The history of collectible paper has been a story of false starts. Auction houses in the 19th century waxed and waned. How to describe and organize records were constantly a matter of dispute. What matters and what fits were the subjects of discussion. In particular, what would be worthy of inclusion. Books yes, pamphlets occasionally, broadsides if their timing and subjects were deemed collectible. Maps yes, but ephemera was waiting and waiting.
Then, during the mid-20th century, ephemera began to regularly appear in specialist dealer and auction catalogues. It was then that the Ephemera Societies were formed.
This past year William Frost Mobley, early leader and inspiration for the burgeoning field, passed away. On 15 March, during the Ephemera Society’s annual meeting, is remembering his life and contributions.
Here is the official Ephemera Society account provided by Diane DeBlois and a personal perspective by Eric Caren’s In Memoriam who remembers him as teacher, advocate, and friend.
Remembering William Frost Mobley 1944-2024
(Issued in September 2024)
By Diane DeBlois
Bill’s phobias kept him out of caves, off airplanes, and away from microphones, but he was fearless when it came to ephemera. In the late 1960s, barely out of the Air Force, he launched a peripatetic career as an antiquarian book dealer and soon was specializing in what was then called Americana. He met his first wife - and great collaborator - Emily Davis at the 1st Cambridge [MA] Antiquarian Book Fair, Hallowe’en 1976. Bill then worked for and was mentored by two of the ‘greats’ in ephemera: Sam Murray of his hometown of Wilbraham MA, and Rocky Gardiner of Stamford CT - both of whom had joined the Ephemera Society (Great Britain) in 1975.
A sidebar provides the founding narrative of our Society, with Bill leading the thrust for a “top of the line” opening event. On his own behalf, he decided in 1980 to invest in a well-researched and nicely-printed catalog: Superlative Selection of American Nineteenth-century Historical and Advertising Broadsides, which he followed with two others: A Visual History of Trades and Professions, and An American Enterprise - A Fully Illustrated Catalog with Over 1250 Items [Trade Cards, Advertising, Ephemera] - all three have continue to be good references.
Bill and Emily filled every Society role, including handing all the printing and mailing of publications, the first in 1981. They also created roles: Bill was always on the lookout for reference works that touched on ephemera - and for many years he and Emily ran a Society bookstore through mail order and at fairs. Bill promoted partnering with major institutions for conferences apart from the annual fair - the first in 1991 at The Strong Museum in Rochester NY and subsequent ones at The American Antiquarian Society, Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg, and The Clements Library.
From the beginning, Bill worked with Al Malpa at staging and sharing Society events. In 1982 Bill joined Brian Riba in the ephemera auction world; in 1994 he encouraged Russ Mascieri and Dave Cheadle in the founding of the Trade card Collector’s Association; and also in 1994 encouraged Barbara Rusch to found The Ephemera Society of Canada.
Bill styled himself a Chocolate Historian when writing the foreword to Linda K. Fuller’s 1994 Chocolate Fads, Folklore and Fantasies. His and Emily’s enthusiastic collecting of chocolate ephemera led to a presentation at Mohonk Mountain House which in turn led to Bill’s helping to organize Victorian-themed holidays there - with several Society members participating, including Phil Jones and John Grossman.
When Bill relocated to Colorado in 1996, his new wife and collaborator, Carol Teckenbrock, was an ephemera neophyte - but that soon changed. The most active paper collecting in the area was in postcards and the Mobleys began exhibiting at postcard fairs. Since 2016, Carol has been the show promoter for the Denver Postcard and Paper Show held three times a year and is currently the Chairman for the Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair. Bill and Carol established an on-line ephemera store, and their home became a center for good ephemera scouting and camaraderie.
Bill’s ill health the last many years curtailed his travel, but not his telephone ephemera network. Bill wished for no memorial service; he asked that contributions be made in his name to the Ephemera Society of America. Bill’s own contribution will be the several volumes of beautifully-crafted scrapbooks containing all the first Society publications that Carol will bring these to Ephemera 45. Bill’s ashes are interred at Fort Logan National Cemetery; apart from dates, his tombstone reads, simply, “ephemerist”.
