Ephemera
© Thomas Wilson Shawcross 23 June 2005
Ephemera - Etymology: New Latin, from Greek ephEmera, neuter plural of ephEmeros
1 : something of no lasting significance -- usually used in plural
2 ephemera plural : collectibles (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) not intended to have lasting value
source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
San Francisco ephemera, 4 Aug 2003 *
My esteemed (by me) ephemera collection includes these directions to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I acquired it from the woman who created it, while I was having breakfast with my son Michael at Sears. No, not that Sears, I am referring to Sears Fine Food, the legendary San Francisco pancake house that was started by retired circus clown Ben Sears.
Mike and I were in California the first two weeks of August 2003, and when we returned, I created a 176-page trip journal. During our vacation, I saved many items of paper ephemera, and they supplement the story. Here is a photo collage that I made, using a few of the items, such as ticket stubs, receipts, and notes that I had made for use later on in writing the journal:
“California Ephemera”
© Thomas Wilson Shawcross 2003
“But Tom,” you ask, “isn’t ephemera, by definition, of no lasting value? Isn’t it just tres, tres mundane? Is anyone really interested in ephemera?”
Well, don’t say that to the Ephemera Society of America, a non-profit organization devoted to furthering the collection, study, and preservation of ephemera (paper items). You can use Google to find their website, which is one of the 1, 240, 000 sites listed by Google in their “ephemera” search.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about ephemera and the concept of what is mundane, and why these things interest me. The word “mundane” is derived from the Latin word for “world” and is characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary (what some people might call boring). Ephemera are the detritus of the mundane, and I view them as time-capsule snapshots of life as it existed at a specific point in time and space.
For me, seeing ephemera is like going back in time. Sometimes, ephemera are all that is left by which we may know of events that have otherwise fallen into the black sinkhole of history.
One item in my ephemera collection is an 80-column punched card that I retrieved from a parking lot near the now-former IBM office on Lindell Boulevard in Midtown St. Louis. For the benefit of my younger readers, I will explain that 80-column cards were used to store data prior to the invention of floppy disks, CD’s, DVD’s and memory sticks. They were the same size as the old US dollar bills (circa the end of the 19th century), and they looked like this:
This image shows an 80-column punched card and a smaller variation of it.
I had almost forgotten about the smaller-sized version of the card! Anyway, here is the story behind my 80-column ephemera card (larger version):
One day in the summer of 1970, an IBM customer was carrying an armload of boxes containing punched cards (2000 cards to a box) into the IBM Data Center (no longer there). Atop the stack of boxes were some metal canisters that held reels of magnetic tape.
As the customer struggled to carry everything at once, one of the tape reels fell off the stack and started rolling down Lindell, toward the Playboy Club (no longer there either). Lindell Boulevard is quite hilly here, and the tape reel was picking up speed as it approached a busy intersection below. Panicking, the customer set the boxes down (on Lindell Boulevard) and began running after the tape reel.
Then, a bus hit the boxes of cards. It was a windy day. 80-column punched cards made a ticker-tape parade of Midtown St. Louis. For a week or so, afterward, one could find 80-column punched cards scattered throughout the local area. I picked one off the ground at a parking lot that was two blocks from where the accident had taken place.
My point is, for a while, there was a lot of physical evidence of this accident. For a while, it was a popular topic of conversation at the IBM Data Center. Then, it was forgotten. I bet that if the IBM Data Center were still there, the 80-column card incident would not be talked about anymore (unless I was there).
Yes, this was not as spectacular as some of the other events that took place in that era. Why, people still sometimes talk about the Apollo-11 moon landing, and that took place nearly an entire year before the 80-column Card Incident. But, the 80-cCI was something that happened, and oddly enough I remember it better than the moon landing (which I neglected to watch on television, thinking it would be shown over and over, but it hasn’t been).
