Ephemera:

Ephemera is a broad term used to describe items of paper that were created for use in a short time span and meant to be thrown away after one or two uses. Items generally put into the ephemera category of collecting would be sheet music, posters, stock certificates, post cards, cigarette cards, magazines, catalogs, and the like.
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Friday, July 9, 2010

1939 World's Fair: The Story of Lucky Strike


I discovered this little gem in a stack of old books I picked up off the floor of our guest room where they have been hiding for quite some time.  It is becoming clear to me that Madeline was really impressed by this World's Fair and the promises of the future that it showed her.  What is sad is that I honestly don't remember her ever mentioning that she went to the 39 World's Fair and if she did it didn't make an impression on me.  I wish we could share a Diet Coke and a slice of chocolate cake right now and she could tell me the story.  Since that's not possible, let's enjoy what she left behind for us.

This 94 page hardcover book, by Roy C. Flannagan, details the history of tobacco and the making of Lucky Strike cigarettes.  Here is a pic of the Lucky Strike exhibit at the fair:



Here are some of the photos from the book:








As an added bonus, the inside front cover has a very colorful label with Madeline's name and address.


The book closes with this paragraph:  "With the smoke of a Lucky Strike curling upward, a man can dream of Pocahontas in her garden at Varina, of settlers farming with holstered pistols on the handles of their ploughs, of early craftsmen at work upon the first rude blends, of  Nicot teaching the courtiers of Catherine de Medici the pleasures of the Indian plant--and then of countless men whose art and labor improved the leaf until it became the greatest solace of a troubled world."

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