In 2007, University of California-San Diego professor Alan Houston uncovered a collection of correspondence written by Benjamin Franklin in the spring and summer of…

  This is an image of the Civilian Conservation Corp clearing land for soil conservation.  Due to overdevelopment, much of the soil in large part…

    At the conclusion of the Southern Plains Indian war, a group of 72 warriors, primarily Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, were taken prisoner and…

 This website was created by a student for a multi-genre research project dealing with Korean immigration to America.  The work put together is extraordinary especially…

This coke bottle was produced after the 1983 North Carolina State University "Cardiac Pack" won the NCAA basketball championship.  Under the guidance of legendary coach…

  "Who's been here since Ise been gone?" This political cartoon ran in a newspaper during the late 1860s, It clearly refers to the solider,…

During a memorial service for victims of the La Coubre explosion, Fidel Castro's cameraman, Alberto Korda, saw a glimpse of Che Guevara. For a couple…

      While cleaning out my grandmother’s house last year I…

This is a selection from “Apartment Houses of the Metropolis” the book was published in 1908 to assist people in finding an apartment home in…

    During the Civil War, the Union and Confederate armies developed field offices for their topography operations. This allowed both sides to produce the most…

From 1952 to 1955, Red Man Tobacco Co. produced a series of baseball cards cards, the only tobacco company to do so after 1920. This…

 Coca Cola did its part to help the U.S. war effort during World War Two.  Coca Cola made a commitment to provide cola to US…

 Posted by Sue CarterTo the left is a diary entry written by Juri Munzer on January 27, 1936.  Munzer was a young Jewish man,living in…

This British Mark IX Armored Personnel Carrier was one of the first tanks used in warfare by the British.  This tank weighed 27 tons…

During World War II, several pamphlets were created to inform people of the crimes of the Axis powers, the war itself, and the mass murders…

This is an advertisement for a chain of hotels in Europe in the 1930s.  It may seem strange that there is not a picture of…

The film Casablanca (1942) has gained worldwide recognition as one of the greatest films of all time. Upon the movie's release, several posters…

  The archival collection at the Hagley Museum and Library is surprisingly eclectic.  The non-profit organization, founded by the DuPont corporation--at the…

This is the official map of Washington City (later Washington, DC) engraved in 1820 by W.I. Stone.  This map appears to be an updated version…

   This advertisement for a build-it-yourself home appeared in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogue in the 1920s.
  Image from the online Sears Archive…

This photograph is possibly the last known photograph taken of President Abraham Lincoln before his assassination in 1865. The Henry Warren photograph was apart of…

This is a picture of Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) workers working to reduce soil erosion. The CCC was established to conserve America's natural beauty and…

Beginning in 1996 the European Union began producing annual promotional materials for its annual unity celebration Europe Day.  The materials tend…

World War I was a watershed moment in history for a number of reasons.  One of the least considered by most secondary students is the…

This piece of ephemera is the iconic November, 1948 image of President elect Harry S. Truman in Union Station holding up a Chicago Daily Tribune…

This photograph depicts an African American family in the year 1914. It is a unique photograph because it offers a real-life view of what day-to-day…

Written by Sue Carter The image to the right depicts a perfume ad during the 1920s. The cosmetic industry grew rapidly during the 1920s. The…

This poster is an advertisement for one of Chuck Berry's concerts.  Notice the misspelling! This poster now hangs in the Rock and Roll Hall of…

This "special ticket" for the Southern Pacific Railroad.  It was issued in 1893 and gave its bearer the right…

Posted by Sue Carter The image to the left depicts a Surf advertisement in the 1950s. Surf is the name of a laundry detergent made…

  This site contains a variety of magazine ads dating from the late 1930s through the 1960s for Royal Crown Cola (RC).  The ads show…

Posted by Rachel Palmer Barclay was a famous artist before he began drawing illustrations for the Navy.  He drew the famous "Body of Fisher"…

This is a WWII footlocker used by my fiance's grandfather in 1943.  The locker was found recently in the attic of his grandmother's apartment along…

The map appeared in an informational publication from the Atomic Energy Commission in 1955.  The purpose of the publication was to allay the concerns of…

BBC News provides streaming of the original…

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most famous figures in American History. Countless items throughout history have been named after him or…

Ostensibly to document one's legal transit over international borders, passport stamps are enthusiastically collected by world travelers everywhere.  Although they are intended to be retained…

In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration (In September, 1938 the name was changed to Work Projects Administration), as part of…

At the turn of the last century, public health organizations began to develop and publicize visual campaigns to educate and mobilize the public about a…

Although the signed parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence itself is still kept at the National Archives in the "Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom,"…

The Zephyr debuted in 1934.  It was the epitome of locomotive technology at the time.  The Zephyr's unique construction consisted of "shot-welded stainless steel, a…

  This broadside advertises an exhibition of a reproduction of Benjamin West's famous painting Death on a Pale Horse. See an image of the painting…

  Posted by Rachel Palmer   This poster and many others were created in WWII.  The belief was that enemy spies could use the information…

  Nicholas Hilliard’sMiniatures of Queen ElizabethHilliard was a…

  This advertisement shows a young boy riding on a "lead horse."  It encouraged children to use the pain and not be worried about problems…

This particular poster is an advertisement for a hat shop in a Covered Market on Belleville Street in Paris.  Markets were (and to an extent still…

This is a photograph of a rare black sand beach on the island of Hawaii taken almost 75 years ago. The…

This t-shirt is an original product of George McGovern's presidential campaign for the 1972 election.  Political advertisements and propaganda can be seen in elections for…

 Red Channels, also known as the Hollywood blacklist, was published by Counterattack: The Newsletter of Facts to Combat Communism  in 1950. It contained a list…

This "special ticket" for the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was issued in 1893 and gave its bearer the right to travel on the company's trains…

The invention and introduction of the car changed the world forever. Ford Motor Company based in Detroit, MI also introduced the assembly line that increased…

Roller skating became a popular form of recreation in the Victorian Era.  Like its much earlier cousin, ice skating, the wheeled form was attractive to…

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Railroads were one of the main modes of transportation in the 19th century. The above photo is an image of a passenger schedule from…

This is an 1875 marriage certificate of two prominant members from Pelham, Westchester County NY. I retrieved the certificate from a historic blog of Pelham.…

On November 10, 1898 in Wilmington, NC, white supremecists successfully engineered a coup d'etat against the white, Republican mayor and white and black Republican city…

Menus can tell us many things about our past.  The best way to study menus would be to compile many menus from several restaurants…

This comic book was popular in the 1950s and '60s during the "John Wayne" era that romanticized the Old West and frontier life in the…

This website, The Berlin Wall Before the Fall, is a visual representation of the Berlin Wall as a canvas for art.  While the site…

This is the 1970 NCAA Final Four basketball tournament bracket located on website (ncaahoops.net) that provides site visitors with all of the winners and…

A red leather jacket worn by Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin became the symbol of excessive campaign spending in October of 2008.  The McCain…

Another World War I era cartoon, this also features Kaiser Wilhelm perched atop a German U-Boat, the first viable submarine used in naval warfare (there…

Fallout shelters were a common staple of American life during the 1950's and 60's. These fallout shelters were a defense measure designed to decrease the…

This is the menu for the opulent wedding reception of Maria Ewing Sherman and Thomas William Fitch, married Thursday, October 1, 1874. Maria Sherman, otherwise…

  This Cold War era propaganda poster is an advertisement placed strategically by the United States government in rural areas warning of the negative effects…

This 1891 New York Times article discusses the construction of the Congo Railway Company as described by explorer and journalist Henry Stanley.  Interviewed by an…

.The Coffin Handbill appeared in the Philadelphia Democratic Press, as part of the Anti-Jackson campaign material circulated by John Q. Adams’ supporters during the 1824…

Thanksgiving at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA (c. 1879-1918)
This ephemera is a school picture…

