Here’s an Ephemera Show that I was not aware of… I wonder if the readers are?

The old postcards and letters remind Gisela Withers of simpler times and places. Lois Ottinger is a sucker for Victorian die cuts she transfers onto porcelain pins. And George Phipps collects anything associated with his employer for the past 39 years: the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., better known as A&P.

They were among hundreds who stepped out of the heat and into history Saturday while browsing through collectibles at the Great Eastern U.S. Antique Advertising, Book & Paper Show at the Allentown Fairgrounds.

Easiest way to learn about the show is to take a look at an article that appears today in “The Morning Call” - an Allentown, PA newspaper. The article is entitled Old cards and collection .

While we have missed this most recent show, the good news is that there is another on upcoming before the end of the year.  The next Great Eastern paper show is scheduled for Oct. 4.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

Perhaps a bit of a deviation here from normal Ephemera stuff.. but I still think this fits into the general theme of this blog.

The museum is run by a fellow named Rick Bensene in Beavercreek, Oregon. On his site he talks about how he has been a fan of computing technology since the mid 60’s - and now works in the industry.

He says that he

started the Old Calculator Museum on the Internet in 1998 to bring to the light of the public Internet the fascinating and pivotal role in history that early electronic calculators had in the development of our world’s technological transformation from the industrial age to the information age.

I suppose what caught my eye was his review of the Friden Model STW-10 Electro-Mechanical Calculator which is the first calculator I remember from visiting my fathers office in New York City as a small boy. I was fascinated by how it clicked and clanged and moved up and down .. and eventually was able to add 2+2 (and of course far more complicated calculations).

But in addition to the Friden, the other part of his site that intrigued me was his section on Advertising and Documentation.  He has literally hundreds of pages and images, nicely broken down by machine type, and then by ads, manuals, literature, marketing material, documents, photos, specs, and of course Ephemera.

So take a look at Rick’s site.. and in particular his advertising section.  I believe you will find some interesting things.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

The History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine has announced its newest website, AIDS Ephemera, which is based on an exhibit of that name at the National Library of Medicine.  The exhibit ran from November 2002 to June 2003.

The materials shown on the website were drawn from the Library’s Prints & Photographs collection which includes buttons, posters, cards, comic books, and even lunch boxes.

These ephemera objects, produced by government health departments as well as private organizations, became an important medium for messages of awareness, prevention, compassion, and responsibility.

Head on over to the website and have a look, I guarantee you will find it interesting.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

Those of us who collect ephemera consider the term to mean “transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved” - in the words of Wikipedia.

But a Phoenix, Oregon company - named Ephemera, Inc. - would have us believe that “visual wisecracks are what Ephemera is about”.

The company, formed back in 1980, is in the novelty button, magnet and stickers business and ships them to stores all over the world.   Interestingly enough that while Ephemera Inc. designs and markets its own products, it leaves the manufacturing process to other firms.

When asked about their buyers, Ephemera, Inc. says on its website:  “There are buyers who think somebody else would look great sporting a “Jesus is Coming. Look Busy” button.  A lot of people buy Ephemera products to give to other people. They say, “Oh, I’ve got to get this for my friend.” It’s a humorous way to say something to people that you wouldn’t say otherwise.”

So is it ephemera?

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

We recently were given 3 Sinatra albums to sell on eBay.  They are Softly as I leave you, Strangers in the night and My kind of Broadway.  All three are vintage 1964-66 and in great condition.

The one that caught my eye the most was the one with the same title as this post.  Turns out that back in 1964 Frank Sinatra released this album as his first attempt to come to terms with Rock & Roll.

At the time he was producing middle-of-the-road pop, featuring drum kits, backing vocals, and keyboards and this one song was intended to incorporate Rock and Roll into an album that was otherwise pieced together with leftovers from various early 1960s sessions.

The title track was the first of at least four attempts to mimic the chart success of Dean Martin’s #1 hit “Everybody Loves Somebody”, using a driving beat, heavy strings and choral tracks.

The tracks on this album were:

• Emily
• Here’s to the Losers
• Dear Heart
• Come Blow Your Horn
• Love Isn’t Just for the Young
• I Can’t Believe I’m Losing You
• Pass Me By
• Softly, As I Leave You
• Then Suddenly Love
• Available
• Talk to Me Baby
• The Look of Love

If you are a Sinatra lover you may want to take a look at this eBay offering.. or the other 2 and one Dean Martin one that I have featured.  They are definitely priced right!

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

The British Library - known for “Putting History in Place: Over 90,000 Images and Sounds from the UK and Beyond” - is currently featuring the “Evanion Collection of Ephemera”.  From their webiste we learn that the collection has over 1,800 advertisements and posters from Victorian daily life, collected by the stage magician and ventriloquist, Henry Evans - better known as Evanion to his audience.

We are told that ‘Evanion’ enjoyed a long and reasonably successful career as a conjurer, ventriloquist and humorist and took advantage of his theatrical background to amass a large and fascinating collection of printed ephemera relating to entertainment and everyday life in Victorian England.

