Ephemera On Ephemera

Richard Sheaff

One interesting aspect of studying trade cards and other sorts of ephemera is that insights can be gained from those examples of ephemera which reference ephemera itself. This includes text which reveals how items were produced, circulated, offered as premiums and used to promote. Here are some examples; many others are out there awaiting scrutiny.

This is one of a series about “card fiends” . . . avid collectors of trade cards to mount in albums or otherwise save. As do some other cards, this one also sees to criticize the publishers who crank out vast numbers of such cards in order to make a buck one way or another.

This one refers to “the edition racket”, presumably the practice of issuing whole sets of cards in order to induce collectors to seek completion. Just why this is condidered “bad”, exactly how profits is made and by whom, are questions worth examining.

See the text at the bottom addressed “To Card-Collectors”

So why is this street peddler of trade cards labeled a “fakir”?

An offer made to card collectors.

Lion coffee made a seemingly endless series of offers of one kind or another. As mentioned on this trade card back, one manner of distribution and a sales stimulator was the placement of a colorful chromo card in each package of coffee.