The Mutoscope was an early coin-operated arcade device that allowed people to watch 'moving pictures' (often peep shows) by essentially quickly flipping though a book of still images on stiff card stock. One person at a time could use the machine, which was marketed by the American Mutoscope Company starting in 1895. A subsequent firm, International Mutoscope Reel Company, made all manner of penny-arcade machines in the 1930s and '40s, including ones that dispensed 5.25-by-3.25-inch cheesecake cards of young women in various states of undress. There are almost 300 different types of these cards—those in the Yankee Doodle Girls series are considered rare.
Interviews & Articles
Selling Soap and Smokes With Victorian Trade Cards

How did I start collecting Victorian trade cards? In the late 60s I was a bottle collector, early American bottles and flasks. I s… [more]
19th-Century Tobacco Cards

Dave Campbell contacted me after reading a post on The Baseball Card blog. He's been collecting baseball cards non-stop since 1981… [more]
The Force of Collecting Star Wars Cards

I was 10 when the movie came out and I went to the store and bought a couple of packs of Star Wars cards. But I ended up trashing … [more]
Hitting a Home Run with Baseball Cards

I started collecting in 1986. If you’re in Boston and you’re a baseball fan, the Red Sox may take over your life. They take over y… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Ephemera Blog

Marty Weil's wide-ranging, in-depth blog on ephemera, including lots of great interviews with ephemera collectors. … [read review or visit site]
Non Sports Cards: Tobacco, Gum and Candy

Tom Boblitt moderates this extremely deep, collaborative site dedicated to non-sports cards (tobacco, gum and candy… [read review or visit site]
Ephemera Society of America

Great reference on ephemera... includes examples and descriptions of various ephemera categories, selected special … [read review or visit site]
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes

