Tijuana Bible

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

A kind of palm-sized pornographic comic book produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s.

Register: slang

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

MR BARNES. I would say that the most prevalent [pornographic literature] would be the type known to us, or in the language of the people who deal in it, ... the Tijuana Bible, a small [cartoon] booklet about 2 by 3 inches, that is very lewd and very obscene in its character. ... [I]t [shows all type

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “Tijuana Bible” mean?

A kind of palm-sized pornographic comic book produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s.

Is “Tijuana Bible” formal or informal?

Tijuana Bible is generally slang.