So what is ephemera? The Ephemera Society of America (yes there is one) defines ephemera as "the transient minor documents of everyday life." A collection of printed material meant for one time or short term use. There has even been a discussion on how to pronounce the word - should it be ephemmera or epheemera? The winner is ephemmera! I love the story that ephemera tells - love letters of the young, tickets, stamps, stationery, valentines, banking, etc. The paper trail documents life.There are over 500 categories to collect. I also use ephemera in my crafting as well as home decor.
The above picture shows a sampling of some of my ephemera: business
letterhead, Post Magazine (1954), postcards, old letters and photos. I will share my postcard collections on another post. A recent article entitled Collecting Memories - The Thrill of the Hunt really does define why I love ephemera.
Love these items - Old Check, Top Value Stamps, Greeting cards, matchbooks, dance cards, and popcorn bag.
Here are a very more examples - Newspapers, maps, bookmarks, sewing patterns, brochures, and old educational materials.
I will give just a few more examples : trading cards, menus, advertisements, paper dolls, posters, calendars, business cards, sheet music, and on and on.
I was very excited to read an article by a social studies professor from North Carolina State (John Lee) who advocates using historical ephemera as historical evidence. He has written a guide how students can search for ephemera in their homes and online. Awesome concept.
Check out my vintage Etsy shop where I am adding lots of ephemera everyday - spanishmoss.etsy.com
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