A postcard representation of Chicago’s Allerton Hotel fused with a photograph from the present day.
A postcard showing the view down Madison Street, “A cute little man of Chi-ca-go” limerick, and “Good for One Dance, Benton & Son” dance card.
6 pm
Ruggles Hall
One of our current exhibitions, Ephemeral by Design: Organizing the Everyday, shows off wonderful printed ephemera being made available to researchers as part of an ongoing processing and cataloging project. In this illustrated talk, the processing team (who also curated the exhibition) will expand upon one of the show’s themes: how printed ephemera allow us to study, document, or just imagine the Chicago we have lost to “progress.” Theater, concert, and fair tickets, advertising cards and direct-mail pieces, letterheads, postcards and souvenirs–all these things allow us to “see” Chicago as everyday citizens and visitors once experienced it. You won’t believe some of the images: babies invited to drink coffee; political satire that advertises steam-cleaning services; and letterheads that display proud buildings now long gone.
At the Newberry, Paul F. Gehl is George Amos Poole III Curator of Rare Books, and Custodian of the John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing; Megan Kelly is Cataloging Projects Manager; Lindsey O’Brien is Project Cataloging Assistant; and Amanda Schriver is Project Cataloging Assistant.
This program is free and no reservations are required.