Collecting Ephemera of the Christmas Variety

Studio Portrait with Greeting $11.00

I finally finished my Christmas cards. I have a million uncles and cousins and friends in other lands, all of whom are expecting a Christmas greeting. And not just any Christmas greeting, seeing that I have a 10 month old, it has to be an extra adorable Christmas greeting. Cross it off the 'to do' list cause it's done and done! Getting the stack of envelopes off to the post brought to mind a favorite holiday collection: paper Christmas ephemera. I've talked about my love affair with ephemera before. And the holidays offer us a free pass to get crazy with the ephemera hoarding via cards, postcards, wrapping paper, box labels, sheet music, die cuts, packages and so on!

Early 1900's Post Card $15.00

One of the most sought after pieces in Christmas ephemera collecting is the greeting card, or most often greeting post card. The first commercially produced Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in 1843. These early English cards were not depicting religious and wintery images like the cards we know today, but favored flowers and and fairies instead. In 1875 greeting cards were introduced to the American market. Then the postcard hit the scene and changed everything, though by the 1920's cards with envelopes were coming back into style. 

1919 Black Americana Christmas Postcard $14.95

If you are interested in Collecting Christmas postcards and greeting cards The Ephemera Society of America, as I've mentioned before, is a wonderful resource for budding and experienced collectors. The books "Christmas Cards," "Children's Greeting Cards: Collecting Vintage (Identification & Values), " and "The Yule Log" are available for purchase on Amazon.com. The British Museum has obtained the wonderful Christmas card collection of Queen Mary and is available for viewing during the holiday season. 

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Another marvelous thing I end up keeping after Santa's yearly visit is wrapping paper. Yes, I'm that person that carefully slips the gift out of it's trappings, folds the paper flat and stores it to use again. I have collected some of the greatest pieces of wrapping only to see them go as I hand them off to that special someone. Wrapping paper floats in and out of my life like snow. Although, if it was a particular pattern that I couldn't live with out, I'm sure it has ended up in my file cabinet-a mysterious and deep vortex who's innards have only briefly been explored. 

1960's Green Ice Skaters 2 Sheets $7.50

It is said that the wrapping paper we know and love slipped into the sales market on accident. According to the lore, the Hall brothers (pioneers of Hallmark) had sold out of their well known red, white, green and holly printed tissue paper. In a pinch they placed some fancy french envelope linings and they sold out too! They offered them again the next year and found they were just as popular-even with the increased price. That was in 1925, by the following decade they were selling papers rolled on tubes and shrink wrapped-the paper we are most familiar with today. 

Snow and Sleigh 20' x 30' piece $7.50

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Santa and 3 Girls Woodblock Print $55.00

Be sure and use Christmas as an excuse to hoard more than you normal would. It's what I do. 

Will Bradley Art Nouve poster-reproduction $9.95

Display your Holiday collections with pride! Everyone loves a good Christmas Collection. 

Die Cut Santas set of 6 $9.00

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE COLLECT COLLECTIVE. 

All of the great Christmas Ephemera you see here is available for sale on Etsy! It would make a great gift. Thank you Etsy sellers for the use of your photographs.

Did You Like Our "Stranger Exchange?"

Did you have fun playing the Stranger Exchange? 

I totally stole the idea from Danni and her adorable blog: Oh, hello friend: you are loved. 

She did a package exchange project in 2009 and 2010. And here we go again:

This is so much fun. Check it out if you think you might be interested.

Mailmale (and the Stranger Exchange)

Huh? I wonder why they never called the Postman a "Mailmale." Same thing right? Nuggets of wisdom-this and more, from your friends at The Collect Collective. 

With that being said, we are recruiting for the big "Stranger Exchange," our quarterly pen pal project. Everyone is welcome to participate. Here is the deal; you are paired up via our pen pal network, with a stranger. You and your exchange partner trade information and a list of 5 things you collect (or would like to start collecting). Then you have a month to put together a package for your stranger. Spending $10 to $15 (before shipping) you will put together a parcel of awesomeness, wrap it up nice and mail it out. Then sit back and wait for your own sweet surprise to arrive!

