Which valentine will strike a chord in a collector’s heart?
© Sheron Long

The Lasting Connections of Ephemera

I have only a fleeting understanding of the word ephemera, perhaps because it means something short-lived. In the collecting world, it refers to antique and vintage paper products whose intended use was not long-lasting—

postcards and calendar pinups,

movie memorabilia,

ticket stubs and bridge tallies,

greeting cards and old photos,

 food and luggage labels,

concert handbills, and more.

And yet, families have stored away these items for years, even across generations. Collectors have preserved and enjoyed them, bought and sold them, donated them to museums, and thus extended their lives long past the intended use.

I found out why when I wandered into the recent Vintage Paper Fair in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. A respite from digital angst, the fair was filled with ephemera that encourages lasting connections.

Connecting with Fond Memories

When my photographer friend Erick Paraiso and I stepped inside this paper world, we stashed our electronics and wandered the welcoming aisles of vintage.

The postcard that triggers a fond memory has a good chance of catching a collector’s eye.
© Erick Paraiso

Pretty quickly, we were pawing through the bins of old postcards categorized topically from “Music” to “Mermaids” and geographically from “France” to the “Philippines.”

Erick is from the Philippines. I lost him somewhere on Aisle 2.

When he surfaced, he held two very special postcards. The first reminded him of the water buffalo (kalabaw or carabao) that gave him trouble as a kid: “I remember riding him without a saddle and falling down as the kalabaw gained speed.”

Images on old postcards can rekindle a childhood memory.
Photo of postcard © Erick Paraiso

The second postcard was an amazing find—a picture of the Basilica where his mother used to go in Manila. “I remember her taking me to this church when I was very young. She was a devout Catholic and prayed here, kneeling in the middle of the nave from the entrance to the front of the altar.”

Postcards with a personal connection recall treasured times with family.
Photo of postcard © Erick Paraiso

Family connections. Childhood memories. The paper postcards became a tangible symbol of my friend’s ties to his personal past.

Connecting to Creative Inspiration

Who goes to a vintage paper fair besides wanderers like Erick and me? Collectors, of course, trying to add to their assortments of roosters and chickens, pin-ups, and horror movie posters.

From ticket stubs to global movie posters, papers of every size grace an ephemera show.
Photo of posters © Sheron Long

These collectors may be in it for investment. More likely, they have found a passion, enjoy the fun of the quest, or collect as a way to show their individualism.

A box of old photos holds treasures for an artist.
Photo of photos © Sheron Long

But artists come, too, in search of old greeting cards, labels and photos that find new life in their creative works.

Perhaps they are looking for Art Deco graphics with just the right colors or subject matter to make into modern-day greeting cards.

They may be selecting old photos with an interesting use of light or with intriguing people to incorporate into collages, mixed media, or sculptures of found objects.

One artist had chosen this photograph to include in a work on communication.

Evidence of non-communication in the non-digital age intrigued
the artist who bought this photograph.
Photo of photo © Erick Paraiso

Photos of the past that are included in a modern-day work say something about continuity, and they reflect the artist’s sense of aesthetics. Ephemera, short-lived as it may be, lives long when an artist breathes new life into it. 

Connecting on Special Days

Those of us without collections or artistic talent can still profit from a visit to a vintage paper fair, especially when Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.

My practical search turns up a pull-down valentine at Margo Essman’s table. The valentine looks flat, but the bottom pulls down to make a stand, revealing amazing layers of artwork.

Vintage valentines carry an age-old message that is always in style.
© Sheron Long

Margo told me the story of a customer who starts early to declare his love, giving his wife a vintage valentine on each of several days leading up to Valentine’s Day.

That sounds romantic, but I bought only one—as it says, it’s a token of love.

I love that the ephemera I chose has a little tear in it and that there is a message on the back from the person who gave it once before.

Happy with my find and the conversations I had had at the fair, I headed back into San Francisco’s wired world.

The fair was fun; the finds were good. But the greatest find was seeing the joy that comes from collecting and connecting. With family memories. With creative inspiration. With that special someone. Oh, I see—these connections, prompted by something so fleeting as ephemera, are longer-lasting than I had thought.

Suitcase of connections.
© Sheron Long

See more examples of vintage postcards and visit the Oakland Library blog for fascinating ephemera left in books and collected by librarians over the years.

Collectors Weekly has good background on vintage papers and postcards. Schedules of Vintage Paper Fairs for 2014: East Coast, California.

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