Tijuana Bible
noun · first attested 1950s
The booklets were printed in the northeastern United States, but the name blamed a Mexican border town.
A small pornographic comic booklet, usually eight pages, produced anonymously in the United States from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1950s
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Tijuana
- In English
Tijuana Bible
The pamphlets parodied popular comic strips and film stars and were sold under the counter, without copyright or a printer's name. The label reflects a belief that they were smuggled north from Tijuana, a town that already carried a reputation for vice in American minds because of Prohibition tourism. Collectors also called them eight-pagers and Tillie-and-Mac books; Bible is used ironically.