An excellent exploration of one of London's most distinctive and controversial forms of urban ephemera, Tart Cards: London's Illicit Advertising Art documents the advertising cards that filled public telephone boxes from the early 1980s onwards.

Through interviews with advertisers, printers, distributors, local authorities, and collectors, Caroline Archer traces the evolution of these notorious "tart cards", examining how their designs adapted to changing laws, advances in printing technology, and shifting social attitudes. The book explores the full spectrum of the phenomenon, from the methods used to display the cards in phone boxes to their impact on local communities. Richly illustrated and thoroughly researched, Archer offers a compelling blend of graphic design history, social commentary, advertising culture, and urban studies. It also provides a fascinating snapshot of a pre-digital world and examines how the rise of computers and the internet transformed both the quality and style of the cards.