New-York Historical Society ephemera collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Ephemera Collection (formerly called the Ephemera File) contains a variety of print ephemera, such as advertisements, calendars, theatrical posters, political broadsides, event announcements, etc.
Arrangement
This collection has been organized into the following five series:
Series I: Ephemera
Series II: Prohibition-related ephemera
Series III: Advertising postcards
Series IV: Ephemera albums
Series V: Erotic advertising cards
Scope and Contents
The Ephemera Collection (formerly referred to as the Ephemera File) spans the period from approximately mid-19th century to the present, and contains a variety of printed ephemera, including advertisements, flyers, calendars, event announcements and programs, greeting cards, and other disposable or everyday items.
The collection is divided into 5 series. Series I, Ephemera, includes material relating to products (food, clothing, household items, etc.); establishments such as hotels and restaurants, charitable and other organizations; and cultural and political events, primarily in New York City.
Series II, Prohibition-related ephemera, includes speakeasy cards (advertising illicit bars that operated during the years of Prohibition), cartoons and caricatures, and other Prohibition and temperance related ephemera.
Series III, Advertising postcards, includes 510 postcards from the 1990s, which would have been found in bars, clubs, restaurants and other venues. The majority of these cards advertise New York businesses.
Series IV, Ephemera albums, consists of two albums of pasted-in ephemera, including scraps and diecuts, advertisements and trade cards. Notable items include images promoting racial and ethnic stereotypes and images of Santa Claus.
Series V, Erotic advertising cards, includes loose paper cards advertising phone sex hotlines, adult establishments and the like. This material is extremely graphic. Most of these were donated by photographer Andreas Feininger. N-YHS staff collected several others during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Subjects
Access restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Conditions Governing Use
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Ephemera Collection was compiled by New-York Historical Society from various sources. 510 advertising postcards were donated by Bert Hansen in 2000. Erotic advertising cards were donated by photographer Andreas Feininger in the 1990's, and the Schreyer family in the early 2000's. The remaining items were acquired through staff or individual donations. It is anticipated that items will continue to be added.
Accruals
The collection is open for ongoing additions.
About this Guide
Repository
Series I: Ephemera
Scope and Contents
Series I, Ephemera, includes material relating to products (food, clothing, household items, etc.); establishments such as hotels and restaurants, charitable and other organizations; and cultural and political events, primarily in New York City.
Animals, 1960s-1990s, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among other documents, a dogwalker flyer with tear-off contact information; ticket to the Westminster Kennel Club Show at Madison Square Garden (1994); members pass for rides at the New York Zoological Society (1990); advertising picture postcard for Shar-Pei dogs; reprint of article "Horses in Old New York" by Benjamin Ladd Cook (autographed by Cook) (1961).
Antiques, 1957-circa 1990s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, along other documents, business card for Baltimore County Stripper Inc (with price quote); name tag for the Ephemera Society of America conference; sales and show flyers and small pieces for Rhode Island Antiques Show (1988), a show in Pittsburgh Moose Lodge (1988), at the Greenwich (1988), "Modernism" at the Armory (1994); postcard for The Ross Group (poster sales); booklet for Manhattan Art and Antiques Center (1990s); flyer for antiques auction at Taylor and Taylor (1957).
Architecture - Woolworth Building - Centennial dinner, 2013, undated, inclusive
Architecture
Art - Exhibitions, auction galleries, etc., 1800s?-2008, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The folder holds: one handbill for Romain-Barillier in Paris, card in French, undated, likely 1800s; remainder of items are gallery announcement cards from the 20th century: Kennedy & Company exhibition of "Little Old New York (circa 1940s); New York County exhibition announcement for "A Celebration of Three Hundred Years of Liberty" (1983); Linda Cummings (1997); Swann Photo Review Benefit Auction (1999), Photographic Literature & Photographs auction (2001), booksigning for Jay Maisel (2001); The Project and Salon 94 receptions (2007); Sepia reception for Vivan Sundaram, poster of "Trash" (2008); safe-T-Gallery reception for Anders Goldfarb (2008); and Higher Pictures opening for Scott Peterman ans Holly Hinman (2008).
Art - Museums - New York City
Scope and Contents
Holds items from the Museum of the City of New York (1983-84); Whitney (1984, 1991); Brooklyn Museum (2007); South Street Seaport map (circa 1983); Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (2007-08); American Museum of Natural History Jumbo elephant exhibition (1993); Fraunces Tavern Museum (1983) and undated checklist of exhibition of paintings by John Ward Dunsmore; Museum of the Borough of Brooklyn at Brooklyn College (1984); 20th century art fair at Seventh Regiment Armory (1999).
