John Singer Sargent - National Gallery of Art, December 2022
We see it in art exhibitions--those preliminary sketches that are developed into larger works. We find examples at flea markets.
Ephemera is the stuff of everyday life—those hand-written and printed items for a specific use, those we often discard after a quick glance—theater programs, menus and travel advertisements. broadsides, newspapers and menus or train tickets or travel posters.
If we know a world portrayed only by official overviews and published histories, we miss what one historian of ephemera describes as that “vibrant layer: the everyday lives, mundane concerns, fleeting joys and quiet struggles of ordinary people.” (“Unlocking”)
One of my favorite books about Florida history is the Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 23: Florida Theme Issue (2002), which highlights the importance of ephemera in piecing together social and cultural histories.
In a series of well-researched essays dealing with hotels, dream palaces, air travel as well as the exotic and mysterious, this book showcases the development of the state between 1875-1945. The hundreds of black and white and color plates of maps, landscape design and architectural plans, travel posters and photographs convey lesser-known aspects of the Sunshine State.
Excerpt from Farm Ledger, Mount Vernon, Sperryville, Va., 1935.
Ephemera is an important component of genealogical research. When my mother’s family moved to Mount Vernon Farm (Sperryville, Va.) in 1930, I learned more about social and cultural aspects of a rural town through local events columns and advertisements in various newspapers accessible through the free diigital newpaper archive Virginiachronicle.com.
But imagine my surprise when my cousin produced arm ledgers from the 1930s with my grandfather’s notations. I have just learned of a collection of additional family ephemera, which I have yet to see.
My grandmother kept an album (1935-1940) of photos and memorability from their days at Mount Vernon--my mother’s basketball games, dances and bus and train tickets. These fragile recollections, complemented with newspaper articles from the digital edition of the Virginia Chronicle help reconstruct these lives. Given our tendencies to clear out old boxes of the stuff of everyday life, some things have survived all these all these years.
For those of us involved in historical research, fragile primary sources are available in digital format. Take surviving examples of 17th century primary sources—while letters and newspapers are considered ephemera, last wills and testaments along with inventories of a succession), parish registers and recueils/ livrets de famille would not be considered ephemera but primary sources.
These sources combine to provide insight into individuals and groups that make up the fabric of a society. Individuals who might seem to be isolated—after all, the 17th century had only letters and the beginnings of a periodical press--led rich lives whne you read their vast correspondence. A letter to one recipient might be 10 pages long and provide observations of flora, fauna as well as of a lunar eclipse, list of visitors, news of politics from nearby as well as from other countries, as well as health concerns along with some gossip. Our own correspondence pales in comparison.
The magistrate and natural philosopher Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc’s letters provide vivid details of all aspects of life from the mundane—tiresome visitors or those who neglected to visit, or a Mass that ran too long, complaints about the incompetence and laziness of correspondents—to the sublime--an exhilarating telescopic observation that helped determine terrestrial longitude, the brief séjour of Alzaron (a gazelle) from Africa that he was obligated to send on (because of patronage) to a prestigious Italian cardinal. . . .
Ephemera can be found in those boxes kept for decades by our parents. Maybe it won’t have the value of sketches done by Braque or Sargent, but I would not dismiss its value. You never know when a small child will become a recognized figure in the art world. Furthermore, this drawing has other value--it eveals something about lifestyles of the 1950s.
Drawing by a 4-year-old aspiring artist
But you have to draw the line somewhere. . . .Not everything is worth keeping.
But I'll hang onto some things, which have a sentimental value. . . .at least during my lifetime.
Works Cited
“Unlocking the Past: The Enduring Importance of Ephemera and Why We Collect It.” European Antiques Gallery. https://europeanantiquesgallery.com/2025/09/09/unlocking-the-past-the-enduring-importance-of-ephemera-why-we-collect-it/. Accessed 19 March 2026.
Wolfson Foundation Of Decorative and Propaganda Art. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts: Theme Issue Florida. 2002.
Related Work
Dann, John. “Ephemera Collecting—A Growing Field, Difficult to Define.” The Ephemera Society of America. 1 September 2020. https://www.ephemerasociety.org/ephemera-collecting-a-growing-field-hard-to-define/. Accessed 19 March 2026.
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