According to John C. Dann, Director of the Clements Library at the University of Michigan, ephemera is “the stuff” originally produced for some immediate, practical purpose, with no thought that it would be saved or preserved (having an ephemeral existence). He further notes that until quite recently tended to fall between the cracks of traditional collecting fields and librarianship.
Ephemera documents everyday life, “perhaps more effectively than traditional collectibles.” It is a category is as flexible as ephemera itself, and includes advertisements, baseball cards, bonds, bookmarks, bookplates, broadsides, brochures, cigar box labels and bands, die-cuts, greeting cards, indentures, labels, letters, pamphlets, paper dolls, photographs, postage stamps, postcards, posters, programs, seed company ads, stocks, tickets, timetables, trade cards, valentines. Much of it, as Dann noted, “was originally a by-product of exuberant capitalism—largely advertising material made possible by advances in printing technology.”
In “Publish & Perish: Printed Ephemera and Social History,” Richard Kolbet notes that printed ephemera is among the richest sources for information on cultural, economic and social customs and traditions,” and it “may be the only source of much needed information.” His exploration of the question, “What is ephemera?” brought these answers:
1. “. . . documents which have been produced in connection with a particular event or item of current interest and which are not taken to survive the topicality of their message (John Pemberton)
2. “. . . transient everyday items of paper . . . vital when they are needed, wastepaper immediately after. They flourish for a moment and are done . . . Above and beyond its immediate purpose, it expresses a fragment of social history, a reflection of the spirit of its time. As with other human records, as with the fashion-plate itself, its style is soon out of date. (Maurice Rickards)
The Ephemera Society celebrates this area of collecting. It originally began in Britain, but has since begat others: the Ephemera Society of America (1980), the Ephemera Society of Australia (1986) and the Ephemera Society of Canada (1988). Each meets at least annually, often holding ephemera fairs where the various forms of ephemera are bought and sold.
BiblioBuffet is proud to link to quality sites that have an interest in one of the smallest, but rapidly growing areas of interest—bookmarks. They have been included because they offer something of value, be it bookmarks, information or sharing/exchanging opportunities.
A Planet 4 Creation
Custom design your own ribbon-and-charm bookmark at prices starting at only ten dollars. Three styles, 12 ribbon colors, more than 30 crystal colors and more than 100 different charms lets you design the perfect bookmark for anyone—including yourself. A great idea!
Bookmark Collector
A delightful blog from Alan Irwin, another passionate bookmark collector who enjoys sharing his collection plus any news about bookmarks that he comes across. What's particularly special to me about this is that Alan lives in my hometown. Neither of us knew about the other—or our bookmark collecting passion—until he started this blog. One of the best bookmark collecting blogs!
Book Jewelry
This web site offers beautiful ready-to-buy as well as customized bookmarks made of ribbon and beads. What is particularly nice is the wide selection since you are the one who customizes it with numerous charms geared to interests of all kinds and 30 ribbon colors. And the price ($9.95) is amazing. A lovely site, as well designed as its bookmarks. Lovely!
The Bookmark Shop
This UK shop offers unusual and unusually beautiful bookmarks at surprisingly reasonable prices. The Executive Orb, for instance, contains five steel bookmarks in a highly polished orb, and their Insights line is a fabulous array of 18K gold-plated memento bookmarks. But there's lots more—for weddings, christenings, promotional, animals, hobbies (including reading), sea life, romantic gifts, Latin quotes, even scented bookmarks—and customized engraving (even of a photo!) means great gift possibilities. Stunning!
Brookline Booksmith
A Massachusetts used bookstore whose owner, Russ, gets a kick out of sharing what they find in the used books they buy. Sometimes it’s a bookmark—but not always. Fun and fascinating!
Coleccionista Chilena de Marcapáginas
Olga Sotomayor Sánchez is a librarian in Chile, and has a large, well organized bookmark collection that she puts on display at various fairs and events. She collects and trades internationally, and has been active in Mail Art events, focusing on bookmarks. Her blog is in Spanish, but you don’t have to read it to appreciate her collection. Delicious!
Daniel Bexfield Antiques
Here’s where you can spend a lot of money if you want to collect some gorgeous antique ones. They really are lovely!
DLTK’s Crafts for Kids
This site—this page in particular—offers a variety of bookmarks children can make themselves or librarians, teachers or parents can make as a reward. You have your choice of standard bookmarks or ones you customize. The process is an easy step-by-step one. This is an excellent way to instill an appreciation of bookmarks in the younger generation. A wonderful site!
eBay forums
eBay is a great place to buy bookmarks of all kinds. There’s even a forum to discuss them, though it gets, I’m sorry to say, relatively little traffic. It’s a good site; with some more regular posting, it could be great!
