The New York Civil Liberties Union joined renowned restaurateur Jean-Claude Baker on Tuesday to give a triumphant send-off to a batch of postcards that have been the subject of a free speech battle between Mr. Baker and the United States Postal Service.

"This is a great day for free speech and for the legacy of Josephine," Jean-Claude Baker said. "We have struck a blow against censorship, which would have prevented us from sharing this exquisite image of Maman in all her glory."

Mr. Baker's 21-year-old restaurant on 42nd Street, Chez Josephine, is named after Josephine Baker, renowned chanteuse and Folies Bergère star, who took in Mr. Baker when he was a boy living alone in Paris after World War II. Every year Mr. Baker sends out a postcard with an image of Ms. Baker to patrons of the restaurant. But when Mr. Baker visited two different post offices to try to send out this year's card -- which feature a watercolor by Henry Fournier depicting Josephine Baker dancing and unclad from the waist up -- he was turned away by postal clerks on the basis that the card was "pornographic advertising."

After Mr. Baker created two different censored versions of the image -- the first, the post office said, was still too explicit -- the NYCLU intervened, informing the Postal Service that under the Postal Code and the First Amendment it must allow Mr. Baker to send the uncensored cards. The Postal Service acknowledged its mistake and apologized to Mr. Baker.

"Censorship based on content has a devastating effect on the free expression that is at the heart of a free society," said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU Executive Director. "We're pleased that the postal service will allow Josephine, and others like her, to travel through the mail regardless of what she is or is not wearing."

On Tuesday Mr. Baker dropped the cards at the post office before joining the NYCLU and restaurant patrons for a press conference at Chez Josephine celebrating his victory.