The British Library now owns some 5,000 items from his collection, originally purchased by the British Museum in 1895. And from what we can learn on the internet the collection appears to be quite interesting.  I recommend anyone interested in Ephemera take a look at the online collection… and if you happen to be in London, head on over to 96 Euston Road next to King’s Cross and St Pancras International stations and have a look at this (and all their) collections.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

I recently ran across a newly published book entitled “Mostly True: The Story of Bozo Texino” written by Bill Daniel.  Daniel began some 25 years ago by researching railcar graffiti tags along with the transient hobo communities and rail worker fraternities that created much of that unwelcome artwork.   Through his travels he documented the neglected art form first with black-and-white photography, and later on film. He took to the rails, riding freight cars with the old-timers and looking on as a new generation of train-hoppers began assuming the hobo mantle, bringing their own aerosol aesthetic along for the ride.

In 2006 he compiled sixteen years of footage, shot mostly from moving railcars, into a film entitled Who Is Bozo Texino?  Bozo Texino apparently was a fellow named J.H. McKinley, an early-20th-century trainman stationed in Laredo, Texas best known for his widespread railroad graffiti.

Mostly True: The Story of Bozo Texino is what Daniel calls the “paper-based ephemera” of his quarter-century exploration.  The book carries the date of April 1908 as well as Vol. 19, No. 7 and the subtitle “The West’s Most Popular Hobo Graffiti Magazine”.  However, searching Amazon.com we find that it was published in April of 2008 and is in fact Daniel’s first book.. and that of course Volumes 1-18 never existed… in fact there is no indication that any hobo graffiti magazine ever existed at all.  As the title says it’s “mostly true”.

Putting all that aside, we find that the contents of the book includes Daniel’s collection of antique railway advertisements, letters to the editor alleged to be from the railroad hobos, a recipe for a cocktail called the Hobo’s Wife, historical musings, interviews with rail riders, newspaper clippings, a poem about freight graffiti, handwritten testimonials, napkin maps, hobo signs, sketches, doodles, diary entries, cartoons, pencil rubbings of water-tank carvings, and lots and lots of photos of hobo graffiti.  Stuff that you and I call “Ephemera“.

While I have not yet put my hands on a copy of this book.. I have ordered one from the publisher - Microcosm Publishing. If the book is as good as the hype, I have a feeling it will be yet another enjoyable read.

If you have an interest in railway ephemera, I’d suggest you head on over to Microcosm Publishing yourself and have a look. By the way, there are numerous other interesting titles available at this independent publisher and distributor based in Bloomington, IN. You might just find others that pique your interest.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

American Academy Award-winning film and stage actor Henry Fonda, best known for his roles as plain-speaking idealists, also did a few print advertisements in his day.

This 1950s ad for Arrow Shirts shows Fonda with Marlon Brando’s older sister Jocelyn Brando.  It’s a 10″ by 13″ two page centerfold ad carefully removed from the Saturday Evening Post.

Arrow is a reflection of the American fashion over the course of three centuries. From a one-room workshop in Troy, NY in 1851 to an international corporation with distribution in more than 90 countries, it is too fine a heritage to be forgotten.

We continue to find interesting vintage advertising such as this.. and bring it back to you through our eBay store - “Encore-Ephemera .. and more”

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

If you are interested in travel ephemera, especially with a focus on Europe from the 20s and 30s, you will surely want to take a look at David Levine’s Travel Brochure site.

David says:

I took the red pill, fell down the rabbit hole, and got stuck in Wonderland, and started collecting travel ephemera in 1992 while I was on my way to Prague, Czech Republic where I lived from 1992 to 1994. We had stopped in London on our way to Prague and one day in London we visited the famous British Museum. Afterwards, we wandered down Museum Street, just south of the museum, and I stumbled on an Antiquarian book store. In this store I notice a small brochure, which I would later learn were called “ephemera.”

David now has quite an extensive collection of travel related ephemera that is well organized and indexed.

One of my favorites from his collection is perhaps this 1936 one from Russia… but I’m sure each reader will find his or her own.

So if travel ephemera is within your interest area, head on over to TravelBrochureGraphics.

I’m pretty sure you will enjoy your visit.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.

You may not recall that phrase.. but it was the first part of a jingle by Bucky Beaver.  You don’t remember him either?  Bucky was the marketing icon and mascot of Ipana toothpaste commercials from the 1950s. The slogan was “Brusha… Brusha… Brusha. Get the New Ipana - it’s dandy for your teeth!”

Ipana was a popular toothpaste in the 20th century having been first introduced in 1915,  It became a  sponsor on radio in 1923 with the program The Ipana Troubadors. Bristol-Myers’s Ipana was the most popular U.S. toothpaste or powder from 1936 to 1945. However, demand declined by the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the brand was eventually discontinued in the United States.  At present, the Ipana brand is a leading toothpaste in Turkey.

This ad (click it to enlarge), from the 1950s claimed to fight both tooth decay and gum troubles.  Obviously it also gave you a kissing fresh breath.

Healthier teeth, healthier gums.. Ipana for both!

See this ad and many others from the 1950s and earlier  at our eBay store.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.