Enclosures: A collection a ephemera found between the pages of secondhand books
A wonderful blog about, well, the subtitle tells it all. It’s amazing what people will use as bookmarks. Fascinating!
ephemera: exploring the world of old paper
Marty Weil is a freelance journalist with a delightful style and a ephemera dealer with an interest in old paper of many kinds—booklets & publication, commercial & advertising ephemera, letters and other handwritten ephemera, government & military ephemera, sports and entertainment ephemera, bookmarks, postcards and more. Wonderful reading!
Ephemera Society of America
For anyone interested in bookmarks or other ephemera, this is a great organization. It has a Q&A section where you can get your questions (hopefully) answered, articles, links to auctions and more. Excellent for ephemera collectors!
Fuat and Melissa’s Bookmarks
A personal page showcasing some of their favorite bookstore bookmarks. Pretty and attractive!
Hookmarks
Metal bookmarks that hook over the spine of a book have been named hookmarks by this company who makes a wide range of wonderful designs. I am particularly fond of the open book one, but they also feature ones with holiday, wedding, animals, nature, hobbies, spiritual, coin and other themes. Cute!
In My Book
Fantastic combination card-bookmarks with wonderfully whimsical illustrations. Each saying starts with “In My Book . . .” and finishes up with a related thought such as “you’re a classic; you’re some dish; you’re a hero; you’re the happy ending; you’re the last word.” Truly wonderful!
Inside Books
A weekly blog by Simon Quicke, a British journalist who writes wonderfully about books and bookmarks. Every week, he posts a “Bookmark of the Week” with a brief explanation. An appealing site!
Intralibris: Things Found Within Books
Bookmark collectors love bookmarks for their beauty as well as their use. But many people will use whatever is handy to mark their place. In Intralibris, “cdavid” talks about (and includes images) of things other than bookmarks that people use to mark their place. Funny and delightful!
le Marque-Page
This gorgeous French language bookmark site is a collector’s dream. You don’t need to read French in order to appreciate the exquisite bookmarks on display here. Aside from the fact that French bookmarks seem to have a sense of artistry first and marketing second, making them (in my opinion) superior to modern American ones, this collector has a fine sense of beauty in art herself. A lovely site.
Les Marque-Pages de Maryse
Maryse is a bookmark lover who has been collecting since 1997. Her web site is a marvel of images of her own stunning collection as well as duplicates she has available for trading. In addition, she keeps a blog where she displays and writes about pieces from her collection. Though it is in French, it is so well designed (and the bookmarks so wonderful) that anyone will enjoy sharing her collection through her pictured bookmarks. So beautiful!
Mello Designs
“Works of art” are her specialty, and bookmarks are one of them. These stunning handmade bookmarks have exquisite stones and beads, a copper wire circle (which you can use while reading to keep the previous page from flipping over), lovely ribbons and sensuous tassels. There’s a wide variety of colors, prices are reasonable, and the results are exquisite!
Mirage Bookmarks
This is a great resource for collectors with links to history, exchanges, exhibitions, quotes, web sites, auctions, museums, collections, competitions as well as information on storing and displaying bookmarks. They also offer a fabulous gift shop loaded with stunning paper and metal bookmarks; customized ones are a specialty. A fabulous resource and handsome bookmarks!
Papilionaceous
A wonderful company that specializes in gorgeous silk bookmarks! Located in England, they sell all over the world, and offer a selection of beautiful woven silk bookmarks including funny (a duck wearing a bow tie that says, “and there he stood . . . tall duck and handsome”), commemorative, art, flowers, Art Deco, theatre, and various commemorative ones. Truly special!
Punto de Papel (Paper Points)
A blog about bookmarks that is filled with wonderful images of thousands of bookmarks. It is in Spanish, but even if you cannot read that language, you will enjoy the numerous bookmarks shown here. Wonderful!
Silver Bookmarks
An interactive catalog of a bookmark collection consisting of primarily silver but also gold, brass, bronze, copper, celluloid, pewter, silk, plastic, enamel, mother of pearl, leather and ivory bookmarks . A beautiful place to browse without worrying about emptying your pocketbook, it is a fabulous collection of a serious collector!
Stevengraphs Bookmarks & Postcards, Etc.
Stevengraphs are bookmarks made by Thomas Stevens of Coventry; they first appeared around 1862 when woven silk bookmarks were favored gifts. Stevens made them for many occasions, and claimed to have 900 different designs. Today, they are popular collectibles. Exquisite!
World of Bookmarks
See Mirage Bookmarks (above), which hosts this site.
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