Interview With Ephemera’s Marty Weil

One of the most interesting blogs about collectibles of Sorts is Ephemera Written by Marty Weil, which focuses on ephemera. Marty has interviewed over 100 collectors, and has researched and written about Ephemera for quite some time now. I found his wealth of knowledge aroused my curiosity, so I asked him for an interview, and he graciously accepted.

The interview was conducted by email and was more of a Q&A because of this, and the A has certainly left me food for thought.

Here it is:

AC: The first question is quite obvious - Why ephemera?

MW: I’m interested in ephemera from the standpoint of its value to researchers, writers, artists, historians, genealogists, collectors, and others. Ephemera is simply, everyday items that were not necessarily intended to last beyond a short period. There are many definitions of ephemera. Of all the definitions of ephemera that I’ve seen, my favorite is “raw, unedited history.” There are a variety of reasons why certain old paper has survived to the present day. In some cases, it’s just a fluke or luck or happenstance. More often, people save old paper deliberately for a variety of reasons, such as sentimental value, nostalgia, reference, and/or for collecting purposes.

AC: Is it the actual paper you like as a material or its potential as a medium of knowledge transference that charms you so much, or is it a combination of both?

MW: For me, it is a medium of vast potential for the transfer of knowledge. It’s charming to handle and study objects–originally intended for one purpose–that morph into something more significant based largely on the passage of time. The passing of time takes a common, everyday scrap and turns it into a novelty, a curiosity, or a treasure–depending on your perspective.

AC: By trade you are a pr man and copywriter and journalist - does this have a connection with your affiliation with ephemera?

MW: I began my career in public relations, and, over the years, slowly made the transition to journalism-although I still do a fair amount of freelance corporate advertorial and case study work. As a print journalist, of course, I have a natural affinity for paper, but, other than that, my career has no connection to my interest in ephemera.

AC: Are you a collector yourself? If so, what kind of ephemera do you collect? and if you are a collector yourself, do you limit yourself to ephemera, or is there something else that you collect?

MW: Although I have a few pieces of ephemera, my personal collection is extremely limited. I function primarily as an ephemera blogger and researcher. In regard to my personal collection, it consists mainly of ephemera relating to where I live, Asheville, NC, and a few other odds and ends that speak to my personal interests and sentimentality.

AC: When did your interest in ephemera begin?

MW: When my Great Uncle, Willie Berg,-the founder of Humes & Berg (H&B)-died in the 1996, I went in search of one of Willie’s original H&B Stone Lined mutes. There are thousands of used H&B mutes on the market, but I wanted one made before they were mass produced at the company’s factory in Indiana. I wanted one made by Willie’s own hands. Of the thousands of H&B mutes made since the day when the legendary musician Glen Miller asked my uncle to come up with a device that would change the tonal quality of horn instruments, perhaps only a handful remain that were hand-made by Willie and his wife, Faye, in their cramped Chicago apartment.

When I saw a beat-up old mute being offered in an auction on eBay, I contacted the seller and asked if, by chance, the H&B mute label said Chicago, Ill. My prayers were answered. When I called my 90-year-old great aunt to tell her what I’d found, she asked me if the red line painted across the top of the mute was crooked. When I told her it was, she replied, “I painted the mutes by hand in those days; I could never get the lines straight.”

It was that episode that launched my interest in ephemeral items, like an old mute, and how they touch people’s lives. Beyond that, I’ve always had an interest in history and ephemera certainly dovetails with that subject.

AC:  Could you tell us about your blog - Was there one particular event that pushed you towards opening your ephemera blog, or was it the kind of thing that brews for a while, and then happens?

MW: As I just saying, the mute episode opened my eyes to the possibility that ephemera could be the gateway to some amazing personal stories and wonderful, small histories. My blog covers all aspects of ephemera and how it relates to the popular culture, history, and the human condition. The purpose of the blog is to broaden the awareness and appreciation of ephemera. Over the years, I’ve display and highlight a wide range of ephemera on the site. My mission is to increase the appeal of ephemera by informing and educating the public on its value as a collectible and research tool. The blog discusses services related to the collection, preservation, and grading of ephemera. It’s not intended to display items from my personal collection, although a few items from my collection have been featured.

