AAS holds an expansive collection of printed American ephemera, ranging in date from 1677 to 1900. These ephemeral materials, such as printed election ballots, tickets, watch papers, and calling cards, were used across society with no expectation that they would be saved.
Public Use
Broadsides
Broadsides are single sheets of paper printed with information intended for posting in public spaces. The Society's collection is fully cataloged.
Election Ballots
The election ballot collection includes paper ballots for American national, state, and town elections.
Learn more about election ballots
Lottery Broadsides
Lotteries in America raised revenue to build bridges, canals, railroads, and turnpikes, as well as to fund educational institutions, theaters, and public buildings. Lotteries also served as advertising with prizes, such as jewelry, prints, paintings, and books used by merchants to promote their goods.
All lottery broadsides are available through the General Catalog. Much of the collection has been digitized.
Printed Ribbon Badges
Printed ribbon badges were worn for public occasions, such as parades, elections, and graduation.
Learn more about printed ribbon badges
Business Use
Billheads
Billheads document trade, economics, and the production of goods in the United States.
Booksellers' and Binders' Labels
To promote their businesses, booksellers and book binders applied small labels inside the books they created and sold.
Learn more about booksellers' and binders' labels
Clipper Ship Cards
Nineteenth-century shipping companies produced colorful advertising cards to promote their voyages to merchants and potential passengers.
Learn more about clipper ship cards
Ream Wrappers
Ream wrappers are paper sheets used to package bundles of paper, keeping them clean and neatly labeled for resale.
Learn more about ream wrappers
Trade Cards
Trade cards are small advertising cards that were distributed by businesses to customers.
Watch Papers
Watch papers are round decorative papers placed between the inner and outer case of a pocket watch to protect its inner workings. They also served as advertisements for watchmakers. Watch papers have been described in this Past-is-Present blog entry.
Personal Use
Bookplates
Bookplates are paper labels used by book owners to identify a volume as part of their library.
Calling and Sentiment Cards
In the nineteenth century, small cards were used as part of the often elaborate visiting and social calling practices of the era.
Learn more about calling and sentiment cards
Civil War Envelopes
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), pictorial envelopes decorated with flags, regimental insignia, portraits of war-time figures, and cartoons were used and collected.
Learn more about Civil War envelopes
Invitations
Invitations for weddings, dances, political events, memorials, Mardi Gras, civic and school celebrations are included in this collection.
All invitations are available through the General Catalog. Much of the collection has been digitized.
Membership Certificates
Membership certificates were intended to be framed and displayed in both domestic and business spaces.
Learn more about membership certificates
Menus
This collection includes menus from restaurants, hotels, public, and private meals.
All menus are available through the General Catalog. Much of the collection has been digitized.
Postcards
The postcard format was established in the United States in 1861 but was not widely used until the 1870s. Many postcards in the AAS collection depict the built environment of North America and feature historic structures, tourist sites, landscape views and urban scenes. The collection also includes postcards printed for holidays and birthdays.
The Society's picture postcards collection dates from the 1890s through the 1920s and is arranged by geographic location. It includes 108,000 printed cards and approximately 7,000 photographic cards, called real photo postcards. This collection is not cataloged.
Rewards of Merit
Rewards of merit are small tokens of congratulations that were given by teachers to students for good behavior and scholastic accomplishments.
Learn more about rewards of merit
Tickets
The collection includes several thousand tickets for activities including train excursions, dances, lectures, and lotteries.
Valentines
The valentine collection includes both manuscript and printed designs, with strong representation of cards made in Worcester, Massachusetts.