As most of you know, I spend a fair amount of time scouring the Internet for both interesting pieces of Ephemera… and sites that are Ephemera related or contain interesting Ephemera articles.

Today I came across the “War Relics Forum” which describes itself as “A place for serious military historians and collectors. A Forum dedicated to 3 Reich and Soviet Red Army units before and in the WW2 period…” There is nothing I can find which tells me about the creator of the site or location.. but judging from it’s .eu (as opposed to .com) address, I of course assume it originates somewhere in Europe.

Within that Forum is a section entitled Documents, paper items, photos, propaganda. The Administrator of that section is a fellow named Adrian Stevenson from South Derbyshire, Great Britain.  As you look through the various posts you will find an amazing collection of Ephemeral items such as the propaganda brochures shown on the left and the 1968 Vietnam Christmas card shown below.

The text that goes along with the Christmas card posting reads “A little Christmas humor. I had this card made while serving with the 240th AHC at Bear Cat, Vietnam in Dec 1968“

Not to steal from your enjoyment when visiting the site, let me add just one more item from the site.. to wet your appetite a bit more.  This apparently (from the forum) was a poster by the celebrated American artist Joseph Hirsch (1910 – 1981) . He worked for Abbott Laboratories during WW11 producing artworks to illustrate the war effort . ” Till We Meet Again” was his first work for them and became the most widely produced war bond poster . He also covered themes for naval aviation, naval medicine, as well as the Italian front and operations in North Africa for the Army. Thirty-two of his works are in the Naval Art Collection, and many more are in permanent collections in museums and fine art institution. During his lifetime Hirsch won every major award offered for American artists.

So if you have any interest at all in war ephemera, I’d suggest a visit to the War Relics Forum and most particularly to the Documents, paper items, photos, propaganda sub-forum.  I think you will find many interesting articles and items of interesting ephemera.  Be aware that the Forum has a viewing limitation but once you register (for free) you can peruse to your hearts content.

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

Have a look at my eBay Ephemera store
or have a look at my eBay Auction site

Technorati tags: Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, Ephemera Network

I ran across what appears to be a new Ephemera site today… entitled as the headline above… “Historical Ephemera“. Given that the site still seems to be in the early stages of construction (note the incomplete footer) I’m not entirely sure where it’s headed… but I’ll be sure to keep an eye on it.

The above image is one of the current postings… it’s entitled “Niblo’s Garden” and we are told that

“Niblo’s Garden was built in 1828 and Niblo’s Theater in 1834 and was located in New York on the Northeast corner of Broadway at Prince Street. The house was built by William Niblo as part of an entertainment complex that included an outdoor garden, an open air saloon, and eventually the Grand Saloon, or Theater.”

There is a lot of information on the site.. although it appears a bit disorganized to me. Each time you click on a prior article or reference, a new item come up at the top of the page (a rotation?) and the article you are looking for is below it. Confusing to say the least.

Reading the “About Me” page – actually it’s the “About HE” (Historical Ephemera) page we learn that

“Historical Ephemera is a project designed to present ephemera from a variety of historical sources. … This project is a collaborative effort completed by students in a graduate class on digital history at North Carolina State University, spring semester 2009.”

This poster on the site also caught my eye .. with it’s interesting caption: “Enemy Ears are Listening”. You are referred from there to a whole load of WWII posters with captions like “Loose Lips Sink Ships” and “Keep It Under Your Stetson”. How about this one: “Free Speech Doesn’t Mean Careless Talk” or finally “Keep Mum Chum.”

As I said, I am not sure where the site is going.. or if it is going at all, as it is appears to be a University class project… but in any event, it’s worth a look. They have uncovered a lot of very interesting Ephemera!

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

Have a look at my eBay Ephemera store
or have a look at my eBay Auction site
(Due to travel, there may not be any items listed at this point in time)

Technorati tags: Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, Ephemera Network, Historical Ephemera, North Carolina State University

Once again as I wander the Internet, I have found yet another wonderful site dedicated to our favorite topic… “transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved”

This site comes to us compliments of a graphic and publication designer named “Dick Sheaff”. Dick does not tell us much about himself, except perhaps that he is a member of The Ephemera Society and of his profession. He does tell us a lot … in both photo and text form … about the various forms of ephemera that he has collected over the years.

His website has some 28 tabs each related to a different area of Ephemera. Tabs such as

• Artistic Printing
• Gaslight Style
• Real Photo Postcards
• People Holding Fish (??)
• Carte de Visite
• Photo Ad Cards
• Cork Cancellers
• Militia Notices
• Early Billheads

I picked out a few that really caught my eye:

Perhaps the section that I found most interesting was the one entitled “Womens Home Guard”. Dick point out to us that “For a variety of reasons, St. Louis, Missouri became a leading center for aviation in the early 20th century”.In 1917, a Captain John Berry set out to establish a corps of woman warriors, offering training in “aviation, ballooning and automobiling” to be known as the Woman’s National Aviation Home Guard. His website show this interesting blotter/business card which was used to recruit women into a Balloon Corps:

Despite the line that reads “Patriotism Commands You to Enroll”, Sheaff points out that “the whole program seems to have somewhat disappeared from view. Thus far I have been able to find virtually no additional information, and no other items of ephemera.”

It’s an interesting site.. and Sheaff appears to have spent a great deal of time collecting, scanning and researching. I am making an effort to contact him.. and perhaps have him be a guest blogger on this site.. stay tuned. In the meantime, have a visit to his site… you’ll find it a rewarding use of your time.

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

Tom
Have a look at my eBay Ephemera site
or have a look at my eBay Auction sites

Technorati tags: Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, Dick Sheaff, Women’s Home Guard

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It’s unusual for us to talk about non-ephemera items here.. but we’ll tie it back later in the article.

I recently listed, on eBay, a very old Dinky car known as the “Studebaker State Commander”.  This particular item (Dinky number 24O) is somewhat unique as it was built by Meccano France… as opposed to the original British toy company that was established in 1908 by a gentleman named Frank Hornby.  During the 1920s and 1930s it became the biggest toy manufacturer in Britain and produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys.

In 1912 Hornby set up an office in Paris to import Meccano into France and by 1921 the French market had proved so successful that production began at the newly opened factory in Paris with another plant opening in 1929 where production of the Dinky Toys would be based.

During the Second World War the Meccano factories were commandered by the invading Germans and used in the Nazi war effort, as well as production of model vehicles in the German Marklin range. Then, in the early post-war years the model vehicles were forced to be shod with metal wheels due to Nazi activity during the war which had virtually cut off supplies of rubber to France.  Rubber tyres were not fitted again on models until 1950.

By the 1950s the French Dinky Toys began concentrating on the products of the French motor manufacturers; Citroen, Renault, Peugeot and Simca, along with examples of American cars which were popular at that time on mainland Europe.  Some models such as the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia were produced both in France and in Great Britain.  By the 1960s the vast majority of the French Dinky range were only available in the home market although a few models did make it across the English Channel to be sold in Britain. The French factory closed in 1970 and a Spanish company produced some Dinky models which were originally sold as French Dinky Toys until the end of the decade.

So the Dinky I listed was made in France during the period of 1949-50 and has the metal wheels mentioned above.  It has a typical Dinky cast body with a black sheet metal base.  While the car has obvious signs of wear, it is still in the original cream color, i.e. not restored.  Values on Dinky Toys vary, as do all collectible items, but we would expect this auction item to end at several hundred dollars due to its age and condition.

Click here to have a look at this wonderful item!

If you are more interested in the Studebaker line of cars.. than the Dinky toys, you may want to look at this link which takes you to a wonderful site all about the memorable Studebakers.  There are hundreds of pictures, and even some EPHEMERA ads for the cars during the war period.  You will soon find that Studebaker was involved in more than just manufacturing automobiles.

So there you have it.  A brief into to the Meccano company, some information on the Dinky Studebaker State Commander.. and even some information about Studebakers in general.

I hope you can find something here to whet you whistle.

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

Tom

Take a look at my current Bonanzle items or
Visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Meccano, Dinky, Studebaker

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I’ve found another site, this time in the UK, that I think may be of interest to our Ephemera fans.

Delicious Industries is an independent design studio based in Brighton, UK. Their main site is deliciousindustries.com but if you’d like to see a lot of their interesting ephemera you need to go to their reference box.

