Vintage Ephemera

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Ephemera untitled

Ephemera has found a huge market in the collecting field. Ephemera, by its nature, is paper material that was meant to be used once or twice, and then thrown away. Magazines, periodicals, journals, newspapers, greeting cards, documents, manuscripts and other such material is becoming increasingly popular with collectors, and vintage material is highly sought after. Because of the throw-away nature of ephemera, most has not survived over the years. Some of it may even be extremely rare.

Newspapers have never really taken off as a field of collecting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that newspapers are mass produced cheaply, and made to be tossed out. Combined with the fact that newspapers do not stand up well to the ravages of time, and it's no wonder this amazing hobby is generally overlooked. Years ago, libraries across the country started copying their vast newspaper collections to microfilm, and - rather astonishingly - started throwing these papers in the trash. A few enterprising individuals salvaged what they could and have marketed them through catalogues and online storefronts. Two of the best of these sellers are Phil Barber and Timothy Hughes. What most people don't know is that the older the newspaper, the better its overall condition, generally speaking. This is because newspapers printed before the mid 1870s were made of rag pulp - the same fibers used to make garments. Newspapers printed after this period were made of wood pulp - highly acidic and self-destructive. You may pick up a newspaper from the 1800s and find no visible faults. You may pick up one from just a few years ago and find it is yellowing, drying out, and flaking around the edges. For this reason, newspaper collecting is still affordable to the average person. One day this area of collecting may take off. It is a truly amazing and satisfying hobby.

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	Letter dated 1904 from St. Louis, MO.
	Cover from above letter, 1904.
	FDC from 1939 World's Fair.
	The Atlas Boston January 25, 1837
	Boy's Cinema July 24, 1926
	Daily Cleveland Herald Cleveland May 30, 1872
	Edinburgh Courant January 16, 1792
	Edinburgh Gazette 1819
	The Edinburgh Gazette Edinburgh, Scotland June 26, 1829
	Eliza Cook's Journal August 10, 1850
	New York Observer New York April 10, 1856
	New York Post New York December 9, 1817
	New York Tribune New York January 8, 1855
	New York Weekly Tribune New York September 4, 1847
	The Observator London January 25, 1682
	The Old Vic London 1926-1927 Season
	New England Palladium June 23, 1815
	The Shamrock May 3, 1890
	The Weekly Visitor London July 9, 1833
	Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 program, Ziegfeld Theater, New York.
	Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 program, Ziegfeld Theater, New York.
	The Gazette Nationale Paris December 20, 1795
	The Times London September2, 1868
	Journal des Debats Paris November 4, 1824
	The Repertory Boston March 14, 1809
	New York Times New York June 4, 1942
	The Boston Evening Transcript Boston, Mass. February 7, 1862
	New York Evening Post New York December 9, 1817
	The Little Theater London November, 1938
	Victoriae Reginae London August 6, 1844
	New-England Galaxy Boston, Mass. March 28, 1823
	Cover from 1864
	Letter from 1864
	Letter from 1865
	Tip-Toes Winter Garden, London 1926