Why is the mundane so fascinating to me? After all, many people find it boring. But, most of our lives consist of “mundane” events, and the way I look at it, there is an interesting story behind most mundane events and objects. For example, consider something as “mundane” as the connector plug that you see at the end of most appliance cords. Boring, eh? In most US homes, there are only two configurations – a two-prong plug and a three-prong plug. With minor variations, such as one prong being slightly larger than the other (for polarity reasons now – but the older plugs had prongs of the same size), all electric plugs look alike, right? WRONG. As I learned when I began my international travel, not only are there different types (cycles) of electricity throughout the world, there are MANY different ways to configure an electric plug. When I traveled in Mainland China in 1985, I discovered that each major city (I was in four) had its own unique style of electric plug, and that the plug used in one city would not fit in the electric outlet of another.
The duty-free stores at international airports sell a wide range of adaptors for electric plugs (and current cycles). I have amassed a considerable collection of electric plugs from around the world. My point is that even the mundane is special, if one knows enough about how it came to be. Usually, we don’t. I was surprised, for example, to learn that before we had fork-lift trucks we had tiering machines. Who knew?
I found this out accidentally. I was performing a random act of genealogical kindness and helping a woman in researching her family history. One of her ancestors was Walter Krausnick, who was a partner in a St. Louis millinery company. While using Google to look for references to him, I came upon the following item:
UIowa - John Springer Collection of Printing Ephemera
Pratt, Simmons, & Krausnick, St. Louis, Mo. -- 1 p. advertisement for millinery (1895).
Shoninger, Levy & Co., Chicago -- 1 l. showing in color women's ...
www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/ Msc/ToMsc250/MsC202/MsC202.htm - 329k - Cached - Similar pages
What was this about? I clicked on the link and discovered the John Springer Collection of Printing Ephemera. John Springer bequeathed his collection to the University of Iowa in 1937. It “contains more than 1,600 items and more than 400 calling cards -- in excess of 2,000 items in all -- organized into 19 boxes. Items have been grouped by format (e.g., calendars in Box 1, tokens in Box 18), by subject (e.g., paper in Box 3, advertising materials related to food in Box 12) and by events (e.g., 1893 World's Fair in Box 10, Iowa City events in Box 14). Few of these groupings are entirely systematic and related materials, however defined, can often be found in more than one place in the collection.” http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Msc/ToMsc250/MsC202/MsC202.htm
Clearly, John Springer was a man who appreciated ephemera more than most. A quick scan of his 2,000 items reveals the following:
Heinz's Evaporated Horse Radish -- bottle label
United Indurated Fibre Co., (New Jersey) -- ad card for "Indurated Fibre Ware" parts, tubs, and spittoons
W.E. Hamilton, Chicago -- booklet "The Time-Saver". A book which names and locates "5,000 things at the World's Fair That Visitors should not fail to see." (1893) [111pp.]
"Grand Annual Tour of Booth's Assinine Paradox!" (sideshow freak animal) (n.d.) -- handbill ad
"The Stolen Letters of Senator Phelan How Did He Get Them? The Campaign of Lies/Governor Stephens for Negro Colonization of California", tract by Jno. P. Irish of Oakland, Calif. (n.d. ), 2 copies
Benjamin Harrison -- card criticizing his use of Chinese votes to win him Senate seat and subsequent Congressional vote for bill restricting further immigration (n.d.)
Pope Manufacturing Co., Hartford, Conn. -- catalog of company's Columbia chainless bicycles [32pp.] (1898)
Leibig's Extract of Meat Company, Antwerp, Belgium -- ad card for meat extract -- kaleidoscope card will change pictures when string is pulled (1897)
Cudahy Packing Co., Omaha -- ad card (expandable) depicting products gotten from hogs (n.d.)
Fuller & Fuller Co., Chicago -- ad card with color portrait of Mrs. President Cleveland and advertising "Best" Tonic (n.d.)
Globe Manufacturing. Co., Grinnell, Iowa -- ad flier for Globe Hair Restorative and Dandruff Cure (c.1897)
Dr. Harter Medicine Co., St. Louis -- ad pamphlet for Dr. Harter's Little Liver Pills and Dr. Harter's Wild Cherry Bitters (1887)
C. J. Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass. -- ad pamphlet for Hood's Sarsaparilla (in shape of a pansy flower) (n.d.)
