Adrie’s Hot Take: The Comstock Act & Clinch Covers

In the 1870s, Anthony Comstock got such a splintered stick up his rear end about even the most remote possibility of “obscenity” that he made it his life’s mission to stop everyone else from having fun. The Comstock Act, passed in 1873, made it illegal to mail “obscene” material including books, art, pharmaceuticals, and even medical information through the US Postal Service (USPS). What does obscene mean? No one knows, that’s the best part. Comstock didn’t have a real definition for obscenity, he just knew he didn’t like it.

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