ephemera

Breakfast in Manhattan

I don't know why it is, but I can more easily recall some of the great breakfasts that I've enjoyed better than any other meal. Rarely, do I recall a lunch, except for those hundreds of lunches at The Works in Glenview, Illinois. Anyway, this 1960 breakfast menu from the Statler Hilton Cafe in Manhattan brought to mind some of the great breakfast feasts that I've had the privilege to enjoy.

I'll bet the food at the Statler was tasty, but nothing like the farmhouse breakfast I enjoyed a few years ago at a B&B in Brevard, NC. It was all basic stuff: eggs, biscuits, bacon, but the quality and freshness of every ingredient made it something that I'll never forget. Delicious.

Breakfast is the best meal of the day—everything is ahead of you. In 1960, it must have seemed like everything good lay ahead for America. Kennedy had just been elected. The country built cars that were big and luxurious—and gas was cheap and plentiful. Bob Dylan had just come on the scene and Elvis was still cool. Yeah, 1960 was breakfast in America.

I didn't come along until five years later. By then, Elvis wasn't cool and Dylan had ridden away on his motorcycle and the Stone were complaining on the radio about this and that. The War had started in Vietnam, and it'd be another decade before we had Springsteen for any glimmer of salvation.

Yeah, breakfast sure is a good meal.

Canadian Travel Memories - Weekend in Montreal and Quebec

This Montreal Souvenir Guide from 1927 reminded me of the weekend I spent in Montreal in the late 1980s. I went to an Astros game. That was the highlight.

I was in Canada to attend the wedding of a boyhood chum. I never heard from him after the wedding. I hear his wife is a real pill, though. He was an odd fellow. Chartered Accountancy. But I digress. Back to Montreal for another moment or two. This Roaring Twenties tome includes a map of Harbour Bridge and a double page center map of the city, information, and statistics as well as beautiful colored postcard photos of various points of interest. The Astros were still decades off. And so was the 1976 Olympics.

On my weekend there, after a quick and dull tour of the city, we headed north to Quebec. Now, that's a delightful and elegant city. Anytime someone says they're going to visit Montreal, I suggest they skip it and head directly to Quebec. If only it had been hockey season when I was there; it would have been lovely to take in a Nordics game.

Vintage School Report Card from Seekonk Grammar School

This 100-year-old report card looks eerily similar the ones I received as a grammar school student in the 1970s. Surely, they've changed forms by now? I've heard that if Thomas Edison or Teddy Roosevelt arose from the dead, they wouldn't recognize anything in modern America, except a classroom. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but that's what I've heard some critics of the nation's school system say. Anyway, the point of featuring this nifty antique isn't to discuss the schools, but rather to something from what I think is one of the more interesting categories of ephemera—school memorabilia. This 1905 student report card is from the Seekonk Mass. Grammar School. It was issued to a student named Edna by a teacher named Edna.

If you're a collector of old school ephemera, leave a comment about what you collect. I'd like to showcase ephemera from public schools, especially stuff from 1950-1975.

 

Outdoor Chess Match DITLOA Entry

This photograph was shot for the 2009 Day in the Life of Asheville (DITLOA) project, which took place on 5/23.

I shot this chess match in downtown Asheville.

The top 100 images taken during the DITLOA event are displayed at the local library. There are over 100 photographers involved, mostly pros (unlike me).

Last year, I submitted the maximum number of images (15) and none of them made the library cut. I only thought three of my 2009 images were worthy of submitting, including this "study in concentration." To see my two other DITLOA contributions, click here (they are top row of photographs shown).

I believe I had THE shot of the day, but, at the last second, a man stepped in front of my camera--ruining a shot of a bride riding in trolley filled with groomsmen. I could've been a contender...

 

Retro Blogger Andrea Hale Interview

Andrea Hale is a documentary film editor, independent animator, and life-long San Francisco Bay Area resident. She's the force behind The Retro Blog. We talk about all things retro in the following interview.

ephemera: When did you become interested in retro things?

Hale: It started when I was still really young. My mom always had an oldies radio station on, so 50s and 60s music was pretty much all I ever listened to. I think I could sing along to all the choruses by the time I was six. She also liked to go to garage sales and flea markets, and I always went along. When I was still pretty young, I decided I wanted to make movies when I grew up, so I became pretty obsessed with finding other people's home movies on 8mm and super 8 at estate sales. I loved the way these movies made it seem as though everybody was so happy even though this couldn't possibly have been true. And they all looked so stylish. I found myself feeling nostalgic for a period of time in which I wasn't alive!

ephemera: I know what you mean…some of those super-happy, super-8 home movies give me the willies. They drank a lot of booze in the 60s, so that might explain the happy faces in the films. How did that interest evolve into a blog on the subject?

Hale: As I got older, I continued to love retro music, advertisements, furniture, etc. and I was constantly looking up information about these things. The Retro Blog started because I found that when I was getting home from work at the end of the day I was exhausted and ended up spending the rest of the evening on the Internet, mostly reading blogs. I thought starting my own would turn this into a more productive activity. I found that having the blog encouraged me to get out and investigate new areas of my retro obsession I might not have looked into before.

ephemera: It's a wonderful blog that you've created. You were right to go in that direction. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a niche blogger?

