Finding Pictures: Twentieth-Century Ephemera
The Library of Congress acquires collections through many means standard to cultural institutions, including donation, purchase, and bequest. But we also have one unique acquisition source: copyright deposit. In 1870, Congress passed an act centralizing copyright registration at the Library and requiring the deposit of two copies of each registered work. Not every deposited item becomes part of the Library’s research collections, but many do.
In a webinar next Wednesday, May 20 at 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time, Owen Ellis, a Prints & Photographs Division (P&P) archivist, and Sara Duke, the division’s curator of popular and applied graphic arts, will discuss P&P’s work selecting, processing, and making accessible printed ephemera that was acquired through copyright deposit. The webinar will discuss material deposited with the U.S. Copyright Office between 1909 and 1978.
Copyright Office. Photograph ca. 1920. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.13456
Owen and Sara will focus on selections from Copyright Classes G, I, and KK, works that Owen says “document the creativity and commerce of the American people.”
In the pre-1978 classification system, Copyright Class G consisted of works of art created for personal and commercial use, including illustrations, comics, designs for greeting cards, and games, among others.
Dinky Doodle. Cartoon by Walter B. Lantz, 1924. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05121 
The flowers and the seasons of Mahjong cards. Drawing by Richard H. Wang, 1942. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05132
Copyright Class I focuses on blueprints, diagrams, technical drawings, and other design works.
The Kendall automobile signaling device. Blueprint by Carleton W. Kendall, 1919. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05160 
American battle-plane no. 1. Cutout by Spence Junior Novelty Co., 1918. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05602
Finally, Copyright Class KK includes labels, advertisements, packaging, and other material intended for commercial use.
Steve Canyon school textbook cover. Illustration by Milton Caniff, 1959. © CLASSIC COOL – The Milton Caniff Estate All Rights Reserved. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05854 
Swift’s space travel guide (recto). Specialty Advertising Service, Inc, 1958. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05867 
Swift’s space travel guide (verso). Specialty Advertising Service, Inc, 1958. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmscd.05868
Reflecting on the importance of copyright deposits at the Library of Congress, Sara writes, “From books to posters, from manuscripts for plays to the typescript copy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech given at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, deposits have formed the basis of the collections of the Library of Congress.”
The items to be discussed in the webinar are the stuff of everyday life. “The commercial art prints are valuable for the insight they offer to the development of packaging, toys, computers, and medications,” continues Sara. There is so much to be learned from these objects about the history of technology, communications, popular culture, political context, and more.
Learn More:
- Join us for Finding Pictures: Twentieth-Century Ephemera on Wednesday May 20 at 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time.
- Watch recordings of past Prints & Photographs Division webinars.
- Learn about the history of copyright in the United States through a timeline created by the Copyright Office.
- View finding aids for the Copyright Class G and Class KK collections.
- Explore other items in the Prints & Photographs Division that entered the Library via copyright deposit by searching either copyright deposit or Transfer; U.S. Copyright Office.
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