AC: You interview a lot of collectors - do any of the interviews you have conducted stand out over others? and what was it that made them more interesting / significant for you?

MW: My blog is designed to primarily showcase the world-class ephemera collections of others. I’m always looking for collectors or authors who are involved with ephemera in some way to interview. I’m interested in seeing what exists in the collection of others, and by interviewing world-class collectors, I’m tapping into the extraordinary wealth of ephemera that is held in public and private hands throughout the world.

All of the interviews I’ve done are interesting and significant to me. However, there are a few that stand out. I interviewed a “femulator” who collected female impersonator ephemera–that was interesting stuff. I’ve also interviewed a boy who has created a magnificent collection of library cards. I’ve interviewed collectors of cereal boxes and of chop stick wrappers and barf bags–as you might imagine, these were all interesting folks to chat with. To this point, I believe I’ve interviewed more than 100 such collectors, and they’re all amazing in their own way.

AC: What is the most common reason for people to collect ephemera or just to be collectors, based on your interviews with them?

MW: There are as many reasons for collecting ephemera as there are people that collect it. What I have learned from my interviews with ephemera collectors is that serious, effective ephemera collectors share seven characteristics:

1. Patience. Ephemera collectors know the value of patience, and may, if need be, wait months or even years before acquiring a particularly rare and important specimen for their collection.

2. Persistence. Ephemera collectors have the fortitude to continually search and scour until they unearth (sometimes literally) an item to add to their collection.

3. Scholarship. Ephemera collectors know that knowledge is power in the world of collecting. It provides an edge that separates the expert collector from the rest of the field. Effective collectors become, in effect, experts on the subject of their collectible.

4. Understanding. Ephemera collectors understand that their collection may never be perfect or complete. The joy of collecting is in the gathering and studying of whatever it is they find fascinating and worthwhile.

5. Preservation. Ephemera collectors know that it is not what they have, but how well they take care of it that matters. Ephemera collectors think like archivists, and care for their treasures like a Brinks guard protects the cash coming out of a Vegas counting cage.

6. Internet Search Savvy. Ephemera collectors know the value of the Internet, and they have learned how to bend search engines to their will. Like Major Nelson summoning Barbara Eden from the bottle, they know how to use search engines to bring forth items they seeks.

7. Fraternity. Ephemera collectors reach out to others in the collecting community, and share their wisdom and knowledge freely. They understand that sharing their expertise is its own reward, and that by contributing to the knowledge base, they expand the availability of collectibles and increase the value of their collection.

AC: I read on your blog about your grandfathers scroll, which is obviously a very personal sort of ephemera - I am interested to know what piece of ephemera (non personal) you found particularly exciting or moving when you found out about it, and why?

MW: I wrote a post about a postcard I’d found in the trash that turned out to be worth $100. In the world of ephemera, there’s a thin line between valuable and worthless. Too often, old paper is not recognized as collectible and is tossed out with the trash. Most experts will tell you that approximately 90 percent of old paper is relatively worthless and that’s the truth. So, it’s not surprising that people don’t take the time to separate the baby from the bathwater when faced with an accumulation of old paper. Too often, people simply back a dumpster up to the house and pitch out old paper with reckless abandon. That’s probably how the $100 postcard gem ended up in the trash.

It might have been obvious to the person who tossed this postcard that it had some collectible value, if they’d bothered to look at it. However, when faced with a pile of old paper most people do not closely examine individual items. Even when they do, many pieces of ephemera appear worthless to an untrained eye. It’s these not-so-obvious collectibles that most often wind up in the landfill and are lost to collectors forever. I’m absolutely fascinated by the amount of history that is lost to us each day as it is abandoned to the trash. Whenever I’m fortunate to save such an item from destruction, I’m moved.

AC: Is your interest in ephemera indicative of the fact that the past seems like a better time than the present to you - are you the nostalgic type - or does this interest come from a completely different place?

MW: I’m not any more or less nostalgic than the average person. My interest in ephemera, as you can tell from my previous answers, comes from a completely different place. Again, I’m on a journey to both showcase interesting ephemera and the small histories suggested by these remarkable and wonderful pieces of raw, unedited history, and, at the same time, bring my own personal experiences to bear on the topic at hand.