Hale: Sometimes things get busy and I can't devote as much time to the blog as I'd like to. The nice emails and comments from other retro aficionados make me keep going during tough times, though.

ephemera: I feel the same way about my reads. If they weren't supportive, I think this blog would end rather quickly. What are your most interesting discoveries as a blogger? What are some of your favorite posts?

Hale: I did a post about 1960s toys and games I still want, and I really do still want them. What could be more fun than owning a contraption whose sole purpose is to fling whipped cream at you? I also really enjoy researching any post that involves looking at insanely over decorated celebrity homes, Jane Mansfield's Pink Palace being my personal favorite.

ephemera: What resources do you recommend to others that might like to blog on this subject?

Hale: Estate sales and thrift stores are still my favorite source of retro things. I have suitcases full of old slides, 8mm home movies, and old magazines. Even if the main subject of an old magazine isn't of interest to you, it will still probably have a few entertaining advertisements.

ephemera: Thank you, Andrea.

Asheville Bear Attack Revisited

My recent post about our encounter with a local bear and our subsequent salvation at the hands of a brave neighborhood dog has received more than 14,000 page views. That's a lot of visitors—a 20-fold increase over the average daily traffic for this site. Folks, it seems people enjoy tales of my flesh potentially being clawed off more than they do reading charming missives about antique paper. I suppose I'd be the Perez Hilton of animal attacks had I begun blogging on that topic four years ago. Instead, I followed my passion (thanks Vaynerchuk), and I'm left scratching out 10 cents a day in Adsense clicks.

Of course, I'm happy that McCloud, the hero of our tale, received his 15 minutes. (I love that pooch.) But where does this leave me? Well, I assure you I'm not walking around these hills—coated in honey—looking for trouble. I don't need the traffic that bad. But, if you love old paper and don't want to see this blog take an ugly turn, I suggest you Stumble this post or Digg it or Tweet it or something.

[Editor's Note: Of those 14,000 souls who read my bear attack story, one had the audacity to leave a comment on StumbleUpon that my post was "retarded." Apparently, the commentator, a 23-year-old Bronx resident, is an authority on Brown Bear behavior; he was confounded that we'd encounter a bear in the mountains of Western North Carolina and that said bear would be roused by a barking dog from whatever happy time he was enjoying behind a tree. He must have this sort of bear encounter all the time in the Bronx. But I assure him and all of you, McCloud did save us and we remain profoundly grateful. If it ever happens again, I hope I have a video camera—YouTube here I come!]

 

 

Memories of Memorial Day Past

This Memorial Day I'm taking a walk down memory lane with a link to a very special Memorial Day post from a few years ago. Since this blog has expanded its readership by leaps and bounds since this post first appeared, I'm certain it will be new to 99 percent of you.

GI's Tale - World War II V-Mail

Have a wonderful holiday.

Victorian Museum Shambles Selloff

Things come in threes they say. This is the third story in a month about renowned ephemera collections being sold off. This time it's the Victorian Museum (called the Shambles) whose ephemera collection is going on the block.

According to a story on ArtInfo.com which quotes a report in the Guardian, after 20 years of showcasing their trove of Victorian-era ephemera, Shambles founders Jim and Holly Chapman have decided to sell off their treasures and close the museum. 

The Guardian reports that the couple are putting up for auction the museum's entire collection, including Victorian soap, a box of glass eyes, and 2,300 other lots.

The Chapmans opened the Shambles 20 years ago, arranging it as a town, with a pub, police station, shops, and workshops. Since then, the museum has attracted about 40,000 visitors a year.

The other two sales: Ragsdale selling his 9-11 collection and the guy selling his Macintosh ephemera to pay for his wife's healthcare expenses.

 

The Art of Finding on Sew Green

It's not often that I direct readers to another site to read a post, but this post by Sew Green on the art of finding is such a lovely missive about collecting ephemera that I felt compelled to do so in this case.

Ragsdale to Sell Historic 9/11 Ephemera

According to a report on News-Antique.com, Michael Ragsdale, an ephemera collector I interviewed several years ago, has opted to part with his historic 9/11 collection.

The report says, "Beginning on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 until December 2002, he [Ragsdale] collected every piece of paper he could find throughout the New York City area which had anything to do with 9/11—except for missing person posters and photographs of the World Trade Center destruction. He also avoided acquiring any very personal pieces. This archive numbers over 2,000 items—fliers, posters, pamphlets, lesser-known magazines, brochures, cards, public notices, press releases, and other paper ephemera—all of which covers the full range of the tri-state area's post 9/11 experience. It is considered one of the most comprehensive and important ephemera collections documenting what occurred in New York City after the attacks on and collapse of the Twin Towers. The significance of the collection has been recognized by, among others, the U.S. Library of Congress which has included over 900 documents from the collection in its September 11 Digital Archive."

Read my original interview with Ragsdale.