This is the item that first caught my eye on their reference set page. Their description of the item reads:

War-time grocery bag The grocery bag would have been used in local shops to hold small individual items. It’s in really good condition and I love the text: “In War Time as in Time of Peace, We aim to give Quality, Service, Satisfaction. The private trader considers you all the time.”

As they say, it’s funny how even back then value and importance of independent shops was being promoted.

Another item that caught my eye was this page from a British Highway Code Book. It’s a 1954 edition and the diagrams are great. You need to look at all the pages which are on the site. It’s an 8 or 9 page pamphlet and is in very good condition for its age. I particularly like the “Bobbie” hat on the officer directing traffic.

There are some 47 pieces of Ephemera in the reference box and all are quite interesting. You should definitely pay the site a visit.

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

Tom

Take a look at my current Bonanzle items or
Visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, War Time Ephemera, Rules of the Road

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There is an interesting article over at Collectors Quest today entitled Unique Militaria: WWI Sheet Music.

The article talks about sheet music for songs from times of war. The one depicted here is called “I’d Be Proud to be the Mother of a Soldier.” It shows a white haired lady with a lacy collar and black dress. She’s holding onto the hand of a soldier in WWI uniform. The words to the song lament that their son has to go off ‘to fight’ and they ‘pray for peace.’

Sheet music is perhaps not as popular today as it was back at the start of the last century but it still exists. Vintage sheet music can certainly be categorized as Ephemera and for many is highly collectible.

The article points out that sheet music is generally easy to find and almost always inexpensive at estate sales. The ones referring to military history are often a bit higher, but a batch can often be had for under $10.

I urge you to read the entire article…. and keep your eyes open when you next attend an estate sale.

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

Tom

Take a look at my current Bonanzle items or
Visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Military, Sheet Music, Estate Sales

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In today’s society, disputes between neighbors, work associates, friends and even politicians, sometime take on an ugly tone.  Drugs often play a part in it, and with the increase in gun ownership, these disputes can sometimes turn deadly.

Back in the day (we’re talking the 1830′s), when one man failed to apologize to another, or to give him the satisfaction which an honorable man was bound to give, he was called a Coward and a Scoundrel… and public notice of such was made for all the world to see.

This 1839 “duel placard”, posted on a tree in front of Florida’s first permanent capitol in Tallahassee, let all who passed by know that General Leigh Read, an officer in the Florida Militia during the Second Seminole Indian War (1835-1842), had declined to apologize to Mr. William Tradewell, the Whig Party Leader.

You can see an oil-on-linen painting by Christopher M. Still showing this scene by clicking here.   On that page you will notice another link which allows you to see the mural without the reference points.

The world has changed a lot since the days of Tradewell and Read… unfortunately not always for the better.

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

Tom
Take a look at my current Bonanzle items or
Visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Seminole War, General Leigh Read, Whig Party

A recent post about War Rationing Ephemera got me interested in researching a bit more about items from the Second World War.  Another post I made about Florida related ephemera led me State Archives of Florida where I discovered a number of wonderful Ephemera items… such as this “Sniff Kit” poster.  It  was “Approved and Recommended by the Office of Civilian Defense and the Chemical Warfare Service of The U.S. Army”

Text on the document reads (in part):

The Sniff Kit is designed to provide an easy and safe method of identifying the five principal gases used in chemical warfare. The case is made of wood and pressboard, covered with serviceable quality of saddle tan fabric. It contains five bottles with ground glass stoppers, charged with the following contents:1. An imitation of Mustard Gas (HS)
2. An imitation of Phosgene Gas (CG)
3. An imitation of Chlorpicrin (PS)
4. An imitation of Lewisite (MI) or (M-1)
5. An imitation of Tear Gas (CN)

Each bottle is labeled with simple information describing the physiological effect of the active gas; first aid steps for treating victims; field neutralization methods; the U.S. Army symbols, and the popular names to aid in memorizing them.

The price of each kit was $5.00 prepaid to any point in the USA and were sold by the Northam Warren Corporation of Stamford, Connecticut.

You can see more of the Florida Archive’s Collection of World War II ephemera by clicking here.

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

Tom
Click here to see my current Bonanzle items
or
Click here to visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Florida, Sniff Kit