Mrs. Grundy: Studies in English Prudery

1963, 1964 London House & Maxwell edition
Peter Fryer
Mrs. Grundy: Studies in English Prudery
Original price $6.75, purchase price $5.99
OK condition hardcover with worn dustjacket
B

Fryer traces the history of British killjoys, with some American examples, like the various euphemisms for cock (in the sense of rooster) and bull (in the sense of "gentleman cow").  There's lots to shake your head over here, with horrified reactions to, among other things, Sunday baking, Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddygore, the Waltz, and the Twist.  And having read about maypoles and "man-midwives" from the feminist pagan perspective, it's interesting to get Fryer's take.  He was a marxist (and didn't capitalise some concepts, "freudian" among them), and he does address the issue of class in that working-class pursuits of pleasure are usually more harshly punished than those of the rich.  The book could be strengthened by a conclusion or similar to bring it all together, but mostly it's just a collection of attempts at repression.  Also, it feels odd that there's so little about homosexuality.  Contains photographs and reproductions of artwork, the most striking being censored drawings of the Cerne Giant.