2 November 2006
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Blairgowrie Estate, Sorrento. Grand seaside subdivisional sale, Easter Saturday & Monday, March 31st and April 2nd, [1926](Melbourne: Arthur Tuckett & Son, [1926])
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A deck of US-issued 'most wanted' playing cards featuring Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi high command, a householders handbook for nuclear warfare, protest posters and dance cards are some of the rare collectables featured in a new exhibition at the Sir Louis Matheson Library at Monash University's Clayton campus.
Ephemera
,on show until 28 February 2007, comprises more than 100 rare materials ranging from the 17th century to the present, from the Monash University Library Rare Books Collection.
The exhibition, curated by Monash Rare Books librarian Mr Richard Overell, is drawn from the library's extensive collection of 'ephemera' - printed material that is used in everyday life and then usually disposed of.
Among the items on display are early greeting cards including Christmas cards and 19th century Valentines, old airline tickets, Japanese occupation money - printed by Japan during WWII for use in countries occupied by their advancing forces - the first Moomba Festival program (1955), a selection of dance cards (with pencils attached), pharmacy product labels, shipping tickets and menus, and a set of Weed playing cards from Nimbin, NSW, that 'explore the fine art of growing pot plants'.
Mr Overell said the collection, which he began at Monash in the early 1990s, helped support research by social historians who require documentation of the most immediate kind to assist their study of the texture of contemporary life.
"Fragments of the past, even of the recent past, can be critical in passing on to future generations the flavour of our lives," Mr Overell said.
"To understand the significance of ephemera, we can compare it to the popular forensic shows on television. Ephemera is all the clues left behind which tell the investigator what has happened. The bits and pieces are overlooked and forgotten until picked up by someone who can interpret them and use them to help reconstruct events.
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Advertising brochure for AWA Colour Television (1975).
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"Most curators and institutions have overlooked this field of collecting, but the situation has changed rapidly over the past 20 or 30 years," Mr Overell said. "These days, ephemera is eagerly sought after with ephemera societies and ephemera fairs in most large centres in Australia."
Ephemera can be viewed during library opening hours. For a virtual tour, visit the exhibition website.
Exhibition notes:
What: Ephemera exhibition, Monash University Library Rare Books Collection
When: Until 28 February. Viewing hours: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. Saturday & Sunday 1pm--5pm
Where: Exhibition Room, Sir Louis Matheson Library, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton.
Images available. For further information contact: Mr Richard Overell, Rare Books Librarian, on +61 3 9905 2689, or Ms Penny Fannin, Media Communications on +61 3 9905 5828.
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