This website deals with all things Watergate, but one of the most interesting pieces is a page that shows in chronological order the Time…

Sperry & Hutchinson (S & H) Green Stamps were an important part of retail commerce in the mid-twentieth century.  Although these shopper premiums were first…

This website is devoted to maintaining political advertisements from both parties for presdiential elections since the television era began.  Included "Daisy Girl" a Lyndon Johnson…

    G.I. Joe was created in 1963 as a role model soldier for young boys. Introduced to the world 1964, G.I. Joe: "America's Movable…

This image is from the 1936 catalog of the Robert S. Griswold Seed and Floral Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, from whom one could order not…

Revolutionary War soldier John Cooper kept a diary of his war experience in 1776 between the months of April and December.  This is perhaps one…

Rolling Stone magazine has been essential to providing coverage on pop culture, politics, music, and celebrities. Created in 1967 out of San Francisco by Jann…

    This was a picture taken in 1928 at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Years later the picture used on a poster to advertise for the…

  “Africa Religions and Missions, 1913,” was created by geographer and mapmaker J.G. Bartholomew.  A self-proclaimed “geosopher,” Bartholomew often portrayed ideas through mapmaking rather than…

"We Shall Overcome--register-vote" is an adapted poster from the Civil Rights movement.  This poster was adapted and put in a textbook, America: …

Hurricane Katrina is one of the most devastating natural disasters in American History. There are thousands of video files and satellite photographs of…

This Remington Razor ad dates to the early 1940s, when the United States was in the middle of WWII. The stereotypical American housewife…

    This poster promoted the social security act. The image is certainly trying to play on the viewer's emotions - here sits a kindly…

This is an advertisement for Bell telephones. Notice the well placed cup of tea, vacuum cleaner, smile, and picture of husband. Advertisements seem so silly when…

   Movie posters are a form of ephemera that are continually created.  This series of ephemera can be categorized into several groups depending on genre, year…

  Here is an advertisement from 1875 trying to sell a horse hay rake.  It claims that it is a new and improved rake to…

    Written By Sue Carter To the left is a colorful WWI propaganda poster that urges women to unite and help with the war…

  This is a promotional display advertising the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin Germany.  The advertisment is unique in its marriage of…

  Jan. 3, 1820 This particular play starred Junius Brutus Booth a well known London born actor. Junius was named for Marcus Junius Brutus, one…

Posted by Sue CarterTo the left is a photo of Vogue's magazine cover from August 1940. The cover girl, Lisa Fonssagrives, would later marry famous…

These playing cards were created shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Each card represents a different Iraqui leader, during the time of the…

By Rachel Palmer   In reading Wayne Hanley's article about Jetons I got intrigued.  Jetons were small tokens often produced to commemorate some event…

With the Soviet Union's successful detonation an atomic bomb in 1949 and then hydrogen bombs in 1951 and 1953, Americans began preparing for a nuclear…

Cards declaring the name and address of a company have always been an important tool for any business. In the 19th century it…

Following the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina's impact on the city of New Orleans it took awhile for residents to be ready…

  This postcard is from 1913 and depicts a character that is supposed to be Lloyd George holding a money box.  It is a satirical…

This is a Navy recruiting poster by artist Howard Chandler Christy issued in 1917. Recruitment posters became commonplace during WWI and in many…

This certificate of live birth was provided by the Obama campaign after accusations that President Obama was not born in the United States. Despite…

1966 World Cup ticket for W. Germany v. USSR semi-final match. The 1966 World Cup was the eighth staging of the tournament. The tournament is…

This is a train ticket for the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.  The railroad changed its name in 1874 to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul…

  Thomas Tuttell created this unique deck of cards in 1701 that feature the tools and trade of navigation. Each card depicts a different aspect…

Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater, Edgar J. Kaufmann House, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1935, Color pencil on tracing paper, 15-3/8 x 27-1/4"…

The Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans is an  annual cultural and historical event.  Matt Rinard is one of a handful of artists who has…

Segregation signs such as this one, pictured on a segregated beach in 1982, were posted throughout the country of South Africa from 1948 until the…

  This is a passenger list pamphlet and competition from the R.M.S Queen Elizabeth Cunard Line of 1951.  Read more...