Art - Reproductions
Auctions - Cotton
Banks and financial, 1930
Scope and Contents
Folder holds one item: Booklet "The richest man in Babylon tells his system" by George S. Clason, published by Financial Independence Founders Inc. (1930), gift of Mike Blumenthal, 2007.
Beverages
Beverages
Books (including Children's books)
Business and Finance
Business cards, circa 1850's - 2000's
Calendars and Valentines
Calendars
Calendars, Promotional (oversize), 1936-1986, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes Bank for Savings and Mexico [NY] Motor Car Supply Co., with scenes from American history (1938-39); Pennsylvania Railroad, with artwork by Grit Teller (1949); The Blue Print Company, with images of blueprints for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island renovations (1986); and Polygraphic Company of America, with art deco New York City themed image by Artzy Basheff (1936).
Clothing
Clothing - Children
Clothing - Foundations, Underwear
Clothing - Fur
Clothing - Hats, Millinery, 1852-1908, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Folder holds four items: broadside for summer hats at Genin's of 507 Broadway, circa 1852 (gift, Stephen Manheimer, 2020); trade card for Hill Brothers milliners, featuring the "Myra" hat, 1885 (gift, 2017); trade card for Simon Weil, milliner, 19th century (gift, Pam Schafler, 2008); two receipted invoices from Knox hatter, 1907-08 (gift, Mrs. Max A. Polster, 2007).
Clothing - Shoes, Hose
Clubs and Societies
Clubs and Societies - Animal Rights
Comic books
Covid-19 Pandemic / Social Justice Protests, 2020-2021, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This folder holds a small number of items related to the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice and other social protests from the same time period. These items were donated to N-YHS from various sources as part of the History Responds collecting initiative.
Dances and Balls
Dinners, 1916, 2007, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Invitation from the Wichita Club to a testimonial dinner at the Star Casino for Executive Member Nathan Burkan, with related menu (1916); Schulte Roth & Zabel, menu for New Partners' Dinner held at N-YHS (2007).
Dinners, 1894, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Program from the annual Lincoln Dinner of the Republican Club.
Drugs and Medicines
Drugs and Medicines
Dry goods/Department stores - grocery and feed stores, 1892-2007, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among other documents, trade cards for Clark's O.N.T. spool cotton, Niagara starch, Hornby's grocer; a list of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company's (A&P) branches in the U.S. on reverse of a large decorative chromolithograph and letter press depicting a bird and nest in a basket (gift of Linda Ferber, 2017); Whole Foods (Bowery location) brochure [2007]; manuscript bills and statements from W.H.H. Ransom & Son (1899), Arm & Hammer baking soda (1907); East River Milling Co. (1892), Auburn Tobacco Co (1929); cash register receipt from Dagostino (1986)
Dry Goods/Department Stores - clothing and fabric, 1857-circa 1994, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among other documents, trade cards for Medford Fancy Goods, Charles Cohen; holiday greeting card from Montgomery Ward; Talbot Clothing Co. contest (guessing state-by-state 1896 presidential election results) (gift of Leo Hershkowitz); Devlin & Co circular/price list (1857); various small pieces from B. Altman; James McCreery & Co private sale invitation (circa 1927?); brochures and small pieces (circa 1990s) for Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom.
Dry Goods/Department Stores -- Macy's (includes Thanksgiving Parade)
Dry Goods/Department Stores
Events-General, 1852-1972, inclusive
Scope Note
The folder holds the following items: 2 tickets to a Jenny Lind concert at Castle Garden on May 24, 1852 (Gift, Buffalo History Museum, 2020); admission ticket to the reception for Admiral Dewey in New York City on September 30, 1899; a sticker commemorating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution in 1937, distributed by Pep Boys (gift, 2008); the seating list for the 1948 Unification Dinner held at the Waldorf-Astoria; mailing by the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, New York Chapter, regarding a commemoration of the centennials of the New York and Harlem Railroads at New-York Historical on February 16, 1945; an invitation to the 1972 dedication of the American Museum of Immigration on Liberty Island; and a booklet of songs, prayers and statements published by the Salesian Mission on the occasion of the 1976 American Bicentennial.
Events - New York World's Fair 1939/40
Events - New York World's Fair 1964/65
Events (includes centennial and sesquicentennial celebrations and Old New York lectures by henry Collins Brown)
Events - 9/11 (includes World Trade Center ephemera), 1999-2004, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes transcript and audio recording on CD (recorded by Story Corps) of Alison Schmid, with 2 pamphlets (gift of Alison Schmid, 2007); packet of observation deck tickets and brochure, Windows on the World (restaurant) business cards, bill, matchbox, and World Trade Center Club publicity booklet (gift of Alicia Latzer 2007); "Bravest of the Brave" CD (gift of Jay Comella, 2007).
Events - 9/11
Scope and Contents Note
includes "Mind map" of all the parties involved in the restoration of lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attack on 9/1//2001.
