Classified: The Secret History of the Personal Column

by H.G. Cocks

"Bohemian girl (London, S.W.) 24, in digs, interested most things, educated, lonely, desires man pal, London or abroad."

On September 1, 1920 the Metropolitan police received a tip-off that a certain magazine, the Link , was running extremely dubious personal ads. An investigation and court case followed, and the editor found himself accused of promoting loose living, homosexuality, prostitution, and white slavery. As he struggled to defend himself, the full weight of official disapproval and media outrage was brought to bear on him. So begins this fascinating sideways look at the history of relationships—and attitudes to relationships—in 20th-century Britain. From World War I soldiers hoping for lady friends to send them food packages, to lonely clerks and typists desperate for love in the cities of 1920s England, through to the 1960s and 1970s swingers and today's internet junkies, it shows how the personal ad has mirrored and encouraged seismic shifts in society and popular attitudes to relationships. At the same time, it also unearths the stories of the heroes and villains of the personal ad—the former deb Heather Jenner who in 1939 set up a marriage bureau for Tatler -reading aristocrats, the shadowy Cyril Benbow whose cryptic "Gentleman has books for sale" masked a burgeoning pornography empire, and the tragic figure of Irene Wilkins, brutally murdered in 1921 by a man who scoured the personal ads in his search for victims.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

230 pages, Hardcover

First published March 24, 2008

About the author

Harry (H. G.) Cocks is associate professor of history at Nottingham University, UK. He is the author of Nameless Offences: Homosexual Desire in Nineteenth-Century England and Classified and coeditor of The Modern History of Sexuality.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Mildly interesting if not revelatory history of personal ads, very heavy on the late Victorian and 20th century (for more on the Georgian roots, you need Shapely Ankle Preferr'd: A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad 1695 - 2010. Good on linking this to queer history, and also to the popular demand for sex education and contraception in the teeth of moralising authority.

Irritatingly, in the section on wife swapping ads there's more than one sneery remark about the wives being overweight and unattractive which...whatever, I'm sure the author has abs like Tom Daley.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an engaging study of the history of the personal advertisement in (mostly) twentieth century British newspapers, although there were ads placed in the press for marital partners as far back as the seventeenth century. Early twentieth century censorship was severe in restricting what sort of sexual services or material could be advertised and it is intriguing to see how the advertisers had to use euphemisms and coded words to inform readers what sort of material they were supplying, or indeed what sort of people they wished to meet for what sort of activity. It was then up to the readers to interpret and understand these coded words. Up until recent times, and certainly before the advent of the internet, using dating agencies or journals and papers to find suitable romantic or marital partners had a certain stigma – it was seen to be either the resort of the inadequate, or was dangerous in potentially putting yourself at risk from total strangers. The occasional murder when females responded to such ads reinforced this common belief. But it was increasingly recognised that modern urban society could make it difficult for both sexes to meet suitable partners for marriage. This is an accessible, unchallenging read, though fully footnoted, and provides an insight into trends in British society via the development and attitudes to personal ads in the press.

[David Vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the social history of the small 'classified' in the Western media - focussing obviously on the personal advertisement. The writing is accessible and the research thorough. However, 228 pages devoted to the topic of sexual repression in Western society through the censorship of people's desires advertsied in the media, is a wee bit excessive. A book half this length and more tightly written would have been a more enjoyable read.

[Ms_prue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating history of 'small ads' in the populist academic style I adore so much. Concise without feeling too shallow, and thoughtfully endnoted.