If you have ever cleaned out the attic or basement in an old house, you have probably found yourself stopping to admire, or at least examine some neat old stuff that you forgot ever existed. There are people out there (a lot of them in fact) who love to collect this old stuff. Specifically, there is a pretty big market for what is known as vintage ephemera. Ephemera is the normal day to day stuff (usually paper) that we use and dispose of every day.
Some of the more popular types of ephemera are old labels, matchbooks, and advertisements. If you have ever gone to an estate sale, you may have seen boxes of this stuff being sold for a few dollars. Ephemera collectors usually focus on one particular area that interests them. Sometimes these are used to make displays and sometimes they just get placed into scrapbooked collections. Next time you find yourself looking at an old piece of sales literature or maybe even some old gum wrappers, take a minute to check eBay. Someone might want to buy it!
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