Events - Bicentennial of New York Stock Exchange, 1992
Firemen and fires
Firemen and Fires
Food
Food - Candy/Chocolates/Sweets
Food - Candy, 1974
Scope and Contents
Sugar Daddy candy (Nabisco brand) advertisement in the form of a broadside "Sugar Daddy News" featuring tennis player Bobby Riggs and a large photo of Riggs with tennis player Rosie Casals, continuing the "war of the sexes" theme from the Riggs/Billie Jean King match. Gift, Harvey Spiller, 2017.
Food -- Fruits/Vegetables/Grains
Food -- Fruits & Produce, undated
Scope and Contents
Holds one object: a framed photograph of a child with an advertising slogan for Kassowitz & Montesani, commission merchants of fruit and produce at 357 Washington Street, New York. The object also includes an embedded thermometer.
Food - Meat
Furniture
Greeting cards and greeting card brochures
Hotels and Restaurants - Hotels
Scope and Contents Note
includes a 1930 announcement of Winold Reiss's interior design work at the Hotel St. George.
Hotels and Restaurants - Restaurants
Hotels and Restaurants - NYC Restaurants, 1937-2005, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes: Hotel Lexington's Hawaiian Room menu (1937), gift of Dorothy Barck, 1937; Romeo Salta, mailed as correspondence with commentary (1954); Peter Luger's foil covering for chocolates (1987); plastic tab used to indicate degree beef was cooked, medium rare in this sample (1988); Serendity 3 (1988); Great American Health Bar (1991); Lexington Avenue Grill (1991); Piatti Pronti menu (1991); Keen's Chophouse (1990s?); City Bakery (1994 Lemonade Festival); Bond 45 (2005), gift of Joshua Hamerman, 2019.
Undated: Copacabana (highlighting Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis in the Copa's revue); Leon & Eddie's; Pluck U napkin; Gage & Tollner tea bag tag; O'Farrell's; Palm Beach Bar at Billy Rose's Casa Manana, numbered song list for requests; Martino's; Hermitage Shoppe tea room; Artepasta; B.R Guest Restaurants (various); Jerry's; Bruno's; Mars 2112; Mom's Bagels; Official All Star Cafe; Sundance menu; Yorkville Common Pantry free meal ticket; Beanstalk; Plataforma; Lucy's napkin; Zimmerman's Hungaria souvenir photograph of 7 women at table; Turf Cafe souvenir photograph frame (no photo); Stork Club napkin; Rainbow Gourmet menu; Jewelers Restaurant & Cafe I menu; Gold Rush; Le Cafe menu; Frank's; Harley Davidson New York Cafe; Hard Rock Cafe; El Tunnel menu.
Business cards: Mustang Sally's; Good Diner; Hasak; Hummus Place (2007); La Tour; Planet Hollywood; Bobby Van's Steakhouse; Ruby Foo's; Goldfinger's, gift of Craig Klose 2007; Dallas BBQ; Figs; McDonough's Spa; Kaspars; Official All Star Cafe; Jerry's; British Open; Plataforma; Martino's; Triple Crown ale house.
Hotels and Restaurants
Household
Household - House Furnishings - Crystal and China
Household - Plumbing
Insurance
Insurance
Jewelry and Leather Goods
Medical (includes dental and psychiatry)
Military
Military - 7th Regiment
Military - 7th Regiment
Military - 69th Regiment (50th Anniversary Celebration), 1911, inclusive
Music
Parks and gardens
Scope and Contents Note
Includes city parks and amusement parks (Steeplechase Park)
Parks and gardens - Longwood Gardens
Photography
Politics and government
Scope and Contents Note
Includes political protests
Politics and government
Scope and Contents Note
Contains political protest posters, including Help End Demonstrations, a 1968 poster advertising a march and rally for peace. Martin Luther King Jr. was scheduled to speak at the rally; his widow Coretta Scott King read the notes from his speech "Ten Commandments on Vietnam."
Politics and government -- campaign buttons, 1950's-1980's
Scope and Contents
Includes campaing buttons for Dwight Eisnenhower, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George Mcgovern, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and others. Also include buttons for local campaings and other political issues (impeachment, anti-Vietnam, etc.).
Printing
Public Service/Charitable Organizations
Public Service/Charitable Organizations - Immigrants
Publishing
Publishing - Books and Bookstores
Real Estate
Real Estate
Religion, circa 2001, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Folder holds only 1 item: publicity pamphlet for Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York (circa 2001).
Schools and Colleges
Schools and Colleges
Seeds and plants (includes flowers and florists)
Sewing machines
Sports and Fitness
Sports and Fitness -- Skating, 1940's - 1950's
Sports and Fitness (includes firearms)
Stationery, 1895, circa 1910's-1920's
Scope and Contents Note
Includes Illustrated letterheads from New York City businesses and hotels; a graphic telegram; an 1895 mourning card; a 1911 wedding announcement and invitation, written partially in Hebrew.
