Cards in phoneboxes

[mrsdanvers]

And while we're talking about cards, do any museums collect those adverts that prostitutes put in phoneboxes - a sort of 'urban life' collection or something? Some of them are quite inventive. If so, is there a name for the practice?

[andy hughes]

It's unlikely that museums would see such a collection as having any merit which justifed giving it exhibition space - the censoring from view by minors would render it difficult. The other problem is that placing adverts in phoneboxes is technically illegal, and BT would take a dim view of any museum using public money to treat such activities as 'art'. Personally I can see your curiosity, but those are the facts, and the law.

[sgs]

I happen to know of one such collection in a premier institution in London, though it is at this stage unofficial, probably for the very reasons that andy hughes mentions. The justification for the collection is that it is representative of an aspect of urban life, rather as mrsdanvers suggests, so is not a waste of public money as such. As for a name, the institution in question came up with hetairapinaxophilia, from the Classical Greek hetaira (courtesan), pinax (card) + philia.

[Malandro]

but what is the name of this institution?