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At Ephemera 43, the Ephemera Society of America awarded its top award, the Maurice Rickards Award, to Richard D. Sheaff and Bruce Shyer.

See the full commendations in the May 2023 issue of the Ephemera Journal  – but both Bruce and Dick are former Society presidents, both have built extraordinary ephemera collections that they share with the public (Dick with his web site www.Sheaff-ephemera.com; Bruce with meticulous exhibits on both coasts), and both have made significant contributions to the public face of the Society via Dick’s design of promotionals; and Bruce’s writing for the eNews & keepsakes.

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The Honor Roll of The Ephemera Society honors those who have contributed the most.

The Maurice Rickards Award is our highest honor. It was created to recognize involvement in the world of ephemera and ephemera studies. It is intended to be a very special and prestigious award granted only to strongly deserving candidates. Candidates for consideration must have made outstanding contributions to the field over a substantial period of time, and demonstrated pronounced engagement as a collector, dealer, researcher, teacher, institutional curator, and/or conservator.

It was created in 1985 to honor Maurice Rickards, the extraordinary man who founded The Ephemera Society of England and helped to establish our own Ephemera Society of America. Rickards, along with several other Englishmen and American Calvin Otto, had founded the Ephemera Society of England in 1975. Rickards was a guiding force behind numerous conferences and fairs, and published widely. His massive book Encyclopedia of Ephemera was published in 2000.

Recipients of the Rickards award are recognized with a large, specially cast silver medal.

Recipients of The Maurice Rickards Award:

1985      Maurice Rickards

1986      Robert Staples & Barbara Charles

1987      Georgia B. Barnhill

1988      Rockwell Gardiner

1989      Barbara Rusch

1990      John Grossman

1991      Deborah Smith

1997      Samuel Murray

1998      Stephen Paine

1999      Blair & Margaret Whitton

2000      Marcus McCorison

2002      Calvin P. Otto

2003      Peter Jackson & Valerie Jackson Harris

2004      John C. Dann

2005      Jay Last

2006      William H. Helfand

2008      Diane DeBlois & Robert Dalton Harris

2010      Jonathan Bulkley

2012      E. Richard McKinstry

2013      Philip H. Jones

2014      José Rodriguez

2017      Nancy Rosin                                                          

2021     Alfred P. Malpa

2023     Richard D. Sheaff

2023     Bruce Shyer

The ESA Reward of Merit was created to recognize individuals for outstanding service / contributions to the Ephemera Society, or for dedicated participation in the field. A Reward of Merit designation does not exclude any recipient from possible future Rickards award consideration. Recipients receive a hand-lettered ESA Reward of Merit certificate, and a lapel pin.

Recipients of our Reward of Merit: