Ephemera includes Advertisements

Ephemera is basically paper items that were meant for one use or for a short period of time and then discarded.

Antique and vintage Advertisements fall into this category. Printed advertisements have been around for a very long time. Ever since craftsman and merchants discovered that it was important to promote themselves, their business, and their products. In the Victorian Era, it became popular to collect what is now known as Trade Cards. These were basically advertisements for products that a storekeeper would have in their shops. The fronts were usually so beautifully done that Victorians actually kept scrapbooks of these ads in their parlors.

Advertisements taken from periodicals are collected for a variety of reasons. Usually the advertisement shows an item that someone collects. An ad with Fiesta dishes or an ad with a particular railroad company can be added to a collection of these items. Classic Car buffs like to get an advertisement showing the car that they have promoted in the year it was first available.

Old advertisements are fun to collect and usually relatively inexpensive.

Coca-Cola Santa by Sundblom Turns 75

The most recognizable Santa is most probably the Santa depicted in Coca-Cola ads. The creator of that Santa was a Swedish-American artist named Haddon Sundblom. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Santa we know today by Sundblom.

From 1931 to 1964 , Haddon Sundblom created an annual Santa advertisement for Coca-Cola. Many collectible items have been created from these vintage advertisements.

New Interest in Record Albums

A trend that I'm seeing here in the Midwest, is a growing interest in Vinyl...the Long Playing Record Albums. I see a growing number of people coming into our Antique Mall asking for the old albums. In the beginning, I assumed they wanted them for the fantastic old covers of the albums. I'm finding out that people are actually buying these albums to listen to them.

We have a group of High School boys who come in on a regular basis and purchase a variety of the music from the past. Jazz, R&B, Soul, and Hard Rock seem to be the most popular with this age group.

Recently, the phenomena seems to be growing...the parents of these kids are now coming in and buying albums that they remember. In other words the kids have generated a sort of re-interest of the old vinyl in their parents.

During this Holiday Buying Season we have had many people reporting that they have purchased vintage Record Players and equipment to play the albums on.

In response to what I'm seeing in the 'brick and mortar' market, I've recently begun to offer a variety of LP Albums on my website. They can be found in the category: Music Related and the subcategory of Recordings - LPs.


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