Modern Woodmen of America -- Souvenir and program for 6th annual picnic of Southeastern Iowa Picnic Association [56pp.] (1902)
"The Great Blackstone", magician, to be at Englert Theatre, ad sheet (n.d.)
"Citizens' Ticket" of candidates for office, "Anti-Chinese" and "Anti-Monopoly" for 10th Senatorial District (n.d.)
Economy Baler Co., Ann Arbor, Michigan -- "The Cheapest Experience Is Other People's" [24pp.] (c.1912), booklet, 3 copies
Economy Engineering Co., Chicago -- pamphlet advertising tiering machines (forerunner of fork-lift truck) (n.d.)
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia -- invitation to formal opening of new office building of newspaper (1894) (in envelope)
"Mark Twain Stamp Banquet" in honor of James A. Farley, Postmaster-General, Hannibal, Mo., 1940 -- commemorative program
Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Omaha, 1898 -- booklet describing and picturing Cotton Belt Exhibit of Cotton Belt Route RR
10 full-color postcards depicting buildings
souvenir button advertising Ostrich Farm
Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois brochure(2 copies in envelope)
Clonbrock Steam Boiler Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. -- souvenir booklet showing boiler plant erected on fair grounds
"Views of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held at Omaha, Nebraska, June 1st to November 1st, 1898" pub. by T.A. Rinehart, official photographer booklet of views of Greater America Exposition, Omaha, 1899 -- booklet
"Giant See Saw Omaha, 1898" -- Red, white and blue badge
descriptive booklet
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, Georgia -- letter with card entitling holder to one free glass of Coca-Cola, with envelope
Sioux City Corn Palace, Sioux City, Iowa -- program and description of 5th annual festival, 1891. Includes free pass
The Greystone Club, Denver -- invitation to annual banquet at Hotel Metropole, Denver (1892) (in envelope)
National Democratic Convention of 1884, ticket
Republican National Committee -- election broadside showing aerial photo of Theo. Roosevelt's farm as a plush estate rather than "dirt farm" as he called it (c.1912)
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons: Grand Lodge of Iowa -- memorandum book, 2 copies,one with pencil notes (1891)
Iowa City (1890), invitation to banquet and sociable
El Riad Shrine Temple, Sioux Falls, S.D. (1890), invitation (in envelope) to banquet and ball
El Riad Shrine Temple, Sioux Falls, S.D. (1896), invitation and program in shape of a coffin
Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. -- poster asking the public to save waste paper and rags to help alleviate paper shortage (1916)
The Bounding Billow, published aboard the U.S.S. Olympia during Spanish-American War (1898), 2 issues
Worlds Fair, St. Louis, Mo. -- gold token advertising Majestic Ranges
In closing, I will note that for me, ephemera collections document the everyday life of ordinary people. In some way, I think they do so more effectively than more traditional collections. The simple fact that ephemera was produced for some immediate, practical purpose, and that there was no intent that it should be preserved, makes the surviving specimens all the more special.
As noted by John C. Dann, in his 1998 article “Ephemera Collecting - A Growing Field, Hard to Define”:
There is no exact catalogue of ephemera's subject matter, but included under the broad umbrella are trade cards, letterheads, die cuts, postcards, broadsides, tickets, menus, timetables, posters, advertising materials of all sorts, rewards of merit, labels, political buttons, and programs. Much of "ephemera" was originally a by-product of exuberant capitalism-largely advertising material made possible by advances in printing technology. Prints, paintings, photographs, manuscripts, stamps, coins and currency, obscurely printed books and pamphlets, children's books or cookbooks, objects as diverse as license plates, toys or curios are all similar enough in many respects to gain admittance to ephemera shows, but they are a bit on the periphery. The British tend to emphasize printed textual material as the only "pure" ephemera, while American collectors and dealers seem to put much greater emphasis upon pictorial content and graphic design.
As I write this essay, I cannot escape the irony that it is a type of ephemera too. I hope it survives and is read some day.
* TWS note: The directions to Golden Gate Park include one minor error. The final turn is RIGHT, not left, after disembarking at 9th & Irving from the North Judah train.