Streets and Avenues, New York City, undated
Scope and Contents
Holds 1 item: a 6x3 inch cardboard calculator used to determine New York City cross streets in relation to avenue addresses. Published as marketing item by Business Week magazine. Gift of Pamela Bayless, 2022.
Technology - Computers, Sound Recordings
Technology - Phonographs, Sound Recordings, Steam Driller
Textiles, 1942, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Folder holds one item: Booket "Smoke Rings from an editor's pipe," edited by Howard S. Neiman, reprinted columns from The Textile Colorist (1942), gift of Mike Blumenthal, 2007.
Theatrical enterprises (includes nightclubs)
Theatrical enterprises - Circuses
Theatrical enterprises - Motion Pictures
Scope and Contents
Includes advertisement for newsreel movie about Nazi atrocities (film evidence used at Nuremberg Trials)
Theatrical enterprises - Television
Theatrical enterprises - Theater posters
Theatrical enterprises - Specs for "Hello Dolly" set (New York Streets drawn by Ron Hobbs)
Tobacco
Toilet articles and beauty aids
Toilet articles and beauty aids - colognes and perfumes
Toilet articles and beauty aids - colognes and perfumes - sample cards
Toilet articles and beauty aids - face care - makeup
Toilet articles and beauty aids - hair care
Toilet articles and beauty aids - nail care
Toilet articles and beauty aids - spas
Toys and games (includes adult games)
Transportation, circa 1860-2010s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among other items:
MTA/subway/bus-related items (MetroCards, publicity, etc.);
sightseeing/tourism (Gray Line tours (1947), Curtiss-Wright Flying Service (1934), two passes for the American Sight Seeing Cars & Coach Co. (1909-1910));
two tickets for the New York & Brooklyn Bridge Railroad (1895?);
Zipcar brochure (ca. 2007);
Hudson River Railroad schedule (1860);
Hamburg-American Line list of saloon passengers on the S.S. Deutschland (1905);
trade card depicting and in the shape of a clam for Lucey's 30th excursion to Coney Island and Rockaway on the steamboat Grand Republic (1800s), gift of Stephen Manheimer, 2019.
Transportation - Aviation - Charles Lindbergh
Transportation - Trains and subways
Undertakers, Embalmers & Cemeteries, 1905-circa 1930s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes 2 invoices from Trinity Church Cemetery (1905) and 1 from Havender's Monumental Works (1919) for the Anness family (accession 2007.50); fan-shaped advertising cards for George L. Jones of 455 Lenox Ave, with drawing of flowers, and for David M. Jaudon Inc of 104 West 131st Street, with Christian/Bible-themed drawing.
Walking Tours, 2007
Scope and Contents
Holds one item: list of tours in conjunction with exhibition "Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York" (2007)
World War II, 1942
Scope and Contents Note
Includes "Make and Mend for Victory" booklet with tips on conserving and recycling clothing; ration books.
Series II: Prohibition-related ephemera
Scope and Contents
Series II, Prohibition-related ephemera, includes speakeasy cards (advertising illicit bars that operated during the years of Prohibition), cartoons and caricatures, and other Prohibition and temperance related ephemera.
Disbound album of speakeasy cards and other prohibition-era ephemera
Speakeasy advertisements and ephemera
Speakeasy cards
Cartoons and caricatures
Clippings - "Speakeasy" by Lois Sobel
Clippings - Prohibition
Clippings - Collecting speakeasy cards
Temperance - cards and ephemera
Miscellaneous ephemera
Series III: Advertising postcards
Scope and Contents
Series III, Advertising postcards, includes 510 postcards from the 1990s, which would have been found in bars, clubs, restaurants and other venues. The majority of these cards advertise New York businesses. These were donated by Bert Hansen in 2000.
Advertising postcards, circa 1990's
Series IV: Ephemera albums
Scope and Contents
Series IV, Ephemera albums, consists of three albums of pasted-in ephemera, including scraps and diecuts, advertisements and trade cards. Notable items include images promoting racial and ethnic stereotypes and images of Santa Claus.
Album 1, circa 1900's
Album 2, circa 1900's
Album 3 (disbound), circa 1900's
Provenance
This album was a gift of Maureen Howard, 2010
Series V: Erotic advertising cards
Scope and Contents
Series V, Erotic advertising cards, includes loose paper cards advertising phone sex hotlines, adult establishments and the like. This material is extremely graphic. Photographer Andreas Feininger donated most of the items in Box 9 and 9A, including a dis-bound scrapbook of erotic advertisements. N-YHS staff collected some additional advertisement during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The material in box 10 was donated by the Schreyer family.