 |
| (C) The Ephemera Network. 2012, Created by Mike Ferguson |
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
The Ephemera Network
The Ephemera Network is a "community site for anyone and everyone interested in ephemera". Members (currently 691 of them) can sign up to groups with specific interests, such as Trade catalogues, Games, Billheads and Letterheads, or Stereoview cards. There are 69 groups, from Advertising cookbooks to World War 2 Games and Puzzles. The aim is for like-minded people to connect with each other. Non-members can see comments but cannot comment themselves. There are several tabs, including Blogs, Events, and Discuss. It is an excellent site for encouraging and supporting amateurs, collectors and those new to ephemera, and contains some fascinating information (including lengthy posts about specific genres or subjects) and links to other sites and blogs.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Railway posters at the National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum in York has put 10,707 records for its posters online, many with associated digitial images. These can be filtered by railway company or cross-searched with other material through the search box on the Collections page. The screen shot shows a results for National Caledonian Railway.
There are also 4,444 catalogued entries (not all digitised) associated with Using the railways (postcards, tickets, passes, labels, toys, etc) which can be limited by category and railway.
Users are invited to upload their own images to a Flickr site associated with the Museum.
There is also a fasinating blog about the work of the Museum - from library and archive collections, to railway vehicle collections or conservation. I particularly enjoyed reading the blog by Lorna Frost about the conservation of paintings for the recent Art in Advertising exhibition.
The Museum is represented on many social media: YouTube, Twitter, Flicker, Facebook and Delicious.
 |
| C) National Railway Musuem |
There are also 4,444 catalogued entries (not all digitised) associated with Using the railways (postcards, tickets, passes, labels, toys, etc) which can be limited by category and railway.
Users are invited to upload their own images to a Flickr site associated with the Museum.
There is also a fasinating blog about the work of the Museum - from library and archive collections, to railway vehicle collections or conservation. I particularly enjoyed reading the blog by Lorna Frost about the conservation of paintings for the recent Art in Advertising exhibition.
The Museum is represented on many social media: YouTube, Twitter, Flicker, Facebook and Delicious.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Geffrye Museum trade catalogues
The Geffrye Museum has announced a monthly programme of putting online its extensive collection of trade catalogues of household goods. Only five (in their entirety) so far, but an invaluable resource in time.
The museum website also has an extensive collection of wallpapers and textile sample books. Twenty three satirical prints are online too, providing a "rich and unexpected insight into the decoration of the domestic interior."
 |
| (C) Geffrye Museum |
The museum website also has an extensive collection of wallpapers and textile sample books. Twenty three satirical prints are online too, providing a "rich and unexpected insight into the decoration of the domestic interior."
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Trade catalogues in the Winterthur Museum Library
The Winterthur has contributed to the Internet Archive the printed catalogue: The trade catalogues at Winterthur: a guide to the literature of merchandising, 1750 to 1980 by E. Richard McKinstry, New York, 1984. It can be read online, downloaded as a pdf, downloaded to Kindle, viewed as full text, etc. It is searchable (I found the pdf version easiest) and there are also excellent chronological, geographical and alphabetical indexes. The catalogue is annotated with Winterthur shelfmarks.
Although predominantly American, there are many trade catalogues from other countries, notably c. 150 from England, including many from the 18th and early 19th centuries starting with East India House, 1750. Other countries represented are Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, and Switzerland.
The catalogue is divided into subject areas: Agricultural implements and machiney, Architectural building plans and materials, Art supplies, Brass goods, Ceramics and glassware, Clothing and accessories, Department and dry goods stores and misc, Ecclesiastical and funerary supplies, Entertainment, leisure activities and recreational goods, Food and refrigeration, Furniture, Garden and lawn supplies and ornament, Hardware, cutlery, utensils and hand tools, Iron and steel goods, Jewellery and clocks and watches, Lighting fixtures and electrical supplies, Measuring implements, Medical and health supplies, Musical instruments and supplies, Paint and varnish, Paintings and prints, Photography, Plumbing, heating and cooling equipment, Printers' equipment and publications, Silver and silver-plated goods, Stationery and office supplies, Statuary, Stoves, Vehicles and equestrian supplies, and Wall and floor coverings.
