Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator and Historian
The joy of finding an old box in the attic filled with postcards, invitations, theater programs, laundry lists, and pay stubs is discovering the stories hidden within them. The paper trails of our lives — or ephemera — may hold sentimental value, reminding us of great grandparents. They chronicle social history. They can be valuable as collectibles or antiques. But the greatest pleasure is that these ordinary documents can reconstruct with uncanny immediacy the drama of day-to-day life.\ \...
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The joy of finding an old box in the attic filled with postcards, invitations, theater programs, laundry lists, and pay stubs is discovering the stories hidden within them. The paper trails of our lives — or ephemera — may hold sentimental value, reminding us of great grandparents. They chronicle social history. They can be valuable as collectibles or antiques. But the greatest pleasure is that these ordinary documents can reconstruct with uncanny immediacy the drama of day-to-day life.The Encyclopedia of Ephemera is the first work of its kind, providing an unparalleled sourcebook with over 400 entries that cover all aspects of everyday documents and artifacts, from bookmarks to birth certificates to lighthouse dues papers. Continuing a tradition that started in the Victorian era, when disposable paper items such as trade cards, die-cuts and greeting cards were accumulated to paste into scrap books, expert Maurice Rickards has compiled an enormous range of paper collectibles from the obscure to the commonplace. His artifacts come from around the world and include such throw-away items as cigarette packs and crate labels as well as the ubiquitous faxes, parking tickets, and phone cards of daily life.As this major new reference shows, simple slips of paper can speak volumes about status, taste, customs, and taboos, revealing the very roots of popular culture.Library JournalHave you ever looked through an old Victorian era scrapbook, the kind people used to put together where they would paste in railway tickets, dance cards, and similar items? They can be fascinating, providing a look at life through the ephemera of daily living. Part of the fascination is the curiousity they inevitably provoke: What was a dance card or programme, anyway? Rickards, an expert on the subject of printed ephemera, has produced an encyclopedia of such things, going beyond the bounds of the Victorian era to cover print ephemera from the 18th century to the present. Entries include air sickness bags (mandated by the Warsaw Convention in 1946 and much needed in the early days of commercial aviation, when cabins were not pressurized and climate control was poor), cigar box labels, milk bottle closures, and visiting cards. The readable entries make reference to books on the subject and major collections of the item. This unique title is recommended for most public and academic reference collections; tracking down information on this sort of trivia can be very challenging, and Rickards's book could be a welcome ace-in-the-hole sort of resource.--Charlie Cowling, SUNY at Brockport Lib. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Cultural HistoryMaterial Culture and Consumption Urban Archeology Roots of Pop Culture
\ Library JournalHave you ever looked through an old Victorian era scrapbook, the kind people used to put together where they would paste in railway tickets, dance cards, and similar items? They can be fascinating, providing a look at life through the ephemera of daily living. Part of the fascination is the curiousity they inevitably provoke: What was a dance card or programme, anyway? Rickards, an expert on the subject of printed ephemera, has produced an encyclopedia of such things, going beyond the bounds of the Victorian era to cover print ephemera from the 18th century to the present. Entries include air sickness bags (mandated by the Warsaw Convention in 1946 and much needed in the early days of commercial aviation, when cabins were not pressurized and climate control was poor), cigar box labels, milk bottle closures, and visiting cards. The readable entries make reference to books on the subject and major collections of the item. This unique title is recommended for most public and academic reference collections; tracking down information on this sort of trivia can be very challenging, and Rickards's book could be a welcome ace-in-the-hole sort of resource.--Charlie Cowling, SUNY at Brockport Lib. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsSports programs, for example, and envelopes, visiting cards, ballots, newspapers, cigarette cards, seed packets, ration papers, bus tickets, paper bags, fruit labels, bookmarks, playing cards, and board games are some of the documents of everyday life that graphic designer and ephemera collector Rickards (1919-98) discusses. His reference, highly illustrated, might be of interest to social historians, but is primarily for other collectors, especially those without too narrow an interest. A team of enthusiasts finished the work when he died. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \ \ From The CriticsEncyclopedia of Ephemera provides a guide to fragmentary documents of daily life, from postcards and theater programs to laundry lists, and blends a survey of artifacts and art with a history of ephemeria collecting. The author's artifacts come from world sources and provide an excellent survey of ephemera's meaning and social history.\ \
