Finding Solace in Other People’s Intimacy
Why I Love Collecting ‘Vintage Ephemera’
Most people collect things, whether it’s casually or compulsively. You might accumulate many pairs of a favorite brand of shoe. Or you might be a Deadhead on a mission to stockpile Jerry Garcia bootlegs.
My own collection consists of unique items that are very personal, though they’re not an actual part of my life. I collect what’s known as “vintage ephemera”—postcards and letters, photographs and newspapers, calendars and maps, baseball cards and paper dolls, and even birth announcements and death certificates. These are written or printed items that, according to …
