Selling, Telling, and Yelling

Being a Floridian, you can understand my interest in Florida related Ephemera.

Florida BroadsidesI was surprised this afternoon when I came across the State Archives of Florida and their “Florida broadsides and other ephemera, 1800-2000″.

This online collection consists of more than 200 broadsides and forms of paper communication from the State Library and Archives of Florida.

While originally initiated by state librarian and archivist Dorothy Dodd as a broadside collection, it has since grown to encompass all sorts of printed ephemera from advertisements and announcements to political cartoons and campaign posters. This online collection represents only a small portion of broadsides and ephemera found in the Florida Collection of the State Library of Florida.

The collection is broken down into about 15 different subject such as:

  • Politics and Government
  • Slavery and Race Relations
  • Health and Safety
  • Culture and Education
  • Military and Veterans
  • Hotels and Motels

Florida Ephemeraand other very interesting subjects.

The Library also does a good job of informing the visitor as to just what “broadsides” and “ephemera” are.

Florida Memory, which is the name of the overall collection for the State Archives has a large number of special collections and databases, some of which we will report on in future blogs.

One of the ones we are particulaly intrested in exploring a bit further is entitled “World War Service I Cards”.  As my father was a World War I Veteran, I have a special interest in this collection.

If you are interested in the Florida Broadside and Ephemera collection, you can find it 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

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Florida, Broadsides

War Rationing Ephemera

Again, in my constant search for items of interest, … related to Ephemera of course … I am always scouring the internet.

Gas Ration BookToday I ran across a website that has lots of photos of the books that were used during the Second World War (WWII) to ration everything from sugar to meat to rice and even gasoline and nylon stockings.  Regardless of your finances, you were only allowed to buy small amounts and on a specific time line.  Rationing was the only way to be sure everyone got their fair share.  In addition to the ration books the government also issued ration coins (or tokens) that allowed retailers to give change back for food bought with ration stamps.

Thanks to the Ames Historical Society in Ames, Iowa, and a Share My Carcollection they have named “Ames Iowa Remembers World War II”, we are able to look at a large number of not only Ration Books and Ration Coins but also stickers, magazine articles, stamps, registration forms, War Bonds and War Savings Stamps.

Also on the site is a list of all rationed items (with dates of the duration) as well as sections from a 1943 Sears Roebuck catalog containing a list of all rationed farm equipment and an article that tells the reasons and benefits of rationing.

I have by no means finished perusing the site… but I sure plan to in the next few days.  If any of this interests you, I’d suggest stopping by at the Ames Historical Society Exhibit.. for a visit.  The true Ephemerist will, I’m quite sure, find it a very interesting site.

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

Tom
Click here to see my current Bonanzle items

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, War Rations, World War II, Ames, Iowa

J. C. Leyendecker

A few days ago I blogged about an American illustrator – Stevan Dohanos

JC LeyendeckerI’ve since run across yet another thanks to a blog from “Azio Media – Independent Used Bookstore & Vinyl Record Shop“.  This illustrator is best known for his men’s fashion advertisements, particularly the Arrow Collar Man, and as Norman Rockwell’s predecessor as the premier illustrator of covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

J.C. or ‘Joe’ Leyendecker was born on March 23, 1874, in Montabaur, Germany and was with us up until 1951,  He worked in late adolescence for a Chicago engraving firm and later enrolled in the Chicago Art Institute. While Leyendecker’s artistic endeavors date back to his early childhood, this was his first formal art training in an academic setting.

After studying at the Chicago Art Institute, Leyendecker and younger brother Frank enrolled in the Academie Julian in Paris for a year, where they were exposed to the work of Toulouse Lautrec, Cheret, and also Alphonse Mucha, founder of the Art Nouveau movement.

The Leyendecker brothers set up residence in Illinois, and had a studio in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building at 410 South Michigan Ave. On May 20, 1899 Joe received his first commission for a Saturday Evening Post cover – the beginning of his forty-four year association with the most popular magazine in the country.  His career would yield 322 covers, among which iconic 20th century American images and visual tradition were founded and/or popularized.  Covers such as the New Year Baby, the pudgy red-garbed rendition of Santa Claus, flowers for Mother’s Day, and firecrackers on the 4th of July.

