

[sparkus]

Pleased to report the newsagents next to Walthamstow station is not only still there but has a selection of prossie cards in his window, should any of you require a retro experience.

[Zeusthedoc]

Pleased to report the newsagents next to Walthamstow station is not only still there but has a selection of prossie cards in his window, should any of you require a retro experience.

do i have to pay extra for the retro experience?

[joe diddley]

I used to collect some of the better and more entertaining phone box cards and still have some of the very best of them in a box in a lockup. If I get some time I'll photo some and post them here. (I didn't use these cards to meet WGs; just liked some of the cards.) There was a book featuring these cards for collectors; I didn't have it but I'm sure you could find it via abebooks or amazon if you're interested.

[Baldy]

Ilford Recorder .

[RLondon99]

I used to collect some of the better and more entertaining phone box cards and still have some of the very best of them

Please post

Here's a few to get started, with a bit of a theme:



Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

[RLondon99]

Some variations:



Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

[RLondon99]

A number of cards were created by artists rather than pimps (although some might ask what difference):



Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

[RLondon99]

Must not forget Miss Whiplash, whose landlord was former Chancellor Norman Lamont

Hidden Image/Members Only

[RLondon99]

Then there were the cards created around a typographical theme:



Hidden Image/Members Only