SIDEBAR:
The Ephemera Society of America was born with Ephemera USA 1, at the Harrison Inn, Southbury CT, in May 1980, the first event in World Ephemera Year, a concept created by The Ephemera Society in England founded by Maurice Rickards in 1975. The Society’s first North American initiative in 1977 had been called This Is Ephemera, which provided the title for an exhibition at the Bennington Museum VT and a book written by Rickards. Rickards’s Vermont connection was Calvin P. Otto, nominally in charge of World Ephemera Year events in North America (a World Ephemera Congress Ephemera 80 sponsored by Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. was planned for September in London). William Frost and Emily Davis Mobley and Bill’s employer, the antiquarian bookman Sam Murray, contacted Otto in the spring of 1979 with the idea of holding a paper fair and conference to complement the London event. After discussing logistics with the show promoters of the Westchester Book & Paper Show at Iona College (who recommended the Harrison Inn and agreed to promote the event) the Mobleys drafted a formal proposal to the British society – which was accepted. The first planning meeting was held at a Sotheby’s on-site auction in New Hampshire in 1979, with Sally De Beaumont from The Ephemera Society, Otto, and the Mobleys. By Labor Day, the dates in May 1980 were set and the seeds of the American society sown. The first contact for participants was made at a conference of the American Historical Print Collectors Society. Elizabeth Baird introduced graphic designer Jack Golden to the Mobleys and he offered to design a poster for the ephemera event, which Otto agreed to have printed. At the Cambridge Antiquarian Book Fair in the Fall of 1979, Golden, Otto, and the Mobleys drafted proposals to launch the event as the first for an American branch of The Ephemera Society, not solely part of World Ephemera Year. The program for Ephemera USA 1 shows how ambitious were the hopes of this small group for the future of the American offshoot of The Ephemera Society. Among the conference speakers, private collectors were represented by Golden and Rickards; institutional collectors by Wendy Shadwell of the New-York Historical Society; and auction houses by David Margolis of Swann Galleries and two representatives of Sotheby Parke Bernet of London. The list of booth-holders at the 1980 Fair show how widely the Mobleys recruited for the best among antiquarian book, autograph, and antique dealers who were known to have already specialized in what used to be called Paper Americana. Most continued to be loyal supporters. Beth Baird, Kit Barry, Lynnette Bohling, Diane DeBlois & Robert Dalton Harris, Valerie Jackson-Harris, Alfred P. Malpa, David Margolis & Jean Moss, Willis Monie, Stephen Resnick. Leonard & Jackie Balish, Jean Berg, Rocky & Avis Gardiner, Bob Lucas, Jan & Larry Malis, Barbara Meredith, Sam Murray, Stephen Paine, and John Simon.
In 1984, Dick Friz, editor of the Ephemera News opened a profile of Bill with: “Every field of collecting has need for a visionary, a spokesman, cheerleader, an impresario all in one - who is capable of rallying a group of individuals to action. No matter that they sometimes appear to be at odds with one another, lacking contact with any world but their own.”
Bill Mobley: In Memorium
Released today, March 7, 2025
By Eric Caren
BILL MOBLEY- A FOUNDING FATHER OF PAPER AMERICANA AND EPHEMERA!
William Frost Mobley a name which suggests formality and blue blood. Very misleading...William was a Bill to all who crossed his path. I am not sure when I first met Bill...must have been early 1980's. He was a gentleman yes; but never a snob. He had a quiet dignity which is as rare as anything that I have ever owned in The Caren Archive or The Eric C. Caren Collection.
He started The Ephemera Society of America with other friends such as Cal Otto, Al Malpa, Kit Barry, etc.They all shared a true passion for historical paper treasures. Bill worked tirelessly to further the movement first begun in the UK by Maurice Rickards.
I directed a gallery of Ephemera in London's posh Covent Garden Market when it opened in 1982. Earlier, I attended and often setup at the very earliest Paper shows in the 1970's. I am not even sure how we all knew to congregate at them. One would be at a Church, others at Iona College...At a guess; it was from small ads in antiques and book periodicals such as AB Bookman and Hobbies Magazine, handout flyers and the like.
Two common denominators were always in the air...Passion and Intellectual curiosity. None of us knew what anything was worth monetarily...there were no price guides (Well, I do still have my yellow soft cover guide to Paper Americana purchased around 1975), no internet, no Rare Book Hub.We chased what we loved and bought whatever we could afford. Most of us only regretted what we did not buy, even those of us who bought furiously.
Early paper shows had tables and varied, but always ugly table coverings...I remember having unnaturally green coverings uncomfortable to the touch as well as the eye...but at least they were flame retardant...I think. and then much of the Paper was spread over tables in heaps, often only protected by the quality of the original paper used in manufacture. Common practice was to pencil price the material...Some even used ink UGH!
Along comes Bill Mobley and he quietly screams "this stuff deserves some respect." He was immaculate, but far from a dandy, and so were his beloved trade cards, etc. They were neatly organized in binders. My first transaction with him went something like this..."Hey Bill, I got this group of trade cards...I know nothing about them. Are you interested in acquiring them?" He quickly but carefully reviewed them and could have made me very happy with a few 20's. Instead he offered me many hundreds, which I happily accepted. I will never forget his honesty and generosity.
I remember when Bill and Brian Riba convinced Winter Auctions in CT. to let them create an Ephemera Department in their General Antique sales. These productions were primitive looking but I bought many treasures from them. Then they established Riba-Mobley Auctions also in CT. and hired the ever so professional and glamorous Dale Stulz to call the sales. I think I attended every single one. The catalog entries were well described by B and B and everything was photo illustrated. I still own the original Brady Studio Maquette of Lee and his Confederate Generals used to make the much scaled down cdv. I believe George Rinhart consigned that and much more great Photography. I remember that I paid something like $500 for it...Today it would probably bring 15 to $20,000, but it is nfs.
In any case, Bill not only started The Ephemera movement in the States; he also ran the first all Ephemera Auctions! After Brian Riba passed many moons ago...I and a partner picked up where they left off with HCA Auctions. Wes Cowan started at the very same time for the same purpose. We too had Dale Stulz conduct the sales, and they were in South Eastern Connecticut.
Back in the 70's, rare book dealers turned up their noses at paper...take a look at the exhibitors here. They changed their minds. Many of the records set at Christie's, Sotheby's, Swann, etc. are today just as likely to be Paper- Newspapers, Broadsides, Manuscripts, Trading Cards, Comic Books, Baseball cards, etc.
A big thanks to you Mr. William Frost Mobley. You were a pioneer and a first class gentleman!
Your Friend,
Eric
Eric C. Caren Collection & The Caren Archive
Director Emeritus- The Ephemera Society of America.