Vintage Program – Teachers’ Institute

This is an interesting little booklet from the 1929 Fayette County (PA) Teachers' Institute. This booklet was a guide to the events taking place from October 28 - November 1, 1929. I suppose its collectibility is dependent on whether folks are collecting old programs from various events and/or teacher related items. I've found that people who collect vintage ephemera either seem to specialize in one particular area, or they enjoy looking at all of the old stuff.

There are hundreds and possibly thousands of old programs being sold on eBay during any given day. These are actually a great example of an item that usually does not get kept for all that long. Sure, you keep a program from a graduation or a wedding. Maybe even from a school play to help you to remember a special day in someone's childhood. Programs like this though, that are often work related, get thrown out much of the time. Be honest, how long after it is necessary to keep it, do you usually keep work related stuff? Even better, do you really consider any of it collectible at all?

Most of the time, this stuff gets ditched because we can see no real value in it. As time passes though, items like these take on a historical significance and we use them to learn about how people lived in a different era. For example, looking at a program like this from a teacher in-service type of day can teach you about changes in school policies and payment for teachers. Granted, it is not the most compelling reading for everyone, but for someone with an interest in the history of the teaching profession, the data could be quite valuable.