Everyone is invited to play.

Send us a message or post a comment saying you want in. We are looking for participants through August. You will be given your partner September 1st. Our packages will ship by October.

Announcing: Round 2 of The Stranger Exchange!

Attention Collectors,
Do you like the mail? Do you love collecting stuff? How would you like to get involved with a interactive mail art project involving strangers and collections? We are recruiting for the second coming of The Stranger Exchange!

The Stranger Exchange is a pen pal network set up to connect fellow collectors.You will be paired with a stranger who has similar collections or likes. The two of you will exchange information, a few notes and tidbits and eventually a package!

All you need to do to be involved in The Stranger Exchange is email us your Name, Email Address, Snail Mail Address and A list of 5 things you collect (or would like to collect). Everyone is welcome to participate. There is no discrimination. If your next door neighbor, grandma, grocery store bagger or cribbage partner want to play to, that's cool! Send 'em on over.

We will be recruiting for participants through the month of August. You will be given your partner on September first and your packages should be sent by the end of September. We are all really looking forward to this next round. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask. If you follow the stranger exchange links posted above, you will see other blog postings/photographs of the last exchange.

Happy Collecting!
Love, The Collect Collective

The Stranger Exchange (Photos)

Come August we will be recruiting for another round of the "Stranger Exchange." The Stranger Exchange is an interactive pen pal experience; which connects strangers through the mail, introduces them to each others collections and ends with a bang: a postal box of goodies sent from one to the other! We had 20 folks trade last season, and we are all looking forward to this next round! If you or anyone you know is interested send us an email or leave a comment. All are welcome to play! 

Here are some photos from the last exchange:

The Stranger Exchange (Photos)

A few months ago, we began a project called The Stranger Exchange! We paired up complete strangers, who after becoming pen pals, mailed each other some really stunning packages! See what some of the Stranger Exchangers received:

 Each participant was paired up with a total stranger. We exchanged lists of 5 things we liked to collect. We were given a month deadline and a budget of $10-$15 (before postage). It was such a blast treasure hunting for our pen pals. And to top it all off we tried to package everything with extra thought and love. If you or someone you know wants to excchange with us in the fall (September/October) send an email or leave a comment below.

Thank you to: Lea, Shandra, Alison, Jenna, Laurel, Nancy, Erin, Tess, Maggie, Cheryl, Carissa, Jara, Ariel, Kaitlyn, Amanda, Jess and Liz!

Collecting: Natural History

The Bone Room. A dream come true for any natural history collector. Located North of Berkeley, in Albany, on Solano. If you're in the East Bay and you haven't been, believe me, you're missing out! The small space is fully stocked and neatly organized. You can find bones, fossils, insects, claws, horns, eggs, specimens of all types and many, many more amazing things! 

The Bone Room is where I purchased my first raccoon penis. 

 

 At The Bone Room I once bought my roommate a crazy long horse's tail for her birthday. And where I would always stock up on glassine envelopes, which I use for all kinds of art and package related things!

 

Where else can you find supplies for insect preservation, horns for a headdress, beautiful handcrafted jewelery, scientific themed games and toys for kids, pressed butterflies, taxidermy, and even actual Mexican jumping beans? The Bone Room And if you don't live in the Bay Area, you can order with them over the phone, or on their website. But if you can, stop in the shop and check out the llama skeleton, the taxidermy sloth, and the drawers and drawers of natural history!

(they also have a facebook, and a flickr)

Stranger Exchange

A few months back, we created a network that connected strangers with similar interests in collecting. It paired up these common souls via email. They exchanged information and a short list of things they liked or collected. The end result was a package sent and received. Twenty people exchanged packages! We've decided to make this a quarterly event. Almost everyone who exchanged in the last round has asked to participate again. If you, or anyone you know is interested let us know! In the next few days we will be posting some images of "Stranger Exchanged" packages.