“Ephemera” What’s That?

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Ephemera--paper items (such as posters,
broadsides, and tickets) that were
originally meant to be discarded after use
but have since become collectibles.[1]    


While researching the resources available in the Daughters of the American Revolution library, I encountered an entire category labeled “Ephemera".


In my mind, ephemera had just been the “stuff”, odds and ends, that we all acquire during our lifetimes. When I looked into it, I discovered that there are categories of ephemera. According to Wikipedia, over 500 categories are listed in the Encyclopedia of Ephemera.[2]  At that point, I realized that I have a lot of ephemera! As the only child of an only child on my maternal side, I inherited everything that had been saved on that side as well as the normal amount to be expected from my father. Of course, along the way, I have saved my fair share of bits and pieces from my own life.



Newspaper Clippings



The oldest clipping in my collection is the entire front page of the May 27, 1903 edition of the Spokane Spokesman-Review celebrating the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt to Spokane. A crowd of 30,000 people welcomed him, the largest crowd up to that date in Spokane. It is very fragile.

My grandmother clipped the announcement of my Mother’s graduation from Washington State College in June 1927. Mother was the only woman receiving a degree in Pharmacy that year.

Someone saved a clipping about my participation in the High School Music Institute at the University of Washington. (That’s me seated at the piano.)


I treasure the clippings from the Superior Express (Nebraska) for information about my Larson family.



Tickets



I have tickets in scrapbooks covering an entire trip, scrapbooks covering a time period, and one that contains only theater and concert tickets and programs.










I have one very special ticket: the permit for transportation of the body of my Great-Great-Grandmother, Mary Ann Mourning Parker.






Greeting Cards



There are as many reasons for saving greeting cards as there are people. We may never know why a particular card was tucked away, but they give us a window to the past or revive a fond memory.



















Business Cards











My Father’s business card ca. 1935








Buttons

Most items classified as ephemera are paper, but there are some exceptions. Campaign buttons, while not made of paper are certainly collectibles.














What do these things mean?

Lives past and present are more than birth, marriage, death. These bits and pieces give context and texture to lives in the past and the present. Gathering these items has triggered memories of stories heard and events experienced. As future generations look back they will see pieces of history that will never make it into history books.



What is the future?

Archivists are already debating the preservation of “digital ephemera.”  That is another topic.





Best Wishes,

Barbara Mattoon

 

 

 

1.  Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.m-w/com : accessed 26 January 2022, “ephemera.”

2. Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), “Ephemera,” rev. 17:48, 26 January 2022.

 





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