Collecting Christian Ephemera

LISTEN NOW (4 minutes):

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Today on Celebrate the Bible:

Collecting Christian Ephemera OR the stuff that other people throw away.

Ephemera is a rather unusual collecting topic. Pure ephemera, not adulterated by modern day expanded definition(s), deals with the throw-away printed items that pass through our everyday lives on a daily basis.

Here is a very rare piece of Christian memorabilia: an unused ticket to attend the Aimee Semple McPherson Revival at the Chicago Coliseum (USA). The revival ran from 16 June through 19 July, 1927. The back of the ticket says: “Don’t miss one of these great meetings! Jesus’ power falls! Sinners repent! Sick are healed! Seekers gloriously baptized with the Holy Ghost! A Gospel of power; old as the Bible; mighty enough to lift you to Heaven; personal enough to enter into your every joy and sorrow; powerful enough to heal your sicknesses; yet humble enough to get under the heaviest load and stand and knock for admittance to your Heart. All Seats Free. This admits bearer and friends to special reserved section.” (collection of the author)

Sometimes these throw-away items find their way into desk drawers, or used as a handy bookmark, etc.. Therefore they survive to the present day. Some pieces of ephemera had a longer lifetime, but their useful function was still short lived.

Printed ephemera has always been an interesting, enjoyable, and rewarding aspect of collecting for me. With this episode, I would like to focus more on showing the actual pieces, rather than having me tell about them.

Let’s all go next Sunday postcard.
(collection of the author)

Below, and throughout this presentation, you’ll find a few selected pieces from the Celebrate the Bible collection. Many, I assume, have become the only remaining pieces of their kind. Or certainly not far from it. You’ll find an explanation written below each piece.

Now, if you are listening to this as a podcast, and would to view the photos included with this episode, please visit celebratethebible250.com. Just type ephemera into the search box — that’s e-p-h-e-m-e-r-a — and the matching article should come up.

This poster, from the year 1922, was designed by Dr. E. J. Pace — a christian artist and missionary to the Philippines. It contains a pen and ink illustration that visually depicts John 3:16 — “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” Dr. Pace was famous for taking scripture and drawing it — so that the visual image showed what the scripture was saying. In this instance, God and the cross on Earth is connected by a chain. Each link in the chain corresponds with the letter “o” throughout John 3:16.
(collection of the author)

I believe that, for most people, there is nothing special about collecting ephemera. But to many ephemera collectors, that may be the point! It is the printed daily incidentals of everyday living that pass through our lives each and every day, that most people use and throw away. But for some, like myself, a well-rounded collection of anything would not be complete without its associated ephemera.

My Christian ephemera collection is nowhere near as impressive as my history of the Bible collection. While I find myself getting caught up in the more sought-after acquisitions within Celebrate the Bible, it is easy to neglect ephemera.

An antique evangelism card from the early- to mid- 1900’s. Part of the Celebrate the Bible collection of Christian ephemera.
(collection of the author)

But every so often, I find myself returning to the fold, and pick up a few additional pieces along the way.

I hope you enjoy the pieces that I am showing today.

I could probably start an entire blog about Christian ephemera, and, perhaps, maybe someday I will. But, for now, you’ll find them here, and peppered throughout my other posts, here at celebratethebible250.

So, until we meet again, and for celebratethebible250, this is Francis Douglas.

If you would like me to give a presentation, and also provide a tabletop exhibit, at your church, school, gallery, or organization, just let me know. The topic I cover is the History of the Christian Holy Bible in America.

Printed pamphlet called “Truth in a Nutshell” by Harold F. Sayles. It is known as a “tract”. No year of publication is noted, but I would be willing to guess that it falls sometime in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.
(collection of the author)

Not only will your group learn about it, but they’ll also see — on display — pages from the rarest Bibles in the history of America — and — the world.

I’ll place contact information below as the 2026 Semiquincentennial America 250 year approaches.

Here we have a very early data storage media: the “punch card”. The use of these cards can date back to the 19th century, although the one pictured here probably dates to the early computers of the 1950’s or 1960’s. The card contains part of the Bible verse of John 3:16. You can see it typed on the top of the card.
(collection of the author)

This is what was once known as a “wooden nickel”. It is announcing a revival meeting at the Broadway Baptists Church, and the speaker is a Dr. Ken Chafin. It appears from a web search that Dr. Chafin was born in 1926, and passed in the year 2001, at age 74. So we would place this piece, of course, within that time frame.
(collection of the author)

CONTACT (for presentations only):

Available for Southern New Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Northern Delaware.

Go back