Ephemera from Zephyr Used & Rare Books

Zephyr Used & Rare Books has issued a catalogue of Winter & Spring Plans: Ephemera Society 2024. They exhibited at the spring Ephemera Society show for which this catalogue was prepared. It contains their usual mix of varied, often unusual, items which cannot readily be described other than to call it “ephemera.” However, there are a few regular books in here. They may not be the kind you'll find at high-end rare and antiquarian bookshops, which means these listings are, in their own way, exclusive. Here are a few selections from this catalogue.

This one wouldn't fly today, but it was 1959 and the public knew much less then than it does now. It is a packet of “six factual reports” put out by the Tobacco Institute. This was a time when the first reports on the unhealthy side effects of tobacco, notably cancer, had come out, though the general public was not yet fully aware. This package describes the various facets of tobacco production, from farming to manufacturing. Different sections cover cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. At this time, tobacco advertising dominated the airwaves. Cool people smoked, and Hollywood portrayals backed this up. A majority of Americans smoked. It's easy to see why people smoked considering how fashionable it was and how little people understood its dangers. What astonishes me is how many still smoke today, not hooked old-timers but the young who still think it is “cool” when it is really dumb. The reports come with eight photographs of tobacco production and a large wall map of tobacco growing regions in the U.S. Item 61056. Priced at $325.

Next is Fashion Catalogue No. 37 from H. O'Neill & Co. They had all sorts of fashions, notably for women but men and children too. They had a large store in what was then known as the “Ladies' Mile,” along Sixth Avenue in New York. O'Neill's large, five-story structure was located between 20^th and 21^st streets. Evidently, these were the highest fashions of the time, in this case the 1901-1902 season. Late Victorian era fashion can best be described as “ridiculous” or “ugly.” They had monstrous hats, in both size and appearance. The women show off their latest fox fur scarves, which look like dead animals draped around their necks. Of course, many of today's fashions are hideous too so perhaps we shouldn't be so judgmental. O'Neill & Co. weren't around much longer, though probably not because their clothing was less appealing than others'. Hugh O'Neill died in 1902 and his heirs lacked his touch. It was merged with a competitor in 1907 and by the beginning of World War I they were out of business. However, by then the whole “Ladies Mile” of fashion businesses had collapsed. The enormous O'Neill building is also displayed in the catalogue. It still stands today, still magnificent. It now holds 48 expensive condos, and at the top of the building, the name “Hugh O'Neill” is still displayed. Item 61083. $275.

You probably don't know this film or the book that preceded it but it must have been quite popular in the day. There was a book, a play, and four film versions, the last in 1942, its appeal finally fading. It's a comedy, the title being Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. “Cabbage Patch” used to be a name for very poor communities, sort of like Tobacco Road. Mrs. Wiggs is a very poor lady with several children. Her husband went off to the Klondike to find gold a few years earlier and never returned. Mrs. Wiggs has several sons and daughters, the latter named Europena, Asia, and Australia. She also has a big problem – she can't pay off her $25 loan on her house and her creditor is about to foreclose. Sadly, one of her sons dies, so she runs newspaper ads telling her husband to come back home. She also has a friend and neighbor, Tabitha Hazy, around her age. She has sent away for a mail order husband, Mr. C. Ellsworth Stubbins. Well, Mrs. Wiggs' husband returns, still has no money, but a friend gives him the $25 to pay off the creditor. Ellsworth Stubbins turns out to be a cad, interested only in her cooking, so Miss Hazy dumps him. I have not seen the 1934 version of this film (nor any other) so I can't rate it, but it can't be all bad. W. C. Fields plays C. Ellsworth Stubbins and how could anything with W. C. Fields not be entertaining? This sounds like the perfect role for him. Item 61038 is a Paramount photoplay book for the 1934 film showing scenes from the movie. It was published by Gross & Dunlap, which published photoplays for many films in the era. $50.

Here is an unusual item. It is a woman's commonplace book, for which she has used botanical specimens to fashion the letters of the alphabet. Most are formed from dried, pressed seaweed. Odd as that sounds, she really has done an amazing job to make it beautiful. A few of the letters use ferns and five are painted. The creator, Margette Shepard Bennett, dedicated it to her friends in Des Moines in memoriam of a visit there is 1864. She must have been quite skilled and patient as seaweed is very delicate. On the page facing the letters is space to collect autographs. Many have been filled in, with dates from 1864-1884. It begins with two poems, one dedicated to the Native American tribes who lived in the area before the settlers moved in. Zephyr tells us there was a seaweed herbarium craze in the 19^th century which led to the creation of odd commonplace books and scrapbooks such as this. Item 61112. $2,150.

This is a photo album headed Final Report: Food Supply Training Program of Institute of Inter-American Affairs. Volume II. Photographs of Trainees. There are two typescript pages describing the trainees and where they went, but most of what is here are 132 mounted photographs of the trainees with annotations on the margins of the photos. The Institute of Inter-American Affairs was created by President Roosevelt 1941 to counter German efforts to gain a foothold in Latin America. The idea was to provide benefits to the people of these countries to keep them friendly to the U.S., as the Nazis were trying to gain influence with them. It was designed to assist those countries by developing greater cultural and commercial ties. The role of the Food Supply Training Program was to teach trainees from these countries the latest in agricultural technology. The trainees were spread out from coast to coast where they learned various skills. The photographs in this album show the trainees arriving in the U.S., followed by pictures of them out on location. Trainees are seen driving a tractor in Michigan, working at a turkey co-op in Nebraska, onion fields in Tennessee, a dairy farm in Virginia, orange groves in California, classrooms in New Hampshire, and other locations. The institute was headed by a young man with a famous name and a lot of money, but not yet well-known to the public, Nelson Rockefeller. He was concerned about Nazi influence in Latin America, leading the President to put him in charge of this new department. It was abolished after the war with its responsibilities transferred to the State Department. Rockefeller would go on to serve several terms as Governor of New York and was later chosen by President Ford to fill the vacant seat of Vice-President of the U.S. Item 61104. $1,500.

Zephyr Used & Rare Books may be reached at 360-695-7767 or zephyrbook@gmail.com.