Business, Trade & Calling Cards

Comment

Comment by Cliff Aliperti on February 14, 2010 at 11:47am

Thanks, Frank and Tom, logged in and saw the invite. Right up my alley.

Comment by Tom Murphy on February 14, 2010 at 7:59am

Good to see you Cliff.. welcome!

Comment by Chuck Whiting on January 22, 2010 at 8:32pm

Charlie Brown's ephemera?

Comment by Gary Roberts on January 22, 2010 at 11:56am

Frank... I concur. Some items are beautiful in and of themselves. Many of the pieces I collect hold intrinsic value in the content. The item may be stained, torn, incomplete, etc., but the content may hold all the value. It's ephemeral, after all, isn't it?

Comment by Chuck Whiting on January 19, 2010 at 8:29am

I can only echo Frank's comments and add WOW! Once I was able to break the spell those cards had on me, I had a look around the rest of the site. You've got to like a Web site that has tabs specifically for "People Holding Fish" and "Evans Vacuum Caps!" Thank you, Tom, for sharing those links. The collection is both educational and inspirational to somebody like me trying to build a collection of similar items.

Comment by Tom Murphy on January 17, 2010 at 7:27pm

Just thought I'd point everyone to two blogs that recently were showing some really nice business cards. Actually the one site was just pointing to the other.

Have a look at "Words and Eggs"

and also the site he points to, which I have featured on my blog several times: "Sheaf:Ephemera"

Nice stuff!

Comment by Chuck Whiting on January 11, 2010 at 10:14pm

The Bodleian Library is a great site. I've browsed around here before and Johnson sounds familiar, though I can't remember having seen this collection/exhibit before. Thanks for the link and the book recommendation.

Comment by Gary Roberts on January 11, 2010 at 8:57pm

Going back even further, Trade, or Business cards were an early form of catalog advertising. Cheaper than the larger cousin, portable and deliverable by hand with ease. For lots more, take a look at the John Johnson collection, which includes some great trade cards. And buy the book, it's amazing!

Gary
PS... there is no known cure for ephemera collecting

Comment by Chuck Whiting on January 10, 2010 at 8:29pm

Sounds good to me. And speaking of "sounds," you hardly ever hear "record player" any more. Ahh, the memories...

Comment by Chuck Whiting on January 10, 2010 at 7:54pm

There's a cure, Gary? Not that I'm interested in one for myself...

And thanks to Frank for allowing trade cards into the group for the time being. They are obviously related to business cards and somewhat to calling cards, but you could make a case either way or same group or separate groups.

Some thoughts... Trade cards, which advertised a business product or service, are a direct ancestor to business cards, which usually pertain to an individual within a company, type of work done, and contact information. They are different pieces of ephemera created with different uses in mind. But so are calling cards. However, they all have in common the fact that they were created for the purpose of an introduction and remembrance of some sort. It'll be interesting to see how they shake out in this group, or how the group develops and defines itself.

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