ephemera

Vintage Advertising Collector Jamie Bradburn Interview

Jamie Bradburn is a Toronto-based writer and collector who pens a weekly column on vintage ads for Torontoist. In the following interview we talked about his collection and allure of vintage advertising.

ephemera: When did you become interested in vintage ads?

Bradburn: About as far back as I can remember. When I was little, I loved diving into my father's collection of sports magazines and yearbooks and sat transfixed by the odd array of advertisers.

I've also had a long-running interest in the evolution of pop culture. Advertising reveals much about the period it was produced in, for better or worse. Old ads allow long-defunct businesses and products to live again and demonstrate why some had longer staying power than others. There's also the question of how dead one's taste buds had to be to work in corporate test kitchens, based on some of the recipes that made it to print.

ephemera: I've featured many old ads over the years in past posts. A post about a 1937 ad for Marmola remains one of the this blog's most popular posts. I marvel at how much vintage ads reveal about pop culture--warts and all. Did you begin consciously, knowing what you would collect, or did you just one day discover what you were doing?

Bradburn: It began as a housecleaning exercise. After my father passed away, there was the question of what to do with the piles of magazine sitting around the house. Rather than send them immediately to the recycling bin, I spent several years slowly going through them all to clip out some of the ads, which I figured would be useful for a post or two on my blog.

It was also a slight tribute to my father, a high school history teacher who spent 30 years clipping all of the newspapers and magazines that passed through our house, filing them in large boxes for his students to use for research material.

The ball really started rolling when I found a box of early 1970s issues of Maclean's, New Yorker, Saturday Night, and Ramparts by the curbside walking home from work one evening. Reaction was positive when I began posting this material, and the rest is history.

ephemera: What challenges did you encounter when compiling this collection? How do you overcome these challenges?

Bradburn: Using source materials whose dimensions are larger than those of my scanner. Working with anything larger than modern standard magazine sizes is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, where two or three scans are necessary to create a useable file.

Library equipment can be an issue, especially when looking for older local material to use. Reproduction from worn microfilm is a challenge, especially if the source material is streaky or I have to rely on malfunctioning copiers.

Time is a factor. I've reached a point where I should declare a six-month moratorium on buying old magazines to play catch up!

ephemera: I've been there, Jamie! Scanning old ads is a nightmare. What are your favorite items in the collection? Do you have a 'crowning jewel' or 'show stopper' in your collection? If so, what is it?

Bradburn: Tough to choose. There's an early 1950s ad for Heinz Soup that is wrong on so many levels, including the suggestion that canned soup is a surefire way to prevent spousal abuse. A series of ads for Swift's canned meats, with appetizing names like Speef. A campaign ad for a politician who modestly describes himself as "the greatest Canadian of all times."

ephemera: For some reason the sexists ads of a bygone era seem to be particularly telling. What resources do you recommend to people interested in starting their own vintage ad collection?

Bradburn: General interest magazines are a good starting point, especially those from the 1930s through 1980s. I'm not fussy about condition as long as the ad is legible and doesn't suffer from heavy water/food/you-don't-want-to-know damage. Finding used book stores that don't charge an arm and a leg for back issues doesn't hurt. Public libraries with a decent newspaper collection are a key resource - Toronto is lucky in having a fantastic library system and digitized versions of the back issues of two of its major dailies.

For display I use Flickr - their Pro accounts are cheap, have plenty of storage space and allow for easy copying of images into other websites I write. Photoshop helps in fixing faded or flawed source material.

ephemera: This has been a lot of fun, Jamie. Vintage ads are one of the most popular ephemera niches, and I'm sure a lot of readers will enjoying hearing about your collection. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise and advice. 

Chestnut School Brings Plant Knowledge Back Into the Living Memory

This is another installment in my special series exploring the natural world’s ephemeral green beings and their application in everyday life. It is not such a giant leap after all. Paper and plants have such an obvious relationship that I naturally felt a side trip into the Roots of Herbalism would be a beneficial and welcome respite from the typical conversation we have here. To recap, I’ve agreed to blog about my experiences at The Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, which offers classes in the tradition of Roots of Herbalism, in exchange for attending a few weekend classes there this summer.

Recently, on my first visit to the school, I was fortunate to have attended a class that included a guided “plant walk” with guest instructor, Frank Cook, who is on a botanical quest to meet the 5,000 genera of plants in the world. Frank proved to be an amazing and powerful presenter. He is a great ambassador for the plant kingdom. During our tour of the forest, Frank spoke of his adventures, including his 2001 walk from the Pamlico Sound across North Carolina to Max Patch, observing nature and foraging edibles as he went. He considers plants his friends and gains connection with them through wildcrafting food and medicine as well as interacting with them as allies. In 1995, he became trained as an herbalist at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in Ithaca, NY, building on the foundation of his degree from Duke University.

Frank encouraged those of us in attendance to take his teachings and share them with the wider world, which is part of the inspiration behind today’s post. During our walk, Frank frequently mentioned the importance of sharing what we learn about plants and “bringing it back into living knowledge.” He described the process as the “soft revolution of eating wild plants.” A concept that has a subtle Simpsonian subversive streak to it that really appeals to me. Plus, it dovetails with the mission here, which normally deals with bringing back into memory the lost tidbit of our past, our history, and our shared pop cultural experiences.

  The second day of the weekend was spent on the grounds of the Chestnut school, and featured a hands-on lesson in medicinal oils and tincture making, which I found fascinating. We spent part of the day browsing through Juliet’s herbal alchemist’s library and viewing her cabinet of wondrous medicinal plants, herbs, salves, tinctures, etc. During the course of the day, Juliet, the owner of Chestnut school, recommended a number of books. Here’s a truncated listed her recommendations, should you care to read along with us this summer:

The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual
Wildflowers Of Tennessee, The Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians
Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains
New Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses

During class, Juliet offhandedly mentioned that some herbalists collect vintage tincture bottles. If you’re one of those folks, please leave a comment to this post. I would absolutely love to feature your collection here. Also, as I’d mentioned previously, if you're an ephemera collector that specializes in herbalism, gardening ephemera, seeds catalogs, wildflower prints, or similarly themed collections, I'd like to feature ephemera from your collection as part of this series. If you're interested in sharing items from your collection, please also leave a comment.

Roller Skating Party at The Axle

Here's a 1936 ticket to the Zeta Chi Sorority roller skating party held at the Arcadia Gardens. The Arcadia was originally built as a ballroom/skating rink around 1910. It was one of Chicago's most popular jazz dance halls.

A few decades later, in the 70s, I frequented a Chicagoland roller rink called The Axle. Does anyone else have fond memories of The Axle? Those Saturday afternoons at the Axle in Niles were bittersweet. The place was regularly packed with suburban tweens. Every hour they'd have a "couples" skate. Which meant, of course, asking a young lady to skate hand-in-hand a few times around the oily rink, while Styx Babe blared from the loudspeakers. More often than not, I'd skate over to a sweet, young princess who would shoot me down like a WWI Fokker pilot over France. But, oh, when she said yes! Sweaty palms. Heart-pounding glory. And maybe, just maybe, a peck on the cheek at the end of the song.

[Photo attribution: ticket image by vintageroadside.com]

The Pocket Protector Professor John Pojman Interview

John A. Pojman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Chemistry at Louisiana State University. In the following interview, we spoke about his affinity for the unheralded pocket protector (PP).

ephemera: You may be surprised to learn this, but I've actually written at least one other post about pocket protectors for this blog. I can't say the post is among my most popular--it certainly didn't receive any link love from Boing Boing or anywhere else. But, today, pocket protectors will once again bask in the warm glow of the ephemera spotlight. Tell me, John, when did you become interested in pocket protectors?

Pojman: In 2001, I purchased an American Chemical Society pocket protector. That inspired me to have one made to advertise the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at The University of Southern Mississippi, where I was a Professor. We distributed 1,000 of those. I then had one made to advertise my research lab. When giving them out to prospective students, I was delighted by the positive response. Most students had never seen one and did not share the negative stereotypes. I enjoyed wearing a pocket protector and advertising my status as a 'science nerd.'

ephemera: It's good to hear that pocket protectors have shaken off their negative stereotype. Today, it is cool to be a nerd. That's why I don't get beaten up when people find out I blog about ephemera. Back in the day, I would have been pulverized for being an ephemera geek. So, did you begin your pocket protector consciously, knowing what you would collect, or did you just one day discover what you were doing?

Pojman: I consciously began collecting any pocket protector I could locate.

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in compiling this collection? How do you overcome these challenges?

Pojman: The biggest challenge is finding new protectors. Some I have made myself from usual components like carp leather, buckskin...(imagine how Daniel Boone would have stored his quill pen)...or commissioned as my alligator skin PP.

ephemera: I didn't even know Daniel Boone could write. Imagine if he had a blog. That would be cool. Do you have a 'crowning jewel' or 'show stopper' in your PP collection? If so, what is it?

Pojman: My favorites are the carp leather PP I made myself, my alligator skin one, and the NASA ones. My crowning jewel is the NAPA PP with an inscription in Japanese. It is the only PP in a foreign language that I have located. Apparently, pocket protectors are a unique American contribution to fashion.

ephemera: I had no idea that pocket protectors were unique to American pop culture. That's a fascinating tidbit. That's why I love doing interviews with collectors like yourself, John. Thanks for sharing your collection with my readers. Maybe when Boing Boing gets a whiff of this post that long-awaiting and richly deserved link love will come my way. Viva the pocket protector!

Bumpersticker Van

 

Paper Airplanes

Are you an expert at making paper airplanes or have a collection of vintage paper airplanes? If so, I'd like to feature you and your collection in an upcoming post. Leave a comment here, and I'll follow up with you.

In a similar vein, one of my most popular post was my interview with a man who builds model airplanes out of old 7-up cans. The post consistently receives dozens of hits each week via Google searches.

[Photo attribution: paper airplane image by Dmitri Krendelev.]

Paperclips and Other Threats

The paperclip. It looks harmless, but like its cousin the staple, this seemingly innocuous paper binder can cause irreparable damage to paper if left in place long enough.

Besides paperclips, in no particular order, here are the top destroyers of ephemera: Light, Heat, Humidity, Fire, Bugs, Water, Rubberbands, and Mice. These are the enemies, folks. To learn more about how to protect your paper, read an earlier post written by the Practical Archivist. To repair paper once it's damaged, check out: The Booklover's Repair Kit: First Aid for Home Libraries.

The first patent for paperclips was awarded to Sam Fay in 1867, but the first models that resemble today's fastener didn't arrived on the scene until 1877.  This may seem like useless knowledge, but if someone tries to sell you papers claiming to be antebellum, and they're held together with a paperclip--while not decisive--it should certainly raise doubts in regard to the age of the ephemera.

No paperclips were harmed in the writing of this post.

[Photo attribution: paperclip image by Tyler Howarth.]

What is Your Favorite Book?

What's your favorite book on the subject of ephemera? In a recent post, I discussed Maurice Rickard's watershed Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator and Historian. Now, I'd like to hear from readers about the books about ephemera that they find useful, fun, fascinating, and interesting.

If you'd like to write a review of a book that covers ephemera or an ephemera-related topic (anything is fair game--from books on baseball cards to stamps to postcards to junk store finds--even fiction that uses ephemera as a vehicle, such as The Swap), please leave a comment here, and I'll be in touch.

[Photo attribution: book love image by janetmck]

Collecting Motel Postcards - Tropic-Air Clearwater Florida

Once upon a time in America, people could afford to drive large, gas-guzzling automobiles hither and yon on what was known as "a family vacation." This concept is totally foreign to me. But I understand from reading history books that upon these journeys, Americans stayed in motels like the Tropic-Air in Clearwater, Florida.

I have some personal history in Clearwater. For the past five years or so, I've spent Thanksgiving Day in Clearwater with my wife's family. For me, nothing says Thanksgiving like 80 degree temperatures and bikinis. However, my purpose today isn't to extol the virtues of eating turkey, stuffing, and all the other holiday trimmings on a Florida patio in the baking sun. Instead, I'm paying homage to the wonderful ephemera collecting sub-genre of motel postcards and all things motel Americana. I've touched upon this subject in earlier posts. And, for a in-depth look at collecting motel ephemera, read my interview with Andrew Wood. For those interested in building a motel postcard collection, cards can be had relatively cheaply on eBay. And there's even a Flickr group dedicated to the subject.

For total immersion, you'll want to read Gas, Food, and Lodging: A Postcard Odyssey Through the Great American Roadside.

[Photo attribution: Tropic-Air Motel image by Marxchivist.]

American Idol Red Hot Ephemera Market

My wife has a thing for former American Idol contestant, Constantine Maroulis. So, I picked his cherubic punim to make a broad point about the hot market for Idol ephemera on eBay. In fact, MTV.com news reports that "the business of Idol ephemera and bootleg tie-in products is booming."

I did a quick search on eBay to check out some of the weird and wonderful Idol ephemera for sale. The majority of items fall into the personalized buttons, stickers, and t-shirt category. But there were more than a few items that made my head bobble and eyes roll more wildly than Paula's at a four-way stop. For instance, a quick scan of David Archuleta merchandise reveals some interesting paper goods, including Archuleta return address labels. Anyone collect return address labels of the stars?

And my favorite misfit Idol, Jason Castro, has inspired a slew of ephemera nuggets.

Surely, American Idol will eventually run its course, like a bad case of German Measles, and find its way on to the TV land scrap heap. However, I believe the ephemera the show has spawned will live on into the next century. I wonder if any crafty ephemera collectors have made American Idol a main focus of their pop culture collection. If you have, leave a comment here. I know we'd all like to hear more about it.

[Photo attribution: Maroulis image by Aine D.]