Kyle Boyd-Robertson's Ephemera Page

It was the middle of another hot summer day. I had been sitting at the counter for hours without as much as one customer when I felt myself starting to nod off. I don’t know how long I had been asleep when the ring of the bell above the door startled me back to a state of semi consciousness. As my eyes began to focus I found myself no longer in our quaint little antique/gift shop but rather in what appeared to be an old General Mercantile Store. Where before there were souvenirs from our home to… Continue

It was early afternoon as walked down main street past a Five and Dime and a Hardware Store which boasted being in business since 1898. Just across the street with paint peeling and windows sagging stood what once was a Grand Hotel complete with wrap around porch and balcony. Only a block away, there she stood as she had for so many years, and if I hurried I could reach her just about matinee time. Her grand sign protruded from the main structure with hundreds of lights spelling out her name, Ri… Continue

With summer temperatures reaching into the high 90s and low 100s we here in South Texas understand the importance in selecting the right plants and trees for our yards and gardens.

While selecting the grass for my backyard I took great care in picking deep rooted varieties, such as buffalo grass and blue gramma, that would hold up during long periods of drought with minimal water. Also when designing our gardens I chose to stick to native plants only because I new that they all possessed the ab… Continue

Out of a small worn overnight case filled with mid to late ninteenth century documents from Goliad came a real treasure of Texas history. An envelope somewhat tattered lay between the folds of an old Occupation Tax Document dated 1876. Curiously I opened the envelope to find a vaguely familiar sight on a Cabinet Photo. Though faded with the passage of time I could see what appeared to be a monument surrounded by a group of well dressed men and on the steps sat and elderly bearded gentleman. My b… Continue

There she was, that grand victorian house that had stood guard over the old town district for so very long. Paint faded and peeling as one who has outlived her time, but she must have been a sight to behold in her glory days. The sign out front, Estate Sale, was viewed with mixed emotions from those who gathered around it talking in the early morning light. Some talked of a life well lived, some reminisced of distant memories and simpler times, while others speculated on what treasures must lie… Continue

Ike was on the hunt, the Gulf Coast was the target and it appeared as if we may be the bullseye. With the clock ticking and now under mandatory evacuation orders there was little time for organization, so in a whirlwind of chaos boxes were filled with invaluable historic documents, billheads, photos, postcards, books and letters from a time long forgotten to all but a few.

Seconds, minutes, hours ticked away as we huddled around the television, watching the endless drone of talking heads, hopin… Continue

With Hurricane Ike Approaching and a possibility of a direct hit I am again left with this quandry of which is more important Protecting the Present or Preserving the Past. This very moment as I sit here wrestling with this dilemma I hear all around me the sounds of Protecting the Present, power saws cutting ply wood to the precisely fit pieces for a window or door and the hammering of boards to store fronts and houses up and down the streets. Through all this clammer a voice keeps screaming out… Continue

Postcards from the past
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 12:58 PM CDT

BY TANIA FRENCH - He has passion for the past. Postcards, historical documents, fossils… Kyle Boyd-Robertson delves into it all.

Although Boyd-Robertson has always had a fondness for fossils and historical documents, it was with an 1893 Priest of Pallas postcard that he realized his interest in collecting - particularly old postcards.

“I thought it was a beautiful picture,” said Boyd-Robertson of the postcard he found sever… Continue

I started collecting Fossils when I was a small child. We would spend days searching for a gathering fossils. What a thrill it was when we came across a large fossil bed, it was as if we were gold miners who had just hit the motherload. It wasn't until many years later I learned I was disturbing the continuity of history. That fossil had gone untouched for millions of years until we came by and scooped it up. I did not realize the valuable information that was lost by not spending the extra time… Continue

My incurable obsession with ephemera has been an invaluable tool in constructing a more complete picture of my past. I have been involved in researching my families genealogy for 12 years now and the photos, postcards, old newspapers, bills, books and all things paper have been a great help in filling in the gaps and gaining information that otherwise would have been lost forever. While constucting our family tree I not only search for names and dates but also for anything that can tell me more… Continue