Ephemera - Etymology: New Latin, from Greek ephEmera, neuter plural of ephEmeros
1 : something of no lasting significance -- usually used in plural
2 ephemera plural : collectibles (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) not intended to have lasting value
source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
San Francisco ephemera, 4 Aug 2003 *
My esteemed (by me) ephemera collection includes these directions to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I acquired it from the woman who created it, while I was having breakfast with my son Michael at Sears. No, not that Sears, I am referring to Sears Fine Food, the legendary San Francisco pancake house that was started by retired circus clown Ben Sears.
Mike and I were in California the first two weeks of August 2003, and when we returned, I created a 176-page trip journal. During our vacation, I saved many items of paper ephemera, and they supplement the story. Here is a photo collage that I made, using a few of the items, such as ticket stubs, receipts, and notes that I had made for use later on in writing the journal:
“California Ephemera”
© Thomas Wilson Shawcross 2003
“But Tom,” you ask, “isn’t ephemera, by definition, of no lasting value? Isn’t it just tres, tres mundane? Is anyone really interested in ephemera?”
Well, don’t say that to the Ephemera Society of America, a non-profit organization devoted to furthering the collection, study, and preservation of ephemera (paper items). You can use Google to find their website, which is one of the 1, 240, 000 sites listed by Google in their “ephemera” search.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about ephemera and the concept of what is mundane, and why these things interest me. The word “mundane” is derived from the Latin word for “world” and is characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary (what some people might call boring). Ephemera are the detritus of the mundane, and I view them as time-capsule snapshots of life as it existed at a specific point in time and space.
For me, seeing ephemera is like going back in time. Sometimes, ephemera are all that is left by which we may know of events that have otherwise fallen into the black sinkhole of history.
One item in my ephemera collection is an 80-column punched card that I retrieved from a parking lot near the now-former IBM office on Lindell Boulevard in Midtown St. Louis. For the benefit of my younger readers, I will explain that 80-column cards were used to store data prior to the invention of floppy disks, CD’s, DVD’s and memory sticks. They were the same size as the old US dollar bills (circa the end of the 19th century), and they looked like this:
This image shows an 80-column punched card and a smaller variation of it.
I had almost forgotten about the smaller-sized version of the card! Anyway, here is the story behind my 80-column ephemera card (larger version):
One day in the summer of 1970, an IBM customer was carrying an armload of boxes containing punched cards (2000 cards to a box) into the IBM Data Center (no longer there). Atop the stack of boxes were some metal canisters that held reels of magnetic tape.
As the customer struggled to carry everything at once, one of the tape reels fell off the stack and started rolling down Lindell, toward the Playboy Club (no longer there either). Lindell Boulevard is quite hilly here, and the tape reel was picking up speed as it approached a busy intersection below. Panicking, the customer set the boxes down (on Lindell Boulevard) and began running after the tape reel.
Then, a bus hit the boxes of cards. It was a windy day. 80-column punched cards made a ticker-tape parade of Midtown St. Louis. For a week or so, afterward, one could find 80-column punched cards scattered throughout the local area. I picked one off the ground at a parking lot that was two blocks from where the accident had taken place.
My point is, for a while, there was a lot of physical evidence of this accident. For a while, it was a popular topic of conversation at the IBM Data Center. Then, it was forgotten. I bet that if the IBM Data Center were still there, the 80-column card incident would not be talked about anymore (unless I was there).
Yes, this was not as spectacular as some of the other events that took place in that era. Why, people still sometimes talk about the Apollo-11 moon landing, and that took place nearly an entire year before the 80-column Card Incident. But, the 80-cCI was something that happened, and oddly enough I remember it better than the moon landing (which I neglected to watch on television, thinking it would be shown over and over, but it hasn’t been).
Why is the mundane so fascinating to me? After all, many people find it boring. But, most of our lives consist of “mundane” events, and the way I look at it, there is an interesting story behind most mundane events and objects. For example, consider something as “mundane” as the connector plug that you see at the end of most appliance cords. Boring, eh? In most US homes, there are only two configurations – a two-prong plug and a three-prong plug. With minor variations, such as one prong being slightly larger than the other (for polarity reasons now – but the older plugs had prongs of the same size), all electric plugs look alike, right? WRONG. As I learned when I began my international travel, not only are there different types (cycles) of electricity throughout the world, there are MANY different ways to configure an electric plug. When I traveled in Mainland China in 1985, I discovered that each major city (I was in four) had its own unique style of electric plug, and that the plug used in one city would not fit in the electric outlet of another.
