The fragile world of ephemera encompasses an almost bottomless catch-all of objects. Political campaign memorabilia, including badges, buttons and even bumper stickers, is another major area of ephemera. At the other end of the price spectrum is the broadside issued by the U.S. government asking for help finding the Lincoln assassination conspirators. Wes notes that in the world of ephemera, condition is its most important attribute. The ephemera market also has nooks and crannies that only specialized devotees rummage around in.
Some people collect luggage.
More obscure are those who collect luggage stickers. He defends ephemera as an important part of American history. The guy who produced Chippendale highboys selling for millions of dollars today also had a trade card that he used to advertise. That was as much a part of his life as his furniture. Imagine a ticket produced in 1849 that allows you to board the fastest clipper ship of the day, the boat that will deliver you to a place called California, where you could dig for gold.