#lcpephemera

Album of Richard DeReef Venning (1865–1922). Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection.

This photo album contains portraits of a prominent Philadelphia family, the Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Vennings, and other unidentified people. The family, which descended from Richard Cogdell (1787-1866) and the enslaved Sarah Martha Sanders (1815-1850), was actively involved in political, social, and cultural matters in the Philadelphian Black community.

Follow the title link to see the entire album.

Learn the hand signing alphabet with this graphic printed in Philadelphia (ca. 1850). 

The Glorious Fourth. 

Please be safe on this holiday, and do not follow the example of these two. Happy Independence Day! 

This week for #MagnificentCollections we highlight Helen Beitler (1915-2002), a descendent of the Morris and Wistar families who unabashedly collected ephemera representing numerous subjects, including advertising — the profession of her husband. The Library Company acquired hundreds of pieces of advertising ephemera from her eclectic, yet refined collection, including postcards, billheads and envelopes, programs, advertisements,  and calendars following her death in 2002.

This trade card advertising West End Clothing House certainly gives us the #MayFlowers (and slightly surreal) feels. 

It is day two of New York Academy of Medicine’s 2019 #ColorOurCollections challenge. Today we have a sentimental trade card advertising the American Sewing Machine Company. 

To download and print the full coloring book follow: https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/LCP-COC-Portrait.pdf

Please share your coloring with us!

This week we highlight the joy of finding the unexpected and the joy of naming our collections in the most literal way. 

Ephemera reveals something about regular people in their historical context, what they wanted to remember, and how they interacted with the visual culture of their daily lives. When we process material and find a photograph or note tucked in between pages of a book, that item could be secret token in a hiding place, or it could be as utilitarian as a bookmark. Either way these are clues of history that many can relate to now. Have you ever hidden something in a book?

This maze has two puzzles, can you solve them? One is to reach the center, the other is a hidden message. If you solve the latter please share your answer in comments!