The Paper Girl

Antique & Vintage Ephemera Since 2019

Breaking the Death Pile and Other Tidbits

just a small part of missie's antique ephemera stash

I use affiliate links to share products I like and use that you might like and use. I make a little bit of money when things are purchased through those links, at no extra cost to you. Win-win!

My stash of antique ephemera takes up half of the back wall of my tiny office, which itself is very small, though I could condense it onto one shelving unit with the proper storage bins.

I have two of these 4-tier shelving units that are holding everything from binders full of antique cards to unwieldy 1800s-era bibles. So far so good!

Today, I’m scanning the contents of the pictured box, which is a mixture of 1890s advertisements and other ephemera. Pieces are set aside once they’re scanned, then they’re photographed for listing on Etsy, then they’re put away until they sell.

Oh my Gods I need proper organization but that requires money I don’t have.

The pieces from this box are, for the most part, from a lot I purchased in November 2022. They’re so beautiful—and varied, too!—with all being in excellent shape. This lot is a constant reminder of why I like antique ephemera so much.

Here are some of the pieces that sold already:

So, is it worthwhile to sort through old ephemera? Absolutely, especially for things like the above, where they’re a little unusual and they’re in excellent shape. Each piece has been wonderful. The ephemera I’m scanning? Equally delightful.

If you spot a mixed lot like this, please do yourself a favour and pick it up. You don’t know what you’ll find!

Scanner Blues

I run a Brother MFC-J497DW that I purchased in January 2020. It’s my scanner, it’s my printer, it is an utter workhorse and it serves me well.

But I’m noticing that the light isn’t as bright, it makes more noise than it used to. I think the scanner part is giving up the ghost, and not in a fun haunted way.

Sad. 🙁

I’m going wild with scanning as much as I can while I can because I just don’t know when it’s going to die. So, if you hear a horrific wailing noise at some point in the next few months, that’s me. Alas, alack, etc. My next scanner will have to be something a little more rugged and not an all-in-one, I think, I’m just not sure what or when. I’m always taking suggestions.

New Ways to Support the Site, Plus Plus

Supporters can now make one-time payments through my tip jar or recurring payments with a monthly donation. All money earned goes toward keeping the site running (and paying my bills, obviously).

The final feature that I’m working on is a membership site. It’s where all my images and files will live, and is a much better deal than buying different things as they’re released. “Please look forward to it”, as they say.

Thanks for reading! This site will be back to its regular programming very shortly, and your patience is appreciated.

Vintage Photograph of a WWI Soldier

vintage photograph of wwi soldier

A brief look between the CanadianSoldiers.com uniform guide and this vintage photograph leads me to believe that this is from the First World War. A young man in Service Dress sits before a scenic backdrop of mountains and a lake. He appears serene, perhaps a bit amused.

Try as I might, I couldn’t locate any information on either the soldier or the auction where I purchased this photo. I think it was at some point over the past two years. The question is, as always, when—I’m going to have to start keeping track of that!

Do you recognize the young man in this vintage photograph? Or, for that matter, do you have old pictures of family members that served in WWI or WWII?

The First World War changed the face of war in several ways: first, by ushering in the era of tanks; next, by the development of the first warplanes; and, finally, by forcing medicine to adapt to the brutality of trench warfare. One example of that last point was detailed in Dr. Lindsay Fitzharris’ book The Facemaker, the story of Harold Gillies, pioneer of facial reconstructive surgery.

You’ll get why if you take a moment to think about how machine guns were the most common weapons in WWI, and trench warfare resulted in a lot of horrible facial injuries.

That’s why I find WWI interesting: so much changed in such a short time.

Anyway, read Dr. Fitzharris’ book, if you haven’t. It’s on my reading list!

I wonder what our soldier witnessed during his tenure. Did he live? Is he one of the honoured dead, or did he get to come home?

If you recognize him and know the answer, please get in touch with me. I’d love to know.

Thank you for joining me this week, I’ll see you again soon.

Enjoying the Blog?

Then I encourage you to subscribe via the form below. You’ll receive the weekly digest, any news of upcoming features, and you’ll never miss a post.

You can support the blog with a monthly donation or by leaving a tip, too. Other methods will be coming along shortly.

Thank you for reading, I look forward to seeing you again.

6 Vintage Cabinet Card Frames for Crafting

This week, I come to you bearing vintage cabinet card frames that you can use to make your own neat pictures! Remember, all you have to do is click the image and it’ll open in a new tab. You can download it from there.

Cabinet cards became the professional photograph of choice during the 1870s and remained that way for about 20 years. After that, personal photography became so cheap and common that they gradually fell out of style.

I like them for their size and presentation: most cabinet cards have the name of the photographer underneath the picture, or on the back of the card. Some photographers have ornate logos that are their own little pieces of art, like this one, for instance:

photographer logo, cabinet card frames post

When I edit a cabinet card, I like to create a layer for separating out the frame so that I can save it as its own file. Some eras’ pieces are better suited to this than others. As photographers grew more confident in the process, they did some fascinating things with the card itself—scalloped edges and embossing come to mind.

That’s why cabinet card frames are valuable pieces of digital vintage for crafting.

cabinet card frames

You can start with something simple, like this, by Sharp Studios in Hamilton. We already have their logo up top! All of the frames in this post are .png, so it will be simple to just plop them on top of your images. You can thank me later. 😉

cabinet card frames

Turnbull & Sons was located in Ireland and Britain. When they assembled their cabinet cards, unfortunately, they wound up covering part of their branding. Whoops.

cabinet card frames

W. Mercer was in Edinburgh. This one’s a bit grungy from age, which really helps sell it.

cabinet card frames

This cabinet card frame is one of my favourites! The fancy edges, the gold text at the bottom—it’s so fancy!

cabinet card frames

A simple frame, lacking ornamentation or photographer name.

Now this is a beauty! It shows its age, but the decorative elements remain obvious.

Thank you for joining me this week, and be sure to tune in next week for more vintage images.

A little note to readers!

P.S. Consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my newsletter to help support the site. This is a passion project, and earnings from products, affiliates, etc. help me spend more time writing and editing.

Make sure you don’t miss out on anything that happens on my site!

bACK TO TOP