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.
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Technorati tags: Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, Ephemera Network
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 
The Museum was opened by and is managed by consumer historian, Robert Opie, who at the age of 16 saw the need to record the history of the products around us. He has built the collection to all aspects of daily life – toys, magazines, technology, travel, souvenirs, fashion and design. He comments on the site:
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.’
The British National Railway Museum in York has a wonderful poster collection exceeding 7,000 items. Their website claims it is “the single most important and comprehensive collection of British Railway posters in the world.”
The next poster to catch my eye was this one which had the catchy phrase “I’m taking an early holiday cos I know summer comes soonest in the south.” It’s believed to be from around 1936 and depicts a tiny little girl, looking up at a huge locomotive and talking to the engineer. Cute!
The start of the Second World War of course had an effect on the British railway system. The railway industry took on its essential role as part of the war machine and delays were common. As a result, this poster explained to the British people that of course food, shells and fuel must come first. The railway companies also painted out the Station names to confuse the enemy in the event of invasion. I’m sure it also had some confusing effect on the civilian passengers who were riding the trains.
After the war of course things started to return to normal and over time train travel resumed and became profitable. In the 1960′s modern diesel and electric trains replaced steam locomotives and the whole railway system was re branded as British Rail. But as more and more people started to turn to automobiles, the railways had to produce advertising media that would tempt back to the trains. Posters such as this one became popular and often included media personalities. This one from 1975 shows a fellow named Jimmy Saville, a well known British DJ, actor and television and radio personality.
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