ephemera

Logomachy Game Cards

Recently, I featured an item sent in from Mary Green, which prompted me to take a closer look at her site. Doing so, I discovered another item from her shop that I thought readers might enjoy.

Logomachy

Mary has scanned her collection of antique Logomachy game cards and she wants to share them with you. "The graphics, colors and illustrations on these cards make them memorable - everyone who sees them wants their own," says Mary. She adds, this alphabet game originated in 1874 and continued to be popular up to 1900. There are multiple versions of the cards; I have 4 different styles in my collection, each is included here. Three of the sets follow the same pattern - one style of card for each letter, except for 6 "prize" cards which each have their own design. Two of the sets have a framed bird image; one in black and white, the other is beautifully colored. The third set pictures a little girl watching a bird on a branch outside her window. The final set has different Victorian images on each card, many children and couples, very pretty. There are 114 images in all: each alphabet letter from each of the 4 sets, plus images from the backs of 7 different decks.

Altered Logomachy Images

You'll also receive altered versions of both framed bird styles from Mary, each with the letter removed. This collection of images shows the actual cards in her collection. Most are in excellent condition, some are a bit faded and you may find an occasional smudge or worn edge visible, just as if you had the card in your hand.

Tennyson Calendar

Mary Green from Green Paper sent along the following item:

"This Tennyson Calendar for 1896 was designed at the Raphael Tuck & Sons Studios in England and printed at the Fine Art Works in Saxony.

I spotted the calendar years ago, tucked into an antique store wood and glass case, almost impossible to see. Although I try not to buy anything pricey just because it's pretty, I couldn't resist this one.

While making copies of some pages to use in my art, I realized that due to the leap year, the 1896 days & dates after March correspond exactly with 2009; allowing me to reference the calendar for the remainder of the year.

The images and colors are very soft and subtle, and the calendar section on each page blends into the background. At just 3 ½" X 5 ¾", it's really a stunning art piece more than a functional calendar.

There are openings at the top of each page for the hanging rings and chain. Because the cover already had a small tear in this area and was showing wear, I removed the rings and chain with my jewelry tools to prevent further damage. They're easily reattached when I display the piece.

Since adding the June page as a calendar on my blog homepage, and offering that image in download to my readers, I've seen it gracing blogs based as far away as Poland.

Since I hope some readers of Ephemera will enjoy the calendar as well, I'm offering the July page for download here first, before it's posted to my blog next week."

Disclosure

BIG, scary affiliate links above. That's right, if you buy this download by clicking the link, I get some beer money (but not enough to buy a pony). Oh, and by the way, I also include--from time-to-time--some affiliate links to such companies as...

eBay. <---Yikes, there's one!

Look, I’m working my ephemeral behind off trying to deliver value to you. I know about products and services (mostly books and other ephemera-related items) that you’ll be interested in, and I make some money by doing it that helps me keep this rolling.

Andy Warhol Ephemera Up for Bid

Up for bid on eBay is a wonderful piece of Andy Warhol ephemera from the 1960's. The item, subtitled, Now In Release from Andy Warhol Films, Inc., includes a thin cardboard color photograph of Warhol attached to a pinwheel which, when spun, shows a different image from one of his films in Andy's right eye and the name of the film in Andy's mouth.

When the the wheel is spun, samples appear from Lonesome Cowboys, Tub Girl, Imitation of Christ, The Chelsea Girls, My Hustler, I, A Man, Loves of Ondine, Bike Boy, and The Nude Restaurant.

The auction closes on June 28, 2009.

Andy Warhol was himself a well-know ephemera collector. You can read about his collecting exploits here.

Life Lessons from Ephemera?

Has anyone learned a life-lesson from ephemera? John Ptak delves deeply into ephemera for such lessons. His recent post, Our Men Wear Shoes, is a good example. Here's a taste:

"Florida cane-field workers wear shoes; they own their own hats, and their wardrobe consists of a great deal more than a second-hand or third-hand pair of overalls, so that clothing production as well as supplying the food requirements of those directly and indirectly employed furnishes much additional indirect employment.”(Bold emphasis mine.)

This really does speak to the times, when the manufacturer could be proud to announce that its workers own their own hats and shoes. Hats?  Were hats rented? 

After posting it, John wrote me to mention the post and ask if any of my readers have had such epiphanies as they study pieces of ephemera in their collections. If you've had such a discovery, please share it in the comments.

Vintage Breakfast Menu - Manhattan Hilton Cafe

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.

Posters of the 1980s on YouTube

Frank DeFreitas produced this short video on holography art exhibit posters. After a decade of research and development in the 1960's, artists began moving into the laser and optics laboratories in the 1970's, and began making art from science and technology. This led to an explosion of holography art exhibits around the world in the decade of the 1980's. This video shows select exhibit posters from that decade.

Man Sells Mac Ephemera to Save Wife

Here's the situation: Blair Saldanah's wife needs medical care, and he doesn't have health insurance. His solution is to sell his collection of Apple ephemera.

In a post on his blog, Blair writes: "As we all know, desperate times call for desperate measures. So...I'm forced to liquidate my absolutely amazing Collection of Apple Memorabilia!"

The sale has been widely reported on the Internet. On the Apple Core blog, for instance, David Morgenstern wrote "...some are very interesting items, including buttons, sales and marketing materials, as well as some old Macs such as the original Macintosh Portable (the white monster) in a black carrying case and with software and manuals. Sweet.

On a page of old brochures, I enjoyed Item 137, the Macintosh Family Selling Guide for the Mac Plus and Mac 512e from 1986. Below that guide on the page is the 1984 Macintosh Software Sample brochure, which brought back a lot of memories. My first Mac was a 512e and I used the original 128K Macs. Some appear to be in very fine condition."

Best of Advertising Ephemera

Today, I'm featuring some of the best posts from my commercial and advertising ephemera category.

Birth of the Ho Ho

Wacky Pakages

Boy-o-Boy Popcorn

Chipotle Burritos

Stop Typewriting

Ostermoor Seeks Willard Moyer Artwork

The Ostermoor Mattress Company, with roots back to 1853 in New York City and then Bridgeport, CT, is searching for the original artwork from The Test of Time and The Witchery of Sleep--both promotions designed in the 1900s by Willard Moyer for Ostermoor, published by Miller Press.

Julie Henningfield, Director of Corporate Communications for Verlo Mattress Factory Stores, told me: "We are looking for mostly for Ostermoor trinkets and collectibles--ads, coins, cards, etc. The brand has been around since 1853, and we have managed to uncover some advertisements off of eBay, but would also like to find more versions of the Test of Time, a magazine sent to customers in the 1900s. We have acquired one version, but would like others. We will be using these items to display in our new stores/showrooms to parallel with the look of the brand image we are trying to establish."

If you can help, contact Julie Henningfield at 920-568-3103.

Vintage French Menu Signed by E. Naudy

Lisa Franklin came across a number of French menus from her grandfather's time in Paris, including this Rotisseur menu signed by E. Naudy.

She's hoping that by sharing it with the ephemera audience, someone might leave a comment that sheds more light on the item.

Lisa is trying to determine the value of her menus, along with any tidbits about E. Naudy and Rotissuer.

Bon appetite.