california history - California Historical Society

c o l l e c t i o n sCalifornia Ephemera ProjectAdvertisements, catalogs, tickets, billheads,flyers, and other artifacts ofhistorical and cultural significance aredistinguished by their ephemeral, ortemporary, nature. Yet, the insightsthey provide into aspects of daily life—business, community, social trendsand movements, modes of travel, tomention but a few—are invaluable.Accessibility and preservation providean opportunity for these items—oftenthe only surviving records for sometopics—to endure.CHS’s ephemera collections, focusingon nineteenth- and twentieth-centuryCalifornia, are now more accessiblethrough the California Ephemera Project(CEP)—a portal to the ephemeracollections at California institutions viathe Online Archive of California. Withthe goal of offering greater public accessto these collections, the CEP processesand describes the ephemera of fourinitial partners: the California HistoricalSociety, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender Historical Society, the SanFrancisco Public Library, and the Societyof California Pioneers. The project wasawarded a Cataloging Hidden SpecialCollections and Archives grant by theCouncil on Library and InformationResources with funding by the MellonFoundation.CHS launched the CEP website(www.californiaephemeraproject.org) in September 2010; accounts ofthe project’s development are documentedin its blog, “36 pages or less”(www.36pagesorless.wordpress.com),named for one of the yardsticks usedto determine if an item qualifies asephemera.The following pages bring examplesfrom CHS’s ephemera collections outof “hiding,” unveiling their appeal andrich historical contributions.Business card, C. Herrmann & Co.(manufacturing hatter), San Francisco, ca. 1880–1898, California Business Ephemera CollectionCatalog of samples, Eleanor P. Gibbons & Co.(design and engraving firm), San Francisco, 1880,California Business Ephemera Collection