Tijuana Bibles were eight-page comic strips that depicted movie stars, athletes, cartoon characters or stock figures in sexual situations.  The plots were often based on dirty jokes.  Palm-sized, they were printed largely in black-and-white on cheap paper and were sold under the counter for 25 cents.  They were published from the 1920s to the 1960s.  Best-selling issues appeared occasionally as a series, like the eight comic strips about the boxer Jack Dempsey, or in sixteen-page issues.  Since these booklets were illegal, the artists, writers and publishers were anonymous.  A few of the artists are known under pseudonyms: Mr. Prolific, Elmer Zilch, Blackjack and Mr. Dyslexic.  The name “Tijuana Bibles” seems to have been a misnomer, based on the rumor that they were first made and smuggled across the border from Tijuana, Mexico.  Actually, they were produced in the United States, especially in New York City.  Small businessmen manufactured them, though organized crime figures may have also been involved. 

The Tijuana Bibles were refreshing, if crude, pieces of erotic art.

                                                                                           S. Gray

March 2025