Conference & Fair, EPHEMERA 25, March 18-20, 2005

Schedule of Events

Saturday, March 19th

8:15 a.m.
Memberships will be sold at the Ephemera Society desk.

9 a.m.
Members-only show preview ($10) for the Society’s 25th Annual Paper Show. Please have your membership card available.

9 - 10 a.m.
Auction Preview in Roundhill Room

10 a.m.
General public admission entry is $10. ($1 off with any Ephemera 25 ad.)

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Exhibits open in Winthrop

Noon - 2 p.m.
Appraisals; get the expert’s estimate on your special piece (near Society desk in foyer).

2 - 3 p.m.
Auction Preview in Roundhill Room

3 - 4 p.m.
Collectors’ Forum in Winthrop

5:15 p.m.
Cash Bar and Silent Auction, Roundhill Room

6 p.m.
Live Auction in Roundhill Room; Cash Bar continues.

7:30 p.m.
Banquet—The Conference registration and Banquet reservation form has been mailed under separate cover. Please return the form by March 1, 2005. Join us for a puzzling presentation by NPR Puzzle Master Will Shortz, and the presentation of the Maurice Rickards Award.

Sunday, March 20th

7:45 a.m.
Society Annual Meeting in Roundhill Room. All members urged to attend.

Two morning conference sessions:

8:30 a.m.
Pump and Circumstance: Gas Stations
John Margolies
This slide lecture is a rich and lively celebration of that icon of American roadside culture: the gas station. John traces the significant and evolutionary tradition of gas station design, history and lore — from the horse-drawn pumps of the early 1900s to the convenience stores of today. Particular attention is given to “the golden age” from 1920 to 1940, when humble outlets evolved into palaces of petroleum.

John Margolies is an author, photographer, and historian on American commercial architecture and design. In 2004, John illustrated with ephemera a state-by-state cookbook (in collaboration with Georgia Orcutt) published by Chronicle Books — Cooking USA. For the past 25 years he has explored the highways and byways of America, searching for both unique and typical examples of roadside, main street, and resort architecture. He completed an Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship to study and prepare a series of articles on “the sterility of today’s corporate built environment.” His travels have been the source of many books including ones on miniature golf, movie theaters, motels, and roadside attractions.

9:40 a.m.
Ephemera and Other Items of the California Gold Rush
Matthew R. Isenburg
This long-awaited presentation will include letters, letterheads, maps, books, newspapers, lithographs, artifacts, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, crockery, guns, knives, picks, pans, bottles, scales, gold rush jewelry, and much more.

Matthew R. Isenburg is busy helping his wife and associate, Elizabeth, and his son, Steven, catalog his collections of almost 30,000 daguerreotypes and other early images, cameras, and equipment, one of the largest in private hands. Matthew minored in American History in college and became a life-long devotee to the subject. He co-authored a book in 1978 titled Photographica that chronicled the development of the camera. He and John Wood founded The Daguerreian Society in 1989.

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Paper Show hours in the Hyatt ballroom

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Exhibits open in Winthrop.

2 - 2:50 p.m.
Workshop in Winthrop — Christopher Sokolowski, Assistant Paper Conservator at Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) will conduct a one hour roundtable forum: "Ask the Conservator." Bring your paper conservation questions, examples of damaged paper or collectibles for advice on best conservation care.

3 - 3:50 p.m.
Collectors’ Forum in Winthrop.

4 p.m.
Ephemera 25 closes.

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