As November 2008 approaches and Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama approach not only their party’s Convention but also the General Election in November, we begin to see more and more buttons, bumper stickers, print advertising and other items of Ephemera.
And while we can truly consider these items as Ephemera – transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved – history tells us that these items are in fact retained and preserved… and become parts of very well organized collections. Some by amateurs, and others by very professional organizations, groups and libraries.
I recently came across a reference to a new 200 page book which gives an in-depth look to several hundred years of Presidential Campaigns and the ephemera they left behind.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum has an exhibit that displays the changing face of the presidential campaign process.
Packaging Presidents follows presidential campaigns from the past two centuries and is highlighted by items lent by Mr. Merrill Berman, one of the nation’s pre-eminent private collectors of presidential campaign memorabilia, as well as materials from the Museum’s own holdings.
The book, and the .pdf document on the internet, is loaded with over 300 color images of presidential campaigns memorabilia.
If you have any interest in political ephemera, or are simply a political junkie… I’d suggest you taking a look at both the PDF and the Lincoln Presidential Museum website.
I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the Encore it deserves.
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