August 2022 Conference

On Friday, August 26 speakers discussed two very different perspectives on ephemera, from an appreciation of a historic form of advertising to the use of more recent ephemera to enrich a modern commercial experience.

March 2022 Conference

The Ephemera Society of America’s forty-second conference, Creating Places and Spaces, took place on March 17-20, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Old Greenwich, CT.

January 2022 Preview Event

Two professionals presented talks exploring our March 2022 theme, Creating Places and Spaces.

August 2021 Conference

Two ephemera professionals shared their experiences with collections institutional and personal.

2021 Virtual Conference 

A fine and informative virtual conference using Zoom. The theme was Women Challenging Expectations.

2019 Mid-Year Pilgrimage to Ann Arbor

Fine people, fine historical treasures, fine food.

Ephemera 39, 2019

Conference Focus: “Coming to America—The Immigrant Experience”

2018 Mid-Year Pilgrimage to Austin

Each mid-year gathering is an unfolding revelation . . . 

Ephemera 38, 2018

Conference Focus: “Let me Entertain You!”

2017 Mid-Year, Miami

While the Caribbean islands and West Coast of Florida bore . . . 

Ephemera 37, 2017

Conference Focus: “American Ingenuity”

What’s the big idea?”

Ephemera 36, 2016

Conference Focus: “Politics, Patriotism & Protest”

Ephemera 35, 2015

Conference Focus: “The Sporting Life”

Ephemera 34, 2014

Conference Focus: “Food & Drink: Field to Table”

Ephemera 33, 2013

Conference Focus: Design

Ephemera 32, 2012

Conference Topics: Palmer Cox, women’s history, Civil War, games, comic valentines, drugs ads on playing cards, and more.

Ephemera 31, 2011

Conference Topics: 19th century children’s paper theaters, magic shows ephemera, London attractions, carnival units from 1902-1908, 19th century circus imagery, the history of projectors, playbills, stage actors’ photographs, and more.

Ephemera 30, 2010

Conference Topics: Pocket-sized guidebooks, ocean liner ephemera, flying machine imagery, and more.

Ephemera 29, 2009

Conference Topics: Photographic postcards, Tasha Tudor’s designed postcards, flight images, the art of written correspondence, communication styles regarding death, and more.

Ephemera 28, 2008

Conference Topics: FDR’s stamp collecting, Ben Hur, rulers, type foundries, Arizona photographs, ephemera papermaking, and more.

Ephemera 27, 2007

Conference Topics: This conference featured discussions about healthcare advice for babies in the 19th and 20th centuries, children’s literature and book creation, ephemera related to medical self-treatment, and more.

Ephemera 26, 2006

Conference Topics: This conference featured discussions on the history of Halloween, the truth about Victorian magic lanterns, and ephemera in research at the Library Company of Philadelphia, and more.

Ephemera 25, 2005

Conference Topics: Benjamin Franklin, biography via ephemera, Victorian cards, Cripple Creek merchant, salesmen’s sample books, and more.

Ephemera 24, 2004

Conference Topics: Arts and Crafts greeting cards, trade cards, history of American periodicals,  Palmer Cox, and more.

Ephemera 23, 2003

Conference Topics: Photographic ephemera, Starin’s Glen Island Resort, S.S. Pierce, African-Americans, and more.

Ephemera 22, 2002

Conference Topics: Bookmarks, Hagley Museum & Library, Wanamaker, Lindbergh, and more.

Ephemera 21, 2001

Conference Topics: Salmon, Thoreau, Rewards of Merit, Shaker Drawings, Strong Museum, miniature golf, La Belle Epoque, and more.

Ephemera 20, 2000

Conference Topics: George Washington, ephemera in the new century, Rutgers archives, cameo stamps, the Catskills, London, and more.

Ephemera 19, 1999

Conference Topics: Bakers’ chocolate, National Museum of Natural History, Albany Army Relief Bazaar, Teddy Roosevelt, color plate books, and more.

Ephemera 18, 1998

Conference Topics: The Shakers, stereoscopes, motels, and more.

Ephemera 17, 1997

Conference Topics: Crosswords, playing cards and card games, The Newseum, and more.

Ephemera 16, 1996

Conference Topics:

An ephemera fair held in Old Greenwich, CT along with a “Collectors’ Forum”.

Ephemera 15, 1995

Conference Topics:

Symposium “Job Printing in America” held October 20-21 at Colonial Williamsburg, Willamsburg, VA

Ephemera 14, 1994

Conference Topics:

Symposium “The American Spirit of Transportation” held October 21-22 at the William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, MI

Ephemera 13, 1993

Conference Topics:

Symposium “The American Play Ethic—Ephemera of Recreation” held October 22 at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA

Ephemera 12, 1992

Conference Topics:

Symposium “Designing American Life, 1780-1980” held November 14 at the Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE

Ephemera 11, 1991

Conference Topics:

An ephemera fair and a symposium “Understanding Ephemera”.

Ephemera 10A, 1990

It was the 10th anniversary of the Ephemera Society of America! Our conference was held in Old Greenwich, CT.

Ephemera 10, 1989

Conference Topics: Nabisco advertising, illustrated letter sheets, Carnegie Hall, and more.

Ephemera 9, 1988

Conference Topics: Canadian ephemera, paper conservation,  the Strong Museum.

Ephemera 8, 1987

Conference Topics: Circus advertising, ephemera of the textile industry, Boston sheet music artists.

Ephemera 7, 1986

Conference Topics: Santa Claus and Father Christmas, Model T advertising, collecting carousels.

Ephemera 6, 1985

Conference Topics: Maurice Rickards’ award speech, ephemera at the Smithsonian, ephemera celebrating anniversaries.

Ephemera 5, 1984

Conference Topics: The Great Chicago Fire, “Presidents and Snake Oil”, American posters, political trade cards.

Ephemera 4, 1984

Conference Topics: Early American broadsides, maritime ephemera in the Bella Landauer collection.

Ephemera 3, 1982

Conference Topics: Baseball memorabilia, industrial advertising, the printing arts, patent medicines, postal history.

Ephemera 2, 1981

Conference Topics: Ephemera of Texas and the Southwest, “What is Ephemera?,” collecting, and more.

Ephemera 1, 1980

Conference Topics: Design and production of ephemera, auction houses, ephemera as a visual history, collecting.