Winchester Gun Manual Value-Added Collectible

While there are categories of ephemera, such as baseball cards, stamps, and postcards, that are widely collected, many other categories of ephemera--from cereal boxes to instruction manuals to department store catalogs--are not widely collected for their own sake. Instead, they are sought by collectors of other objects as a means to add value to their primary collections.

I've written about the crossover value of ephemera in other posts. Here's another wrinkle on that theme: ephemera that adds value to other collectibles. This Winchester instruction manual is a perfect example.

The collector who purchased it could not have cared less about ephemera. I doubt he even realized he was buying ephemera. He bought the booklet (and paid a high price, too) because it provides important instructions for one of the firearms in his antique gun collection. By acquired these instructions, his collectible gun immediately became more valuable.

When ephemera plays a "value added" role it can sometimes be the key to unlocking the true price potential of the collectible it accentuates.