ephemera Archive

3January 24, 2012
Signs Of The Times, 1945

A vintage photo, taken by photographer Joseph Jasgur, of Earl Carroll’s Vanities pin-up girls picketing in front of a Los Angeles movie theater — a staged publicity event “against” the…
0January 5, 2012
These Eyeglasses Look Upside Down – But They’re Not! (I Want!)

I found this Bert Stern photo of Kecia Nyman at Magdorable! — and fell in love with these glasses from 1965! I’ve not been able to find anything like them,…
2January 5, 2012
Fashion Forecasting With Tarot Cards (In 1953)

A fashion spread in Harper’s Bazaar, August 1953, featuring over-sized tarot cards. Photos by Louise Dahl-Wolfe.
0January 4, 2012
This Will Really Light The Smoker In Your Life Up

A vintage nudie butane lighter from the 60s. The nipples and crotch light-up when you flick — when you flick the mechanism for generating the flame on the lighter; not…
0December 27, 2011
Really, Love From Peaches That Will Shake Your Tree

A signed vintage photo from Peaches, personally inscribed as follows: To Charlie “The kid with the puns” Best of Luck always your friend “Peaches” See? Women really do love a…
0December 21, 2011
Whatjamacallit Wednesday: How Do You Get Kitten Hips? And Why Would You Want Them?

Kitten hips. No, not the furry kind — the “lithe young American” kind, as described in this vintage girdle ad published in Harper’s Bazaar, 1946. You feel and look as…
0December 16, 2011
What A Cheeky Little Monkey!

What an expression on showgirl Barbara Anne Sharma! Did someone squeeze the Sharma? This vintage photo was a promo piece for The Boy Friend. Taken by Maurice Seymour; autographed by…
0December 14, 2011
Which Cat Is Your Wife?

A “fun little quiz” based on photographs of cats taken by Walter Chandoha — found in Every Woman’s magazine, October 1952. Which seems more than a little odd… Did “every…
0December 13, 2011
No Newt Is Good Newt

I had these buttons / pinbacks made back in the day — the early days of the gross ineptitude, racism, and misogyny of the political money-grubbing beast that is Newt…
2December 13, 2011
Spin The Wheel, Land On Vera Francis

Who wouldn’t fall in love with a vintage roulette wheel of pinups? The seller (Grapefruit Moon Gallery), says this in the item’s description (links added by me): ITEM: You are…
3December 9, 2011
Of Research & Tinkle Troubles

Thanks to Twitter and my friend Cliff Aliperti of Immortal Ephemera (and occasionally blogging with me at Inherited Values — nudge, nudge, Cliff lol), I was alerted to a fabulous…
1December 1, 2011
Cheap Thrills Thursday: I Love The Bobbed-Hair Bimbos

Sheet music I Love The Bobbed-Hair Bimbos, by Zeph Fitz-Gerald (1923). Via.
0November 30, 2011
An Offer She Shouldn’t Refuse

The infamous “Hooker” cover of True Life Secrets #23 (1954), in which a woman responds to a man proffering jewels by saying, “…And just what I must I do to get…
0November 29, 2011
Laundry On The Line

Remember Wilson, the neighbor whose face we never completely saw as it as obscured by the fence on Tool Time? Yeah, so does the seller of this vintage photo —…
0November 5, 2011
I Thought This Was A Joke!

I thought the old “Tumble Inn” was a joke! But at least one existed, all the way back in the 1910s! According to the seller, Lynnstudios, the photos were removed…
1October 29, 2011
Watch Where You’re Putting That Coke Bottle, Bub

Product placement matters. Accident? Or subliminal phallic ad designed to make men and a few free-swingin’ women take immediate action? The seller’s description: [V]intage original 1950s double sided Coca-Cola –…
0October 28, 2011
They Say Behind Every Great Man…

Is a great woman. But in the case of Anthony Bruno, aka Bruno of Hollywood, his great woman was in front of him — and his camera. Actually, a lot…
0October 27, 2011
Signs Of The Times: 1969 (Or, Men At Work?)

In light of the recently released Congressional Budget Office report on income inequality, I found this cover of the August 1969 issue of Fortune relevant — especially the The Time…
2October 26, 2011
“In My Book, You’re Voluminous”

A few years ago, at the first annual Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention, I met Robin Blum and discovered her fabulous bookmarks, In My Book®. In My Book® cards are more…
0October 20, 2011
How Much To Put On An Authentic Beverly Hillbillies Play?

The Beverly Hillbillies, A Comedy In Three Acts, Based Upon The Television Program “The Beverly Hillbillies” Created By Paul Henning, Adapted by D. D. Brooke, 1968. This was published by…
0October 20, 2011
Cheap Thrills Thursday: Breakfast Cereal Edition

Forget yer flashmobs; feed me the health and morality lessons via the kitschy art. Artist Ron English makes his statements about cereals in parody designs — Pop Art Krispies, Sugar…