The joy of researching ephemera

[Chris Otto]

I'm not a collector of rare and expensive ephemera.

I'm not an expert on any one area of ephemera.

I'm not a dealer of ephemera.

No, I'm just a guy who likes coming across and collecting (cheap or free) pieces of paper and then researching their history. That's mostly what I write about on my ephemera blog, Papergreat.

 

Here are some examples of paper items I have written about:

 

A tri-fold pamphlet for Wampole's Preparation led me on a research journey that took me from Philadelphia to Ontario, digging up all sorts of tidbits about this old pharmaceutical company.

 

And old advertising card from Maryland led me to dig up parts of the often-heartbreaking history of the Staley family.

 

A strange illustration of prehistoric creatures sent me off on some odd and interesting tangents.

 

An old postcard from Denmark helped me to learn about the long and surprising history of an alley.

 

A pamphlet filled with pig poetry told the story of a Pennsylvania journalist who had a fun side hobby.

 

I really don't discriminate when it comes to the pieces of paper and ephemera that I come across. I figure that every piece can tell a story. And I'm having a blast telling those stories on Papergreat.

[Carl Davis]

Dear Chris Otto:

How do u value the  the paper matter, after u research items.

Sincerely,

Carl Davis

 

[Chuck Whiting]

Thanks for this blog post--great stuff! I checked out Papergreat and am following your blog now. I enjoy collecting ephemera for the same reasons--the history waiting to be discovered. You never know where a piece will take you. I specialize in book trade related ephemera and blog about my finds at Bibliophemera, but I can't resist anything in general that catches my eye for whatever reason, which I blog about on Paper Matters (which I don't spend near enough time with). Look forward to reading more Papergreat.

[Mike Ferguson]

Thanks Chris. To me, this is ephemera collecting in its purest form. Some of my favorite pieces have almost no market value but great stories behind them.

[Chris Otto]

Thanks, Alan!

Here is a piece of sports-related ephemera you might find interesting from Papergreat: http://papergreat.blogspot.com/2011/03/saturdays-postcard-1912-13-w...

 

 

[Alan B.]

I share your approach except my interest is focused more on sports and early 20th century politics. You've picked up some amazing items which have great graphics.  I look forward to reading your blog.