What is Vintage Ephemera and Memorabilia?
Vintage ephemera and memorabilia are collected by most people whether they realize it or not. If you have an old junk drawer, chances are you have collected some type of memorabilia without even trying. By its very definition, ephemera is something that passes quickly. We usually only find it useful for the day. I realized that some very unusual things can be collectible when I was doing a search on old paper money value. I had a coffee can filled with old paper money and silver coins that had been passed down to me and I was curious about how much the old bills were worth. In my case, they weren't really all that valuable, but my search got me looking at eBay and I ended up learning a lot.
Silly things like movie ticket stubs from a first date, travel brochures from a trip you took when you were a child, maybe an old dance card from your Grandmother's teenaged years would all qualify as vintage ephemera. All of this would easily qualify as "junk" to many people as the dug through an old box of papers, but to someone, it is probably priceless. Of course there is the memorabilia that is recognized by many people as being valuable. If you have an old piece of paper signed by Babe Ruth, you can be pretty sure that it's going to be valuable to many people. Old sports memorabilia is actually a huge business, but you knew that!
Vintage Photos
Sometimes ephemera and memorabilia that is worth a lot of money can show up in some strange places. I once found a postcard among a large lot I had purchased that caught my eye because the address had been typewritten. I looked up the name and after a little bit of research, learned that the man who had sent the vintage card had mailed it and then boarded the Titanic! That is when I found out that Titanic memorabilia is quite collectible. It did pretty well on eBay, but didn't set any new records for the site.
Some of that old stuff sells for a ton! Some of the best ephemera I've come across has been found at estate sales. These are better than most garage sales because estate sales are trying to get rid of EVERYTHING. It can be hit or miss though. You might have to go to ten or fifteen estate sales before you find that one box filled with what looks like junk to everyone else. I've found some really neat old stuff in those boxes that sell for a few dollars each. The downside of this for collectors of specific types of ephemera or memorabilia is that this method is extremely hit or miss and the odds of finding what you are specifically looking for are not too good.
eBay is like a dream for people interested in specific types of memorabilia or anything old and hard to find. It basically acts as a clearing house where the people who buy up all of that estate merchandise put it out for everyone to see. Got a box filled with baseball memorabilia? List the items individually on eBay and watch it disappear. Not everyone is interested in selling their stuff off. Most collectors just want to collect. Ephemera can be old or recent and it is such a broad field of collectibles that there is a chance that almost anything will have some value to someone. Memorabilia is a bit more specific as it usually relates to something a bit more well defined. Pretty much any sporting memorabilia you can think of will have collectors interested in it. Baseball, NFL, golf, tennis, basketball (Michael Jordan memorabilia is big) are all popular.
Themes such as "western memorabilia" or "Kennedy memorabilia" are big too. If you can find some memorabilia that bears a certified autograph, you've definitely got a keeper (or a seller if that is what you are interested in doing). Whatever your interest, if you are like me, you see ephemera and memorabilia as a special way to study the past. It has more heart than a history book and it tells better stories. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy my little site and find something that you like whether it is information about antique diaries or some popular sporting memorabilia.
Tags: antique, antique ephemera, antique items, antique memorabilia, ephemera, kennedy memorabilia, old paper money value, titanic memorabilia, vintage, vintage ephemera, western memorabilia