The Ephemera Society News

The Ephemera Society Journal

Summer and Autumn 2024 issue Nº 205

“The Ephemerist” , the society’s illustrated journal, was posted to members on 12 November 2024. Two of the contributions in this issue are a reminder that the nature and intended purpose of ephemera can change over time: Lewin’s fascinating collection of ‘marginalia’ or the unexpected and sometimes humorous jottings in early printed books – as well as Diggele’s repurposing of the backs of playing cards – recreate their own story.

A short but important piece by Weir-Hughes examines ethical approaches to sharing ephemera. This issue also sees the launch of a new occasional column, suggested by a Society Member, An Ephemeral Day in — which I hope readers will enjoy (and perhaps feel inspired to offer their own day trip experiences to their fellow ephemerists too?). Regular columns N&Qs and Mrs Pepys complete a varied and interesting issue.

The cover features a collection of beer mats from Adam Kimberley, graphic designer and author of
Beer stained pulp: nicely designed beer from the past.

Call For Articles!

The Ephemerist

Contributions to our journal have been less than usual in the last six months and we have made the decision to amalgamate the Summer and Autumn Issue No 205.

We have two future ephemera themes in the pipeline! If any collectors or writers would like to contribute on the theme of CHILDHOOD the Editor would be delighted to hear from you!

Examples might include:
Birthdays, Child-oriented advertising
Church: Attendance, Choir, Baptism, Funerals, Burial, Reward Cards
Needlework: Samplers, Gifts,
Reading: Alphabets,Books, Bookplates
Schools: Reward cards, Education, Private Schools, Curricula, Reports, Classrooms (desks, ink, slates)
Sport, Stationery, Toys, Board Games, Card Games, Playing Cards, Costume, Employment, Gardening, Greetings cards, Health, Medicine

Our second theme is GRAPHIC DESIGN. Examples might include: Advertising, Film, Exhibition catalogues, Type Specimens, Well-known designers, Art and design styles, eg Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Punk etc., and practitioners using ephemera as inspiration in their work.

Farewell to the Metropolitan

London Metropolitan Archives(LMA) name change

In 2022 LMA undertook a process to understand how current and future visitors viewed them. An analysis of feedback from workshops and surveys highlighted that visitors were confused by the use of the word ‘metropolitan’ in the old name 'London Metropolitan Archives'.

Of those surveyed many thought that the LMA held the records of only the Metropolitan Police, London Metropolitan University, or London Underground’s Metropolitan Line. It felt clear that the word 'metropolitan' had fallen out of everyday use and didn’t convey the breadth of their collections and what they have to offer.

Through this work it was decided The London Archives would be our new name as it clearly communicates the collection and echoes similar institutions including The National Archives and the London Museum. In late 2023, work began to develop a new brand identity, aiming for a contemporary feel whilst respecting their role as a place for historical research and learning.

• The London Archives
• 40 Northampton Road
• London
• EC1R 0HB
• UK

Visit the new website

The John Johnson Curator of Printed Ephemera

Job Opportunity

The Bodleian Libraries are hiring a new Curator of Printed Ephemera. The role manages one of the most important collections in the world. This includes both the John Johnson Collection of Printed ephemera and other printed ephemera.

You will oversee more than 1.5 million items including advertisements, handbills, playbills and programmes, menus, greeting cards, objects, artworks, albums, games, postcards, bank notes, stamps, toys, and playing cards.

Candidates with a qualification in librarianship, archives, or similar: Apply Here

Labels of Empire

By Susan Meller

The book focuses on a little known, but highly important, aspect of late 19th and early 20th century British (and Indian) textile industries - the fantastic chromolithographed paper labels that textile manufacturers and their agents pasted on their yard goods. Called “shipper’s tickets" in the trade, they were in effect the companies’ brands and were designed to catch the eye of shoppers in the bustling Indian markets.

The images shown on the labels accurately depict the pantheon of Hindu deities; maharajas; dancing girls; daily Indian life; etc. - all rendered with exquisite detail.

Labels of Empire begins with the late 19th-century heyday of British textile manufacturing and closes with Indian independence in 1947. By combining visual narrative, popular culture, magical realism, and history in a way never done before, this book offers an unprecedented look at the British and Indian textile industries in the time of the Raj through their remarkably successful use of attractive paper labels as trademarks.

Serving as a premium of sorts, most of these labels survived because they were collected, saved and often framed by the Indian people - then and now. Today these long-surviving pieces of "ephemera” are being recognized for their beauty and their role in the history of the textile trade.

Hardback • 544 pages • Size: 9¼ x 12 inch • Colour images throughout
More details: Labels of Empire

More Than a Snapshot: A Visual History of Photo Wallets

By Annebella Pollen

For over 100 years, when you’d often have to wait a week to see your photos, film processors used photo wallets - cheery illustrated envelopes - to return your pictures to you. They showed what subjects were considered suitable for a snapshot: bright-eyed children, laughing couples, adorable pets and perfect landscapes; they also reinforced prohibitions by what they omitted.

Drawing from the author’s personal collection of photo wallets from the 1900s to the 1990s, Annebella Pollen’s book charts a century of popular photography in Britain: the birth of a new mass leisure pastime mainly marketed towards women, the growth of camera ownership after the Second World War, and behind it all, the working conditions of the people processing the films. It commemorates a time when you never knew if you had captured a treasured memory or your finger in front of the lens.

Hardback £12.00 • 112 pages • Size: 22 x 16 cm • Colour images throughout
Publisher: Four Corners Books