The artist's fame was such that George Orwell termed him "the most prolific and by far the best of contemporary postcard artists."  At the height of his fame McGill only earned three guineas a design, but today his original artwork sells for up to £1,700 in auction and up to £2,500 in London galleries.  James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum, said: "What is startling is how innocent the majority of these 'obscene' cards were.  "It seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt and was really very sad. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society. "  James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum, said: "What is startling is how innocent the majority of these 'obscene' cards were.  "It seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt and was really very sad. Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society."  The artist's career began in 1904 when he sent a cartoon to a nephew in hospital which featured a man up to his neck in a frozen pond and read "Hope you get out!"  It was submitted to a publisher who commissioned his work, and he went on to design a number of cards riddled with double-entendres ranging from the clever to the vulgar.  But in 1953 he faced obscenity charges over his cards after what appeared to be an orchestrated clean up around the country.  In Ryde a prudish vicar complained to his local paper and the police raided five seaside shops and confiscated more than 5,000 cards.  Other raids took place in resorts across the UK leading to a magistrates sessions where thousands of McGills cards were ordered to be destroyed under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act and burned.  The following year a show trial was held in Lincoln where the artist, who was 79 by then, was persuaded to accept a guilty plea on four cards which were immediately banned.  McGill and his publishers also agreed not to republish another 17 cards once the existing stocks had been sold.  The artist lost around £100,000 of revenue – by today's value – as a result.  "McGill's career spanned nearly six decades of keen observation and he charted changing society through the Suffragette movement, transport and two world wars," added James.  "He is the man who shines forth when it comes to seaside postcards as he was so prolific and so talented.  "He was just like a machine churning out these incredible postcards.  "He was so clever with the English language, his postcards are also timeless and translate well to the 21st century.  "We've only been open a few weeks, but the public loves the museum and agree that McGill has been overlooked as an important artist in his own right."
Bawdy seaside postcards that sold by their millions before World War Two are   to go on display for the first time since they were banned for indecency in   1954.