My Ephemera Guest Post

A few weeks ago Marty of Ephemera asked me to do a guest post. For those of you who didn't get to read it here is what I wrote.
Recently, I was honored when Marty asked me to write this guest post for his site. I asked him when he would need it, and what he wanted me to write about. He gave me the deadline and said the subject was up to me. I love the freedom of choosing what I want but freedom at times is a double-edged sword. There was so much to write about that I didn't know where to start. I mean, I have so many things that I have collected over the years. I have Baseball cards, books, music (mostly about the Monkees), comic books, photographs, etc.

Finally, I decided on comic books.

One reason I decided on them is that I have four, yes, I said four, sites dedicated to comic books. Marty and some readers here are more familiar with my pop culture site called On My Mind. However, I also have Comic Book Letterheads Museum, Mail It To Team Up, Millie the Model and Plastic Man Platitudes. So, as you can see, I am deeply in to comic books.

Now, what should I write about them?

I had recently purchased and was reading an old copy of Marvel Team-up. It was issue #4, and normally, I would see it going for $10 to $20, but I was able to get it for $1. Sure, the cover was torn but even in this condition I thought it would be worth a little more the $1. Since it was bagged when I bought it, and I didn't notice something when I bought it that soon came to my attention when I opened it at home. The cover was no longer attached to the book. Not only was the book not worth $10 it probably wasn't even worth the $1 I paid for it. Yet, I was still happy to have it, not as much as I was before but still happy, and I enjoyed reading it. This got me to thinking. Why do we still happily collect anything even if we know it is worthless? I am applying my thinking to comic books but it can apply to anything you collect.

I started collecting comic books before I could even read them. My Dad sold comic books in the local Mom and Pop shops in my area. He and my Mom would let me look at the pictures and hoped that it would spark me to want to learn what the characters in the books were saying. It worked too well, I fear, as it sparked a life long hobby.

To say that I have kept collecting by purchasing back issues for nostalgia is keeping it simple. That is only part of it. The other part is for history. To buy a book means that I have a part of history. If I could afford to buy a copy of Action Comics from the 1940's that was coverless and read to death but in still readable condition that someone was selling for an affordable price, I would feel lucky as I had a part of publishing history from the 1940's. Sure, it may never be worth a lot, but I have something that has been part of something larger then I am. Who knows where this book has been? It could have been book that a GI read during the war. It could have been a book that a family member once owned.

My Dad thought he had saved Superman #1 to give to me, till he found out his Mom threw out his collection when he left home. Remember comic books were just ephemera that could be thrown away without a second thought. There was even a back issue that I bought that had a mark on the bottom of the front page. I recognized it as one that my cousin would put to brand his books. It turns out he gave it away when he was younger, and it made it back full circle into the family. Actually, it made it full circle. I gave it back to him when I was done with it.

Another thing I find interesting about buying cheap back issues is when I find the name of person written in them. Unlike what happened with my cousin, they are usually names of people I have never met. Some times if they have filled out a coupon in the book but never used it then I will have their old address. It lets you know how far this book has traveled just to be in my hands so I can read it, too.

So, yes, I do collect comics of fun, nostalgia, and possible profits in the future, if I may need the money. But that is just a small part of the picture. It is also a way to see how this art form has touched the lives of so many people over the decades.