    This magazine article from a November 1944 issue of Modern Woman Magazine, features tips for the military bride. During this particular point in…

Written by Sue Carter   To the left is a 1932 advertisement to elect Franklin Roosevelt. The presidential campaign of 1932 was centered around the…

Propaganda is used to promote and guide public opinion towards a specific agenda. It is common practice for nations to utilize propaganda during wartime or…

This is a poster for the Hillside Agricultural Society Fair that was held in Cummington, Massachusetts from September 25, 1888 to September 26,…

The doomed maiden voyage of RMS Titanic will forever live in infamy.  This photo is the last known picture ever taken of the ship as…

This old sign is an advertisement for the soda Sun Drop, born and distributed in North Carolina.  The sign dates back several decades to around…

For years calendars have been used, thrown away, and forgotten.  Many of them can tell us, not only what was culturally popular for that particular…

Lost in Space, Lunch Box, Thermos Corp., 1967 Irwin Allen's TV series, Lost in Space, aired on CBS from 1965 to 1968.  The…

  The State Historical Society of Missouri was chosen to participate in the National Digital Newspaper Program, an effort to provide online access to historically…

  When thinking about baseball, the name Babe Ruth is bound to emerge.  He has become one of the leading figures in the history…

Posted By Rachel Palmer This campaign was introduced by, then head of the U.S. Food Administration, Herbert Hoover (History Matters).  It began at the…

Is this t-shirt an authentic Tanglewood Concert shirt?  No, but if it were, it would have been produced to sell at the Jul 7, 1970…

The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to Congress in 1923 by Alice Paul.  It remained in commitee until Congress…

  Although the story of Santa Claus is quite old, it was the American illustrator and cartoonist Thomas Nast that created the American perception of Santa…

Jesse and Frank James                   Lindbergh baby Kidnapping                   John Wilkes Booth http://alturl.com/kcuf                                  http://alturl.com/a4je                           http://alturl.com/pgwi Wanted posters depict…

    This Remington Razor advertisement, published in many WWII era newspapers and women's magazines like Good Housekeeping, encourages women to purchase their newly returned…

Written by Sue Carter This image depicts a Vietnamese ad supporting Ho Chi Minh. The icon in this image is Ho Chi Minh. The purpose…

  Many thank yous to Collectorsquest.com for posting this article from Modern Woman Magazine, Volume 12, No. 2, 1942. This article is a short and…

Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery the question of freed men's marriages arose throughout the south. In 1866, the North Carolina General…

Any map is a wonderful form of ephemera.  Publications such as theme park maps are not meant to last after the park closes or after…

Posted by Rachel Palmer   The Venona Project was a secret project run by the forerunner of the NSA (the U.S. Army's Signal Intelligence Service). The…

April 4, 1968 was a tragic day for the Civil Rights Movement and those who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On that fateful night,…

  The Banning Letter, circa 1953, was written to President Truman by Mr. William Banning whose son was killed in action during the Korean War…

This is a map that was produced by the English  cartographer John Speed (1552-1629) in the seventeenth  century. It is a very decorative and interesting…

This is a movie poster for D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) that appears on a wordpress blog site…

  This title page, taken from the curriculum Dr. Jacob Bigelow established at Harvard (ca. 1829), is often cited as the first popularization of the…

Niblo's Garden was built in 1828 and Niblo's Theater in 1834.  The theater was located in New York on the Northeast corner of Broadway at…

This is an image of a sausage gun brought to Wisconsin by German immigrants in the 19th century.  It is an example of ephemera because…

  This advertisement, featured in a July, 1955 newspaper, features a product that will assist Radio Free Europe. Radio Free Europe is a U.S. funded…

This poster advertises the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Most Americans and Western Europeans never got to see this poster. Due to the 1979 Soviet…

