Yesterday, many Americans were shocked to learn that the USPS had the power to arrest people. Historians of medicine and historians of sex would like to remind you that the USPS used to be able to arrest you for sending birth control, abortifacients, or porn through the mail.
If you want to learn more about the Comstock laws, I have a few books to recommend:
"Imperiled Innocents: Anthony Comstock and Family Reproduction in Victorian America" by Nicola Kay Beisel.
Lust on Trial: Censorship and the Rise of American Obscenity in the Age of Anthony Comstock by Amy Werbel
Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality By Judith Giesberg
I almost forgot Andrea Tone's book! I always assign this book in my Birds & Bees class and students love it! Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America
You can follow @jackiantonovich.
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