While out in the garage, trying to get the bird feeders back into operation, I came across a full page newspaper ad from May 2000. The page had been saved because it was nicely designed and captured a particular moment in time.
The ad had been bought by the Urban Pest Management Council of Canada at the time the pesticide by-law in Halifax was about to be passed. The images (dandelion, ragweed, grubs) and copy writing (there is more not shown) were designed to hit every hot button: lower property value, danger to your family, loss of freedom.
Ephemera are those bits of paper that are not meant to have an enduring life; they are intended to be thrown away. I like the description of ephemera as “the perspiration of history.” The “neighbours” ad led me to look at my little pile of printed paper for some more examples of ephemera that reflected their times.
When Canada converted to the metric system in the early 70s there were a lot of print pieces to get us ready. Here is a little card produced by the NS Government (it didn’t help one little bit).
The best piece of metric ephemera (cannot locate my copy) was a full page newspaper ad that simply said “Say Goodnight to Fahrenheit.” It appeared the day of the official switch over.
This is the cover of a little brochure Sobeys produced in the 80s when they started to introduce universal product code scanners. UPCs changed retail and the design of every product label.
Those of you who have grownup with curbside recycling might not realize that there was a middle period where we demonstrated our commitment by lugging material clean across town. In the 80s a group organized recycling of glass and cans once a month in the St Thomas / LeMarchant School yard. When it started we had to remove paper labels from wine bottles. Here is a little photocopied handbill.
This sticker was picked up on a trip to New York about 1988. The AIDS crisis was still unfolding and this direct little poster was unlike anything we had seen in Halifax. I just looked it up and it was produced by a group called Gran Fury (the model of Plymouth used by the NYPD). Gran Fury were a communications cell of Act Up, the prominent AIDS advocacy group.
Saving ephemera is an amusing and easy activity. You just do a little curating of the paper that passes your way. I don’t save much these days but let me show you the sort of items that I think will age well.
Items to do with local food and wine; we are still in the early days. Here is a beautiful, hand drawn label I picked up at the Garlic Festival this fall and a sophisticated illustration on a little promotional card for Nova 7, our most famous wine.
This 2012 invitation to the launch event for Local Connections Halifax Magazine is perfect. Crisply letterpress-printed on card stock by Inkwell, the event was at Local Source. Very of the time.
Finally a couple of bookmarks for the new library- will you miss the photoshopped images of the model? These will be instant antiques. And a public engagement form for the Cogswell Street Interchange planning process. Can you see a future collecting field?