Vintage Paper and Ephemera for Collage

If you’ve seen my Instagram Reels or read some of my older blog posts, you already know how much I love paper. While I have boxes of commercial and painted papers, my genuine interest as a collage artist is vintage paper and ephemera. When I first started using vintage materials, I would collect anything and everything that I could find. If it was old paper, I would use it. After years of almost daily collage-making, I’ve settled down with a few favorites.

I have also accumulated books and papers that I’ll never use because they are too beautiful, too well-made, and are already works of art. Please consider and research your materials before tearing and cutting them for your art. Search for book titles and try image searches to ensure you aren’t accidentally destroying something rare or valuable.

I’ve included a video of how I deconstruct the hardcover books at the bottom of the blog.

Blank pages from hardcover and paperback books

These are the most exciting parts of a book, and I always appreciate the older books, where paper wasn’t as precious because those blank pages are tossed in everywhere. I use them to cover a substrate, as a paper for printmaking or monoprinting, or as a collage element. I’ll save papers that are 1/2 covered with text, and if the paper quality is really good, I’ll save the entire text block and paint over the text.

Ledger Books

I have a small collection of vintage ledger books that I’ve found on eBay, Etsy, and in antique stores. The handwriting is beautiful, and there are often intriguing lines and numbers.

Hardback book covers

I carefully take off the fabric covers from older hardcover books. If they aren’t the right color, I’ll paint them. The threads on some of these are a wonderful addition to a composition. Wear a mask when you deconstruct a book, and discard them if you find mold or mildew or if they smell. I sort them by color and store them in plastic shoeboxes

Player Piano Rolls

Check Facebook Marketplace often enough, and you’ll find these are readily available, at least in New England. The neutral paper is helpful on its own, but add in the dashed lines and the lyrics, and you’ve got so much to work with.  I’ve bought these in bulk, and a single roll lasts long. Five dollars for a single roll is a good price, but if you are patient, you’ll find them for less.

Stamp Albums

The stamps are nice (those colors), but the paper in the vintage albums is an absolute joy. It’s whisper-thin and great for layering. I look for albums that have never been used or hardly used because I don’t use many stamps- save those for the collectors.

Vintage letters and envelopes

The stories they tell!  I read them first, of course, but then use them in collages. I hide the names, addresses, and most of the text when I include them in a collage, but I know what’s there, and I know the story they tell. Watch out for the adhesive that holds the envelopes together because your medium will dissolve that glue and can lead to bubbles.

Vintage Magazines

The best vintage colors come from old magazines. I prefer Life magazines from the 1950s and 1960s and find them in antique stores or on EBay. Five dollars is as much as I’ll spend per magazine. I only use these with gluesticks in my sketchbook because the colors will run with a wet medium. Keep these collages out of the sun because the colors will fade.

Maps

Books used to contain lots of fold-out maps. I’ve found some books almost entirely made of maps- so beautiful that I can’t rip them up. Maps have excellent lines, place names to spark memories, and are blank on one side. If you’re looking for color, try vintage road maps.

Fabric

Feed sacks, old quilting cotton, curtains, clothing… there is plenty of old fabric, but it can be hard to work with. You’ll need a strong substrate, such as a wooden panel, and a strong adhesive, like a gel medium, to keep it in place. But, you know, threads!!

Magical Finds

Canceled checks, Green Stamps, letterpress printed papers, papers that were used as bookmarks and left in books… these are the magical finds I’m thinking of. They are the bits of life that were never meant to be saved, making them more interesting.

Sheet Music

I admire the typography used for the titles in sheet music from the 1930s and 1940s. The colors are excellent, and unlike those in magazines, the quality is higher, so I don’t worry about the ink smearing.

Paperback Books

I don’t use these as much as I used to, but they can provide great colors and typography. Artist Melinda Tidwell uses them as her primary collage material.

What did I miss? Add your favorite vintage materials in the comments.