Issue 204
Spring 2024

In this issue: ‘The New Typography’ and the V&A’s art library, Sandy Jones / Why collect old passports? Tom Topol / Preparing for a nuclear attack, Taras Young / The rallying cry of ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Swadeshi’: textile labels of the Indian Independence Movement, Susan Meller / Quarterly Notes, Mrs Pepys / Notes & Queries, Graham Hudson / Classified

Welcome to our Spring-going-into-Summer 2024 issue Nº 204 of The Ephemerist. In this issue you have responded to the theme of ‘politics’ with contributions on the radical ‘New Typography’ movement captured in ephemera from 1930s by Jones; collecting ‘journey licenses’ or early one page passports by Topol, and the rallying cries of Swaraj and Swadeshi in the textile labels of the Indian Independence Movement by Meller. In addition, we feature some of the material – from handbooks on building your own fallout shelter to posters recruiting civilian volunteers to monitor atomic blasts – produced by the British government produced during the Cold War and aimed at preparing the public for a nuclear war that itself thankfully never materialised. As well as regular columns N&Qs and Mrs Pepys, we wish you a peaceful end to Spring. The Editor