The duty-free stores at international airports sell a wide range of adaptors for electric plugs (and current cycles). I have amassed a considerable collection of electric plugs from around the world. My point is that even the mundane is special, if one knows enough about how it came to be. Usually, we don’t. I was surprised, for example, to learn that before we had fork-lift trucks we had tiering machines. Who knew?
I found this out accidentally. I was performing a random act of genealogical kindness and helping a woman in researching her family history. One of her ancestors was Walter Krausnick, who was a partner in a St. Louis millinery company. While using Google to look for references to him, I came upon the following item:
UIowa - John Springer Collection of Printing Ephemera
Pratt, Simmons, & Krausnick, St. Louis, Mo. -- 1 p. advertisement for millinery (1895).
Shoninger, Levy & Co., Chicago -- 1 l. showing in color women's ...
www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/ Msc/ToMsc250/MsC202/MsC202.htm - 329k - Cached - Similar pages
What was this about? I clicked on the link and discovered the John Springer Collection of Printing Ephemera. John Springer bequeathed his collection to the University of Iowa in 1937. It “contains more than 1,600 items and more than 400 calling cards -- in excess of 2,000 items in all -- organized into 19 boxes. Items have been grouped by format (e.g., calendars in Box 1, tokens in Box 18), by subject (e.g., paper in Box 3, advertising materials related to food in Box 12) and by events (e.g., 1893 World's Fair in Box 10, Iowa City events in Box 14). Few of these groupings are entirely systematic and related materials, however defined, can often be found in more than one place in the collection.” http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Msc/ToMsc250/MsC202/MsC202.htm
Clearly, John Springer was a man who appreciated ephemera more than most. A quick scan of his 2,000 items reveals the following:
Heinz's Evaporated Horse Radish -- bottle label
United Indurated Fibre Co., (New Jersey) -- ad card for "Indurated Fibre Ware" parts, tubs, and spittoons
W.E. Hamilton, Chicago -- booklet "The Time-Saver". A book which names and locates "5,000 things at the World's Fair That Visitors should not fail to see." (1893) [111pp.]
"Grand Annual Tour of Booth's Assinine Paradox!" (sideshow freak animal) (n.d.) -- handbill ad
"The Stolen Letters of Senator Phelan How Did He Get Them? The Campaign of Lies/Governor Stephens for Negro Colonization of California", tract by Jno. P. Irish of Oakland, Calif. (n.d. ), 2 copies
Benjamin Harrison -- card criticizing his use of Chinese votes to win him Senate seat and subsequent Congressional vote for bill restricting further immigration (n.d.)
Pope Manufacturing Co., Hartford, Conn. -- catalog of company's Columbia chainless bicycles [32pp.] (1898)
Leibig's Extract of Meat Company, Antwerp, Belgium -- ad card for meat extract -- kaleidoscope card will change pictures when string is pulled (1897)
Cudahy Packing Co., Omaha -- ad card (expandable) depicting products gotten from hogs (n.d.)
Fuller & Fuller Co., Chicago -- ad card with color portrait of Mrs. President Cleveland and advertising "Best" Tonic (n.d.)
Globe Manufacturing. Co., Grinnell, Iowa -- ad flier for Globe Hair Restorative and Dandruff Cure (c.1897)
Dr. Harter Medicine Co., St. Louis -- ad pamphlet for Dr. Harter's Little Liver Pills and Dr. Harter's Wild Cherry Bitters (1887)
C. J. Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass. -- ad pamphlet for Hood's Sarsaparilla (in shape of a pansy flower) (n.d.)
Modern Woodmen of America -- Souvenir and program for 6th annual picnic of Southeastern Iowa Picnic Association [56pp.] (1902)
"The Great Blackstone", magician, to be at Englert Theatre, ad sheet (n.d.)
