Once again I’ve uncovered a new Ephemera collectible… new to me at least.

This one is the collecting and framing of Fruit Crate Labels. Just what are fruit crate labels you ask? Well, here is one definition:

Crate labels were originally intended to be applied to the ends/tops of produce-filled wooden crates. These wonderful works of art were created as a means of identifying and advertising a particular brand of produce. Fierce competition in the local markets meant that sellers had to find creative ways of attracting buyers to their particular produce – hence, the need for captivating and enticing labels.

Initiated in the 1890′s, the use of labels flourished until the 1950′s, when the preprinted and cheaper cardboard box was introduced. As a result, the need for labels diminished and they were left in packing houses, storage sheds, printer’s archives etc., for collectors, historians & enthusiasts to later discover.

I’m not sure how widespread this hobby may be but there are surely a large number of enthusiasts out there. And of course the labels are not always what one would call “generic”. They quite often are “themed” such as wildlife, pin up girls, soaring eagles, birds, bees, butterflies and many more. And there are even folks who specialize in fruit from a particular region … such as the special collection of Jack Zwiesler.

If we’ve piqued your interest, head on over to one of these site to learn more.

Fruit Crate Labels

Fruit from Washington

Have you uncovered other Fruit Crate label sites? Or perhaps other interesting Ephemera sites? We’d love to hear from you.

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

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As we have discussed here many times, there are all sorts of ephemera collections and collectors.

One of the more recent ones we have discovered is the collecting of magazine covers. There are a number of people who collect magazines with covers by favorite artists or special scenes.

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) which is a professional organization for editors of magazines has an interesting page entitled “ASME’s TOP 40 MAGAZINE COVERS OF THE PAST 40 YEARS” where they show the 40 covers that their members have voted as being the best.

The oldest in their pick is described by them as:

#15 Harper’s Bazaar (April 1965)
This cover of Harper’s Bazaar is a photograph of model Jean Shrimpton by photographer Richard Avedon. The cover of Shrimpton peering from behind a bright pink Day-Glo space helmet was designed by Art Directors Ruth Ansel and Bea Feitler. This photograph, with the Harper’s Bazaar logo vibrating against it in acid green has been often reproduced as an emblem of the sixties.

Perhaps my favorite is this one:

#31 Newsweek (November 20, 2000)
This cover of the November 20, 2000 issue of Newsweek is entitled “The Winner Is…” with a photo of half George W. Bush and half Al Gore. The presidential election had taken place earlier that month, but there was still no clear winner declared because of the close ballot count in the state of Florida. In this issue, Newsweek chronicled the lawsuits, court challenges and endless counting of ballots. The following month, George W. Bush was declared the winner of the closest presidential election in United States history.

How about you? Have you a favorite amongst ASME’s 40… or perhaps a favorite of your own. Let’s hear from you.

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

Photos from ASME

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Quite often, the collecting of ephemera is an offshoot of another collection.

Consider this. Brian P. Anderson is a vintage fountain pen collector who has narrowed his interests and collection to those of the Esterbrook pen company of Camden, NJ and later, Cherry Hill, NJ. He has been collecting pens only since 1997 while in the meantime working full time as an IT administrator and completing his MBA.

It’s not clear from his website – esterbrook.net – how many pens he has in his collection but it appears to be a sizable collection.

But in addition to collecting the Esterbrook pens, Brian also has a nice collection of Esterbrook pen boxes, instructions and advertisements. Like this Souvenir Card from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.

or this instruction page from an Esterbrook Renew-Point fountain pen. It’s undated but surely old.

So as you can see Ephemera is often the offshoot of a much larger collection of antique items.

What ephemera items have you collected, either as stand alone items or as part of your more specific collection”? We’d like to hear from you.. and perhaps feature your items on our blog.

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

Photos from esterbrook.net

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Several posts ago we discussed the various different items that ephemera collectors collect. One of the more popular ones is baseball cards. But when we think of those, we typically think of the more modern cards.. and players.

Our friend Marty Weil over at the ephemera blogspot has done a two part interview with a gentleman named Dave Campbell who collects baseball cards from the 19th century known as Allen & Ginter cards. He started his collection in 1981 and now has considerably more.

Here’s just one of them:

Read Marty’s interview, which is in two parts, at these links:

Allen & Ginter Baseball Cards Collector – Part One
Allen & Ginter Baseball Cards Collector – Part Two

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

Click here to see this item in our eBay Store.

Technorati tags: eBay, Encore-Ephemera, Marty Weil, Ephemera.

Collecting printed matter of passing interest, more commonly known as Ephemera, can be a rewarding and exciting hobby. But as with all hobbies, you need the right resources as you build and manage your collection.

Our friend Marty Weil, over at the ephemera blogspot has built a list of eight essential resources for ephemera collectors. The list comes from the numerous interviews he has done with serious collectors.

eBay, as one might expect, leads his list.. but there are seven others that are an important part of any collectors resource list.

Head on over to Marty’s article entitled Eight Essential Resources for Ephemera Collectors for the remainder of the list.

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

Three years ago, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) of which most airlines are a member, announced that from this month, paper airline tickets would be a thing of the past and only electronic tickets [or e-tickets] would be issued by member airlines. The deadline has since been extended to May 31st, after which paper tickets will be issued only “in very rare cases“. The elimination is expected to save the equivalent of 50,000 mature trees each year, although the number of trees, mature or otherwise, felled so travellers can print out their e-tickets on sheets of paper may still be significant.

Perhaps more important to the airlines is the estimated $9.00 cost saving per-ticket which adds up to about $3 billion in annual saving for the industry… a savings that most surely will not be passed on to their passengers.

But with the elimination of paper airline tickets comes perhaps the newest ephemera collectible. I wonder how many people have already started collecting vintage airline tickets, or better yet, tickets from airlines that no longer fly the friendly skies?

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

As I wander around eBay, and the Internet in general, I see numerous different items, of various different types, styles and origins, which either in the title or the body of the text, use the word “ephemera”. In most cases that is neither a mistake nor a misrepresentation. Ephemera covers a huge range of items.

Here is the Wikipedia definition of ephemera:

Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day.

In library and information science, the term ephemera also describes the class of published single-sheet or single page documents which are meant to be thrown away after one use. This classification excludes simple letters and photographs with no printing on them, which are considered manuscripts or typescripts. Large academic and national libraries and museums may collect, organize, and preserve ephemera as history.

If we were to make a short list of some collectible ephemera it might look like this:

And not to contradict Wikipedia but its more than large academic and national libraries and museums that collect, organize, and preserve ephemera … it’s everyday people like you and me who take pride in our ephemera collections.

We are a close follower of Marty Weil’s ephemera blog where he explores the world of old paper. And the more you read Marty’s articles, the more you become aware of the various collectors and collections that exist. For example, Marty recently interviewed Staci Hunter who is a 40-something female emulator (“femulator”) who has been collecting female impersonator ephemera for 15 years. Staci has a large collection of female impersonation postcards, programs, matchbooks, advertisements, books, and the like. Certainly a unique collection.

So in a sense, ephemera can be almost anything. Perhaps it’s your baseball card collection.. or your vintage nativity Christmas card collection, or your professional society membership card collections. It’s whatever you think it is… or as the highly overused term goes.. “it is what it is”.

So what’s in YOUR ephemera collection? We’d like to hear what it is that you collect, perhaps the size of your collection or the source, value, uniqueness of it. Let us know and we’ll do our best to give it… and you.. some publicity.

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