Also in the Intenet Library is the Guide to the microfiche edition of Trade catalogues at the Winterthur Museum, part 2 by Eleanor McD Thompson (1991).
Entries can also be found for the trade catalogues through the Winterthur Library online catalogue: Wintercat.
Although predominantly American, there are many trade catalogues from other countries, notably c. 150 from England, including many from the 18th and early 19th centuries starting with East India House, 1750. Other countries represented are Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, and Switzerland.
The catalogue is divided into subject areas: Agricultural implements and machiney, Architectural building plans and materials, Art supplies, Brass goods, Ceramics and glassware, Clothing and accessories, Department and dry goods stores and misc, Ecclesiastical and funerary supplies, Entertainment, leisure activities and recreational goods, Food and refrigeration, Furniture, Garden and lawn supplies and ornament, Hardware, cutlery, utensils and hand tools, Iron and steel goods, Jewellery and clocks and watches, Lighting fixtures and electrical supplies, Measuring implements, Medical and health supplies, Musical instruments and supplies, Paint and varnish, Paintings and prints, Photography, Plumbing, heating and cooling equipment, Printers' equipment and publications, Silver and silver-plated goods, Stationery and office supplies, Statuary, Stoves, Vehicles and equestrian supplies, and Wall and floor coverings.
 |
| (C) Internet Archive and Winterthur Musuem |
Entries can also be found for the trade catalogues through the Winterthur Library online catalogue: Wintercat.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Smithsonian's Instruments for Science
The Smithsonian Libraries Instruments for Science, 1800-1914: scientific trade catalogs in Smithsonian Collections, is a digital resource searchable by company (with drop down list), type of instrument, title, keyword, etc. (try theodolite, for example). It is international, with British, French and German firms as well as American. The screen shot shows catalogues for Negretti and Zambra of Holborn Viaduct, London. Trade catalogues have rarely survived and contain a wealth of information. The introduction page contains two essays on scientific trade catalogues, by Steven Turner and Jim Roan.
 |
| (C) Smithsonian Institution |
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Smithsonian Institution Libraries online exhibition finder
The Smithsonian Libraries' Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web is an invaluable tool. Unsurprisingly, I keyed in Ephemera and got over 150 hits, which I look forward to exploring at leisure, mainly from the USA but including some from the United Kingdom, Austalia and Canada. At a time when there are more and more exhibitions, real or virtual, being put online, it is good to have a facility to search them by subject. Users are invited to suggest additions.
 |
| (C) Smithsonian Libraries |
Encyclopedia of Ephemera
The Encyclopedia of Ephemera is the fruit of Maurice Rickards' lifetime's work in establishing a collection which would illustrate all types or genres of ephemera. He sadly died (in 1998) before finishing the encyclopedia and the work was completed and edited by Prof Michael Twyman, aided by Sally du Boscq de Beaumont and Amoret Tanner, all of the Centre for Ephemera Studies in the Dept of Typography, University of Reading, where the Rickards Collection is now housed. It was published in 2000 by the British Library.
Copiously illustrated and with substantial entries on each category of ephemera from ABC primer to zoetrope strip/disc, the encyclopedia is an essential reference work for anyone interested in ephemera per se or in subjects represented by ephemera. There are two editions, one British, one American. Although there is not officially an electronic version of the encyclopedia, substantial snippet views appear through Google books.
The work of defining categories and genres of ephemera continues at the Centre for Ephemera Studies where a thesaurus of genre terms for ephemera is in preparation.
Copiously illustrated and with substantial entries on each category of ephemera from ABC primer to zoetrope strip/disc, the encyclopedia is an essential reference work for anyone interested in ephemera per se or in subjects represented by ephemera. There are two editions, one British, one American. Although there is not officially an electronic version of the encyclopedia, substantial snippet views appear through Google books.
The work of defining categories and genres of ephemera continues at the Centre for Ephemera Studies where a thesaurus of genre terms for ephemera is in preparation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)