"Sporty" girls and "artistic" boys: friendship, illicit sex, and the British "companionship" advertisement, 1913-1928.

ON SE P T E M B E R 1, 1920, Sir Basil Thomson, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, received a note warning him of a grave threat to the morals of the British nation. The letter was from R. A. Bennett, editor of the weekly newspaper Truth and a prominent campaigner against white slavery.1 Bennett enclosed a small pamphlet, available from newsagents in plain cover for the price of eight pence. A cursory glance at its pages, he announced, would allow the commissioner to judge its highly immoral character. The offending paper was a small, monthly publication, usually no more than ten pages long, called the Link. Created in 1915 by the editor and comic novelist Alfred Barrett and initially appearing under the title Cupid’s Messenger, its editorial page proudly declared it to be “the only monthly practically devoted to love interests.”2 Each issue included an editorial section and three sections of advertising, from “Ladies,” “Soldiers and Sailors,” and “Civilians” (men) who were seeking “companions,” “friends,” or “pen pals.” In addition to the advertisements, which were free, the paper offered a service that would provide up to twelve introductions to other “suitable” subscribers for a small fee.3 To its supporters, the Link was an innocent and socially valuable medium that facilitated the forma-