Description
The John and Jane Adams Ephemera Collection (1856-1996) offers a glimpse into some of the ways printed materials were used to capture the interest of American culture
from the late 1800s through the late 1900s. Such a collection can be used to trace shifts in cultural norms, as these items
of ephemera typically reflect the prevailing sentiments of the population for whom the materials were created. The subject
matter of the ephemera in this collection varies as wildly as the materials used to create it. The collection has been divided
into six series based on subject: Business and Commerce (1880-1982), Political (1903-1996), Travel (1901-1981), Games and Hobbies (ca. 1880's-1942), Religious (1856-1950), and Educational (1907-1935).
Background
This collection of ephemera—defined as materials created for a particular, limited purpose designed to be thrown away after
use—is the result of decades of collecting by John and Jane Adams. Epehemera is one of many collecting areas the Adams dedicated
themselves to, frequenting yard and estate sales as well as purchasing items through dealers and collectors.
Restrictions
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Availability
This collection is open for research.