For years, political campaigns have been using t-shirts  to promote their campaign slogans, policies, and the importance of elections. Certainly, the campaign of Barack Obama…

Passbooks were used in South Africa under apartheid law. Every black person in South Africa was given a passbook at the age of…

Posted by Sue CarterCharlie Brewster Ross was abducted from his home on July 1st, 1974 in Germanton, PA. His brother, Walter was also abducted. The…

This memo was written on May 26, 1953 by Burton R. Berry of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.  He writes to the State…

On May 31st, 1871 the United States Congress passed an act calling for the exhibition of American and foreign arts, products, and manufactures to be…

This 1888 advertisement printed in Boston, Massachusetts publicizes ‘one of the wonders of the age.’ Introducing the first electric street railway in Massachusetts,…

  In 1820, Maine businessman named Samuel B. Dana proposed a new publication called the Lincoln Telegragh. The weekly publication promised to report on political,…

The website for the Academic Film Archive (http://www.afana.org/) is an unusual treat offering a variety of looks back at educational film dating from the…

 
  Posted by Rachel Palmer This newspaper article was one of the most accurate accounts of the Lincoln assignation.  Many…

This non-color coloring book designed by Morrie Turner in 1987 illustrates a movement that swept the nation after the AIDS disease was first identified in…

This is a 1925 NC State University yearbook.  NCSU has always called the annual the "Agromeck." I have uploaded images of the yearbook to my Read more...

At the turn of the 20th century, parlor games has  become a traditional form of popular entertainment in  American households. There was a rise and…

 During the 1950's the People's Republic of China engaged in a concerted effort to solidify the new political regime in part through use of a…

This cartoon, published soon after the discovery of the Zimmerman telegram, features a very stylized Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (helmet, cape, exaggerated nose) and a…

    Written by Sue Carter To the left is the first page of a progam entitled "An Entertainment" put on by The Poet's Theatre.…

                                                                      President Yeltsin and President Clinton held a news conference in Hyde Park, New York in October of 1995.  Click here to…

Ten-pin bowling is a relatively recent form of recreation that can trace its history to similar games played, according to some authors, as…

American Indian Movement poster, circa 1973 Called onto the Pine Ridge reservation to protect the traditionalists and full-blooded elders, American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders decried the reservation…

The political campaign button dates back to George Washington when they were quite literally brass clothing buttons with a message embossed.  By the time…

After the attacks on the world trade center on 9/11, the French government chose not to support the war on grounds they found perfectly acceptable. …

The slide rule is a mechanical calculation aid.  The device makes use of logarithims to provide an easy method for multiplication, division, roots,…

Posted By : Rachel Palmer
This map is considered the map London Underground. Henry Beck was an engineering student. The…

   "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort.  Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescure, protect, and provide him…

 The image to the left represents the front page of Raleigh's own News & Observer on December 7th, 1941. On this day, Japan attacked the United States…

The Zapruder Film may be one of the most famous pieces of historical ephemera in the world.  The video was taken on November 22, 1963…

 
In the late 1800's there was an explosion of advertisements for various substances produced for pharmaceutical purposes. This is a…

Written by Sue Carter To the right is a 1958 Ford Advertisement. This advertisment represents a classic post-war behemoth with a "deco-meets-space-age" styling. Click Read more...

  Barbie has become an iconic figure in American history.  The first doll was created over 50 years ago by a housewife.  She was using a German…

  Kenneth Cyril Bird, or "Fougasse", was a cartoonist in Britain during WWII.  He created a group of cartoons for the Ministry of Information called "Careless…

  After the establishment of an Islamic republic in Iran on April 1, 1979, revolutionary fervor ran high.  The leader of this revolution the Ayatollah Ruhollah…

In the late 19th and early 20th century character maps were all the rage. This map called dogs of war, produced by Johnson, Riddle and…

This poster is for an incredibly cheezy yet famous 50's science fiction movie, "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." My Dad made me watch this as a kid and we…

  In the early 1900's newsboys played an important role in Illinios' society.  In big cities, they could be found on every corner or on…