Perhaps what caught my attention was this Saturday Evening Post cover from January 2, 1943 showing the Nazi swastika being pierced by a New Year’s baby wielding a rifle. A very appropriate cover for the start of 1943.

I’m sure some more research would find a lot more of Joe’s outstanding covers.

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

Tom
Click to see my current Bonanzle items

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, JC Leyendecker, Saturday Evening Post

Letters from the First World War

Elizabeth Parsons, blogger of “”All Things Paper” had an interesting post over the weekend.  She writes of a box of letters that were passed on to her after her after her father passed away.

Letters from FranceHe commanded the 321 Field Artillery Battalion in France during WW I. The letters are from all over France in 1919. He wrote of the country side, the beautiful country villages and magnificent chateaus.
As commander of the Battalion, he stayed in the chateaus of the villages along with his staff. He wrote about a Romanian beauty he met in Paris, his soldiers who died in battle, the modern warfare of WWI…amazing letters that offer a slice of American and European History in a very personal way.

She also included a few pictures of those letters, one of which I have included here.

While her blog is not specifically about Ephemera, she touches on it quite regularly.  I recommend you put her link in your blogroll.

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

Tom
Click to see my current Bonanzle items

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, World War I, France, Letters

A Nazi diary

Our friend and fellow Ephemerist, Marty Weil, has a knack for uncovering interesting blogs across the internet that in one way or another relate to Ephemera.

In today’s blog, Marty talks about John Ptak who writes “A Blog of the History of Ideas — unusual connections in the history of science and mathematics with the arts and social history“.  Recently John wrote about uncovering a Nazi diary for those stationed in the “Generalgouvernment” which was Nazi-occupied Poland in 1941.  He says it looks like an everyday diary for the period, except for the Nazi regalia and German imprint of Generalgouvernment in Krakau.

Nazi DiaryThe diary, similar to the ones you might buy today at Barnes and Noble or Borders, “has helpful directories in the back pointing to any number of cafes located in a growing number of “Adolf Hilter Platz’s” throughout Poland, as well as fares for the use of the railway and postal system.”  The more things change, the more they stay the same I suppose.

While John’s blog is not focused on Ephemera per se., it does point out yet another area of “transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved” that we all love so much.

I’ll ask what Marty asks in his blog -  “are any ephemera blog readers collecting diaries from historically interesting time periods?”  Hop on over to Marty’s blog and let him know what historical items YOU collect from interesting times.

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

Tom
Click to see my current Bonanzle items

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Delcampe Auctions

Vietnam War Era Ephemera Collection

“The chaotic events of the 60′s, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70′s. Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women’s movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration. Many of the “radical” ideas of the 60′s gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture. Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished. Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade.”

War PosterThe University of Washington Libraries has created a digital library of leaflets and newspapers that were distributed on the campus during the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. They reflect the social environment and political activities of the youth movement in Seattle during that period.

As a Vietnam War Era Veteran I personally found the exhibit to be tastefully done and a highly interesting collection.

The original collections reside in the UW Libraries Special Collections Division as the Vietnam War Era Ephemera Collection and can be seen by clicking here.

The USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974)

Following on to our earlier successful auctions of US Naval Ship Commissioning Programs, we have now listed one from the USS Comte De Grasse (DD-974).

The 44 page program was given to guests at the commissioning ceremony held at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The Guest Speaker at the event was the Honorable Francois de Laboulaye, the French Ambassador to the United States. The pamphlet gives the complete program of the day and information on the man that the ship was named after – Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse -who led a French Fleet that agreed to support the American Colonies in their struggle for independence against Great Britain.

This is a wonderful, unique and rare pamphlet that will be an important addition to any US Navy collection.

Take a look.. 1978 USS COMTE DE GRASSE COMMISSIONING CEREMONY PROGRAM

Compte de Grasse

 

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

Vietnam Era Military Ephemera

We recently uncovered a few military documents and pamphlets dating back to the Vietnam era. Each of these are in excellent condition and will fit in nicely with any Vietnam Military collection one might have.

Specifically we have listed:

Have a look at these documents and add them to your growing collection of Vietnam era articles.

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

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Site last updated December 11, 2011