"Citizens' Ticket" of candidates for office, "Anti-Chinese" and "Anti-Monopoly" for 10th Senatorial District (n.d.)
Economy Baler Co., Ann Arbor, Michigan -- "The Cheapest Experience Is Other People's" [24pp.] (c.1912), booklet, 3 copies
Economy Engineering Co., Chicago -- pamphlet advertising tiering machines (forerunner of fork-lift truck) (n.d.)
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia -- invitation to formal opening of new office building of newspaper (1894) (in envelope)
"Mark Twain Stamp Banquet" in honor of James A. Farley, Postmaster-General, Hannibal, Mo., 1940 -- commemorative program
Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Omaha, 1898 -- booklet describing and picturing Cotton Belt Exhibit of Cotton Belt Route RR
10 full-color postcards depicting buildings
souvenir button advertising Ostrich Farm
Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois brochure(2 copies in envelope)
Clonbrock Steam Boiler Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. -- souvenir booklet showing boiler plant erected on fair grounds
"Views of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held at Omaha, Nebraska, June 1st to November 1st, 1898" pub. by T.A. Rinehart, official photographer booklet of views of Greater America Exposition, Omaha, 1899 -- booklet
"Giant See Saw Omaha, 1898" -- Red, white and blue badge
descriptive booklet
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, Georgia -- letter with card entitling holder to one free glass of Coca-Cola, with envelope
Sioux City Corn Palace, Sioux City, Iowa -- program and description of 5th annual festival, 1891. Includes free pass
The Greystone Club, Denver -- invitation to annual banquet at Hotel Metropole, Denver (1892) (in envelope)
National Democratic Convention of 1884, ticket
Republican National Committee -- election broadside showing aerial photo of Theo. Roosevelt's farm as a plush estate rather than "dirt farm" as he called it (c.1912)
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons: Grand Lodge of Iowa -- memorandum book, 2 copies,one with pencil notes (1891)
Iowa City (1890), invitation to banquet and sociable
El Riad Shrine Temple, Sioux Falls, S.D. (1890), invitation (in envelope) to banquet and ball
El Riad Shrine Temple, Sioux Falls, S.D. (1896), invitation and program in shape of a coffin
Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. -- poster asking the public to save waste paper and rags to help alleviate paper shortage (1916)
The Bounding Billow, published aboard the U.S.S. Olympia during Spanish-American War (1898), 2 issues
Worlds Fair, St. Louis, Mo. -- gold token advertising Majestic Ranges
In closing, I will note that for me, ephemera collections document the everyday life of ordinary people. In some way, I think they do so more effectively than more traditional collections. The simple fact that ephemera was produced for some immediate, practical purpose, and that there was no intent that it should be preserved, makes the surviving specimens all the more special.
As noted by John C. Dann, in his 1998 article “Ephemera Collecting - A Growing Field, Hard to Define”:
There is no exact catalogue of ephemera's subject matter, but included under the broad umbrella are trade cards, letterheads, die cuts, postcards, broadsides, tickets, menus, timetables, posters, advertising materials of all sorts, rewards of merit, labels, political buttons, and programs. Much of "ephemera" was originally a by-product of exuberant capitalism-largely advertising material made possible by advances in printing technology. Prints, paintings, photographs, manuscripts, stamps, coins and currency, obscurely printed books and pamphlets, children's books or cookbooks, objects as diverse as license plates, toys or curios are all similar enough in many respects to gain admittance to ephemera shows, but they are a bit on the periphery. The British tend to emphasize printed textual material as the only "pure" ephemera, while American collectors and dealers seem to put much greater emphasis upon pictorial content and graphic design.
As I write this essay, I cannot escape the irony that it is a type of ephemera too. I hope it survives and is read some day.
* TWS note: The directions to Golden Gate Park include one minor error. The final turn is RIGHT, not left, after disembarking at 9th & Irving from the North Judah train.
posted by Tom Shawcross | 1:19 PM
1 Comments:
This was really great. I document so many of the things I do with ephemera, it was nice to read a story with the same passion for it...
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