 Stamps such as this one is a reminder to all of European colonialism in North Africa.  The 1912 Treaty of Lausanne…

Fala FDR’s Dog (Barkers for Britain)   Fala was President Roosevelt’s much loved pet.  In 1941 a campaign began to raise much needed cash…

  For this ephemera I chose to look at covers of Time Magazine. Many of these covers are seen as…

This is a poster released for the anti-Vietnam war campaign in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It depicts Uncle Sam as a skull,…

Pennies are often thought of as practically valueless.  They are created for a specific purpose and their value is specifically quantified as no more than…

This London Herald newspaper is depicting the events from the 1929 U.S. stock market crash. It decribes the suicides, problems, and expectations as the U.S…

The tradition of choosing class rings dates back to 1835 with Westpoint Military Academy.  The ring  below is a 1837 class ring from Westpoint. I…

Most people associate almanacs with the Farmers Almanac published in the United States since 1792.  Almanacs have served a purpose beyond forecasting the weather and…

This is the cover of the January 2, 1939 edition of TIME magazine.  The cover depicts Adolf Hitler playing an organ in a cathedral.  From…

This image is of a poster showing an innocent woman and child surrounded by men with guns.  This is a poster remembering all of the…

This print advertisement for Cosmo Buttermilk Soap is located in the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, 1838-1953. The Cosmo Buttermilk Soap Co. was opened in…

    Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, also known as Elevator to the Gallows (U.S. release), is a French film directed by Louis Malle in 1958. While…

This 1959-1960 Volkswagen Owner's Manuel is one of the first to be converted to .pdf format and put online.  Toshiba has put many of its…

Eng and Chang Bunker, were the original "Siamese Twins."  Born in what is today Thailand, in 1811, they are described as having had…

  February 5, 2003 then Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a presentation to the United Nations Security Council on Iraq's violations of a…

During World War I The United States Food Administration headed by Herbert Hoover began a campaign encouraging conservation of foods on the home front. Many…

Chez Panisse Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in 1971.  Her Berkeley restaurant has become a culinary landmark.
Ms. Waters is said to…

James Marshall had a work crew camped on the American River near Sacramento, California in January of 1848. The crew was building a saw mill…

This leaflet advertising Lane Bryant’s sterilized maternity outfit was published around 1910. The leaflet, found at Duke University Libraries Digital Collection, contains four pages stressing…

After the United States entered World War II, American citizens were called upon to serve their country by any means necessary to ensure victory.…

Posted by Rachel Palmer This is one of the most famous photos in Canadian history.  It was taken on September 1, 1990 (Shaping Canda). …

During World War Two, the United States Military promoted both combat and civil defense.  One great example is the aircraft spotter card, a new…

Posted by Rachel Palmer: On September 3, 1864 Union General Sherman sent one of the most famous telegrams of the Civil War to General…

                                                         …

In the early morning, of February 3rd, 1959, a plane carrying the musicians Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly crashed 8 miles outside Clear Lake,…

This advertisement by Tiffany's was placed in The Cosmopolitan magazine in February of 1905. The main purpose of this ad was to inform magazine readers about…

This is an advertisement (dated 1870's) printed on onion skin type paper for a Colt broadside new model army revolving pistol. The Colt Single Action…

Billboards first appearred in the United States in 1835.  The first billboard was used to adverise a circus in New York.  In the early 1900s,…

This is a menu card from a French Steamer "Laos" of the  Messageries Maritimes Line. The lunch menu is from a 1899 and is a…

This is an authentic White Star Line vintage poster created by Montague Birrel Black. This circa 1910 poster is titled White Star Line / "Olympic"…

Sheet music is an example of an ephemera as some music is written only for one time use or are not good enough to preserve.…

This is a postcard created in Cortland New York in the late nineteenth century.  The postcard illustrates the Gillette Skirt Company building, along with people…

This anti-Apartheid propaganda poster was created in 1989 and includes quotations from the Freedom Charter, written in 1953. “Voices from the youth” expresses ideologies of…