Category: Ephemera

Influenced by my interest in collecting Franklin Institute memorabilia and history, I seem to be having some fun collecting and researching various ephemera. Ephemera is anything intended not to have a long life, usually printed materials such as postcards, letters, business cards, advertisements, and such.

While my interest is primarily in Franklin Institute related items, I have a small collection of other ephemera, just whatever catches my eye, or perhaps falls in my lap via yard sales, thrift shops, and other sources.

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Franklin Institute – Fire Island Lighthouse Light Postcard (1936)

After reviewing my FI stuff on here, not only did I find I goofed a bit on the tags and categories, but I found I didn’t even scan/post all of my FI stuff yet! That said, with my new-found time, let’s get to correcting that!

Show below is a postcard, postmarked in 1936 (when the current Franklin Institute building opened), showing a lighthouse light (originally from Fire Island Lighthouse in NY), that was taken out of service in 1933, and placed on display in the Franklin Institute likely from when the building opened, to around 2000, when the actual light was taken down and placed in storage.

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Early Franklin Institute Memorabilia – Taylor and Smith 1874

Being a serial/multiple hobbyist means I often have to weigh how much I want to invest into a particular hobby, and for my “collection” hobbies, this can come with a cost of “missed opportunity” per se. Although I would have REALLY liked to have it, I decided not to bid, and missed out on an extremely early piece of Franklin Institute memorabilia last weekend.

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Franklin Institute Medal – from 1824?

So while the current Franklin Institute building was built in the 1930’s, most people wouldn’t believe that the institute itself was actually founded nearly 200 years ago in 1824. I managed to acquire this interesting medal that includes FI’s original tagline of “To Promote the Mechanical Arts”.

I actually reached out to FI on this one in case anyone there knows what it really dates to. I have my doubts it’s actually from 1824, but the wear on it has me second guessing myself now. I’m guessing it was a souvenir from around the 30s to 50s but it would be really cool if it really dated back that far!

It’s hard to tell from the photos since I zoomed in, but the actual piece is about the size of a US Quarter. If anyone knows anything about this, please feel free to let me know in the comments (if you don’t see the comments below, click the title of the article to open the actual article first).

Anyway…enjoy what could possibly be the oldest piece of Franklin Institute ephemera yet…

FI’s original tagline was “For the Promotion of Mechanic Arts”
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NEW POST(er) – Franklin Institute Art Expo – 1937

Another awesome piece of Franklin Institute ephemera has been found – a booklet from an Art Expo held at the Franklin Institute from April to June, 1937. The expo was put on by the Graphics Arts dept the Institute had at the time, and was organized in part by Alexey Brodovitch, who also designed the poster below as well as the booklet/catalog for the event. (Alexey is also known as a founder of the current Philadelphia College of Art). The expo was focused on advertisement posters from both the US and around the world.

It amazes me that stuff like this still exists, 80+ years later. Granted there are books that are in the 100s if not thousands of years range, but for this stuff to randomly pop up is why I love collecting it so much, and provides a picture as to what a place I love was like well before my own parents were a twinkle in their parents eyes!

You can find a larger version of the poster above on the web site of the Library of Congress.

That said…enjoy a few pics from the NEW POSTER booklet:

(My Favorite)
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Franklin Institute Map from 1934

Recently came across this on Ebay and had to have it. Franklin Institute map and exhibit list from 1934 (going by the included Planetarium card with a 1934 schedule).

The crazy part of this map is the description of the basement, which has always been off limits as far as I remember. I would LOVE to see whats still down there!

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Franklin Institute W3TKQ QSL Card from 1958

Being a Philly native, I have fond memories of the Franklin Institute from class trips and family outings. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I remember there being a new-ish ham radio station on the 4th floor where the telescope still is. Sadly like many things there it’s long gone, but I happened to find and acquire this old QSL card from the original station in 1958!

I do collect some FI ephemera, especially looking for ANYTHING from when they had the Futures center in the 1990s. Hit me up if you have any!

The ham radio station at the Franklin Institute was a partnership with a local ham radio club called the Philmont Mobile Radio Club. You can read more about the history of the station on the site here: http://www.phil-mont.org/tfi-hist.html . On a side note, I’ve hung out with the guys at Philmont and even got my ham radio license via their monthly testing sessions. If you’re looking for a local club, they’re a good one to check out!

I purposely left the rear of the card off as I have to censor some of the data, but the operator at the time was Nelson Schurr, W3DYP who filled and sent the card.

Stay tuned for more cool Franklin Institute stuff!