World's Most Curious Ephemera, Part 2

"QUANTUM SHOT" #526
Link - by Avi Abrams

In 100 years most of these items will be gone from the face of the Earth

Paper is highly perishable, so it makes sense to preserve and digitize paper collectibles as a cultural heirloom - to display and appreciate them while we can still touch and feel these items. In a few dozens years... the pulps will be gone, the old restaurant menus and travel brochures will wither and fade, and ephemera in general will become rather ephemeric indeed.

Previously in our "Ephemera Highlights" Part 1 we featured Marty Weil and his excellent blog Ephemera. Today we'll spotlight more tasty morsels from his site (sort of an "annual hit parade"), and also from Martin Klasch who featured several choice items in 2008:

(image credit: Found in Mom's Basement)

John Ptak from Ptak's Science Books offers "The Dead Geniuses Chess Set". One could endlessly argue about which particular people would fit the particular positions:

John Ptak's "Familiar Things Out of Context" series is worth a closer look: see, for example, the Statue of Liberty in Paris, 1884:

Top image: "Scientific American" for May 10, 1884 - Read more

There is a statue in the park... looks very familiar:

Incredible cut-out Valentines, from Nancy Rosin collection:

(images via)

I pity the fool... can't pass these food-n-drink-related labels (check out the McDonalds ephemera collector club super-tongue item on the right) -

(images via and (bottom row) ParadiseCircus)

New York Purim Association' Fancy Dress Ball:

(image credit: Loc.gov, via Lauren)

Chinese fireworks rocket - to the Moon! I love how it "travels at high speeds and can travel long distances" - but the family on the label are going to go up in flames?

(image credit: Robert Newsome)

Some typewriter ephemera can even be spiritual: look at the deep and profound image on the left:

(image credit: Peter Weil)

One could almost imagine being a member of the Playboy Club (back when it was still a groovy location) - Credit Card collector Chuck Jennings can arrange that:

Some pretty dubious posters: one from Chinese Health authorities and the other is self-explanatory:

(image credit: Tim Siedel - via)

Collecting ephemera is a huge field, impossible to cover within the format of one page, but let's just highlight some directions for collecting and enjoying the world of printed paper:

Vintage Actors and Actresses

Marylin Monroe ephemera collector Scott Fortner gives an interview to Ephemera (read it here) and shows some prized items from his collection:

Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman as "Joan of Arc" (1948) - via:

French actress Brigitte Bardot - see more of her here:

Alternative Currency Collectibles

Ephemera explains a little about this interesting phenomena. See for example Venezuela's alternative bills, or Calgary Dollars (info, image on the right) -

Vintage Car Brochures and Car Magazines

Sometimes these pieces of ephemera contain the most outlandish vintage concept car designs, almost entirely forgotten today. See, for example, nice "Volvo" retro brochures at this Flickr set. It also has a strange Plymouth concept from 1960:

(image credit: pbwoychick)

The Art of Luggage Labels

Absolutely gorgeous! Rich with art deco and art nouveau influences, these gems of travel ephemera are preserved by Tom Schifanella, see for example, his pick of Top 10 Labels or incredibly detailed labels by Brügger Meiringen.

(images credit: Tom Schifanella)

Italian Richter & Co. art nouveau labels - full set:

"Inturist" (Soviet Union Travel Agency) labels from the 1960s-70s - full set:

Also don't miss the most fascinating travel brochure (with avantgarde industrial design), dated from 1931:

(images credit: Tom Schifanella)

An Ephemeral Sea

Want even more off-beat visual candy? Flickr provides lots of such browsing. You can find some pretty unlikely collections, such as a vintage Dutch sugar packets set, for example. Or the in-flight posters and labels from various airlines (that lady on the right seems to be positively enamoured with aviation) -

(images credit: Tom Schifanella)

And of course - vintage movie posters! Thousands of the most delicious varieties! This subject requires a separate post, but for now - here are a couple of absolutely awesome movie posters (the movies were not so awesome, but who cares):

Now, "happiness" may still be a "warm gun" and hard to come by, but according to this vintage ad - happiness is owning and caring for the Sea Monkeys, bless them!