The traditional definition of Ephemera goes something like this (from Wikipedia):
Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved.
It’s interesting as you scour the web to find collectors of interesting items… who seem to want to classify it as “ephemera”.
I recently ran across a blog entitled “Electronic Ephemera” which seems to me to be a bit of everything… but through that blog we came across “A Collector’s Guide to Vintage Handcuffs” And given my role as President of our local Police Foundation.. it caught my eye.
The guide is focused on collecting handcuffs and related restraints – primarily vintage American handcuffs from the time of the Civil War through the 1970s.
Among the chapters of the site are such interesting things as:
- The prelimaries
- The Gallery
- Handcuff companies and their wares
- Escape Artists and their craft
- Interviews and events
If you have an interest in handcuffs… and I think most of us do have at least a curiosity about them, then this site may be worth a look… even if it is not ephemera. It was started in 2000 and appears that the author keeps it up to date as time allows.
I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.
About Tom Murphy
You’re on to something I’ve noticed too. That is, there’s a lot of mis-use of the word ephemera. I think it is one of those words that’s getting to be a sort “fashionable”. Maybe you and I have had a little something to do with that. It’s good to remind the world every once in a while that ephemera is just a fancy term for “old paper” as my friends Norm Martinus and Harry Rinker once wrote.
Sorry I just ran across this reference to me today. And yes, I understand the term ephemera, and know it’s definition and original use. Thus I hyphenated/concatenated with electronic to allow it to refer to the transitory and often inconsequential nature of the internet and the web pages found there in.