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Kausik Misra Wanted To Be Different

15/2/2016

5 Comments

 
Our new member Kausik Misra from India wanted to be different. This is the reason why he collects bookmarks. I wish to introduce Kausik to our members and demonstrate that he is indeed different in many ways.
​

What is striking about Kausik are his plans and his mission. Yes, he is a bookmark collector with a mission, and that is indeed unusual. His mission is no less than “to promote bookmark collecting in India, to have a bookmark collectors’ meeting in near future and to make it an annual event”. Wow, I can only say, respect! This is an ambitious plan, and it is much more than what can be expected from an enthusiastic collector. 
Picture
Kausik Misra between his bookmarks

Kausik has not only plans, but he also pursues his targets with actions. In 2010, he established a Bookmark Collectors’ Club and runs a Facebook page to support the idea of his club. Regarding the comments on his Facebook page submitted by people from countries all over the world, I have the impression he is promoting bookmark collecting not only in India but throughout the world. Let us listen to his own words he is using to motivate the visitors of the club page:

“Welcome 'Bookmark Collectors! Welcome to the exclusive club of bookmark collectors. It's a unique but very interesting hobby, privy to the interests of a select few. Happy Collecting!

You have met stamp collectors, coin collectors, key chain collectors, signature collectors and many other collectors but how many 'Bookmark Collectors' have you met? The answer is - Not Many. 

Feel proud to be a part of this exclusive club. 

I still have not managed to find a term for a bookmark collector. Bookmarks are a part of ' Ephemera.' Ephemera means collectable items that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity. I still don't know an English term to describe a 'Bookmark Collector.'

But according to French websites, the French word is signopaginophile or signetophile, with an additional word chartasignopaginophile for a collector of bookmarks made of paper. 

No matter what the material, if you share the same spirit and passion for this unique hobby this is the forum to share your ideas. 

Happy Collecting!
”
Picture
Bookmarks with celebrities from India, part of Kausik's collection

One of the best means to promote an idea in a country is surely a newspaper report about the subject. And this is what Kausik managed to do: The Hindustan Times published an article about Kausik and his passion of bookmark collecting. The title: “Kausik Misra wanted to be different. He found his place in the world (and books) by collecting bookmarks“ It is an interesting article which tells the story of Kausik in some detail. Let us read it:
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"I don’t like competition,” says Brunch reader Kausik Misra, 30, a marketing professional with a TV channel. “I have always had a hatred for anything that everyone was doing. So people collect stamps, coins and such but I collect bookmarks.” 

Misra says he was amazed and honoured when Frank Divendal, the world record holder for the most bookmarks ever (more than 120,000 of them), found his Facebook page and wrote to him, saying he loved the page! “That was a good day,” he smiles. 

He started collecting bookmarks in 2002, when he first arrived in Mumbai from his hometown, Jamshedpur, to study at St Xavier’s. One day, he bought a few bookmarks, and realised that this could be a “unique” hobby when he googled the English word for a person who collects bookmarks and didn’t find one. “According to French websites, the word is Signopaginophile,” he says.

Twelve years on, Misra doesn’t know how many bookmarks he has (he met us holding many stuffed packets). “It takes away the romance of it all, if I start counting. Then it becomes a chore.” He’s not slowing down though. He has bookmarks from countries as far away as the Netherlands, Belgium, Bhutan, Thailand, Indonesia, the UK, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Malaysia and South Africa and every place he has visited in India. 

“I have travelled to many places but not everywhere, of course. My friends and family know what to get me as a gift. They often buy them at the airport!” he says with a laugh. 

What’s important to him is that his bookmarks have memories attached to them. “When I went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam last year, I didn’t buy posters of the paintings, but instead bought bookmarks. I will never forget that trip.” And in Belgium, where everyone was buying the lace umbrellas that the country is known for, he bought a lace bookmark. ​
Picture
Kausik's homemade bookmarks with bus tickets

Misra also loves making his own bookmarks. He has used airport baggage tags as bookmarks, even Do Not Disturb tags from hotels. Here is a fun story: To make a bookmark out of the colourful BEST bus tickets that are no longer in use, he actually travelled on the routes that used the red tickets, the blue and the green separately. “It makes for a great memory and story then. What’s the point otherwise?” 

This is his only hobby, he says, but it defines him. “It’s so special because only a few people do it. I do something that no one else does. It’s on my Instagram and Twitter bios. It’s who I am.”

This is the story of Kausik in Hindustan Times, and I am amazed to see how a sincere passion can transform a person and keeps him going towards his mission. I am sure we will learn a lot from our new member Kausik and how he follows his dreams. I wish to thank him for joining and inspiring us.

​Asim Maner
5 Comments

How I Collect: Bookmarks - by Lois Densky-Wolff

6/2/2016

 
In the world of antique 'smalls' and ephemera illustrating the history of advertising art, I think nothing beats collecting bookmarks and pagemarkers. As a retired librarian and archivist, it is only natural I would be interested in book-related ephemera. I have been collecting new bookmarks since first becoming a librarian over thirty years ago and antique ones shortly thereafter.

My fascination with old bookmarks and pagemarkers began on a trip to London. At The British Ephemera Society's annual collectibles paper show, I purchased my first antique paper bookmarks. They were so lovely; I've been hooked ever since. Having worked professionally in library special collections and archives where one of my responsibilities was the acquisition of rare books and manuscripts, it was imperative never to have a conflict of interest when deciding what to personally collect. Bookmark collecting was a perfect fit.
NBC microphone, die-cut paper, 1935
NBC microphone, die-cut paper, 1935
PictureCoca-Cola, paper ca. 1910

I really like printed ephemera - all those old, small historical materials that were made to be used once and then thrown away such as programs, menus, and tickets. My bookmark collecting made me even more receptive and sensitive to collecting ephemera professionally especially as they helped document the various historical subjects in the libraries where I once worked.

Paper bookmarks are classified as ephemera although they are intended for repeated use. My collection contains many examples of early paper and celluloid bookmarks. Most are in the category of 'advertising' or 'die-cut' - those cut in the shape of things, and I have great examples in the collection of both types.


The other category that I am particularly attracted to is metal pagemarkers - those bookmarks produced with a pierced blade which clips to the paper. I began collecting bookmarks and (mostly) English page-markers because I like things historical and bookish, but did not want to collect rare books. Many of my pagemarkers have fancy and unusually-shaped handles.

I have a particular affinity for New Jersey made bookmarks, and actively seek out Newark manufactured celluloid by Whitehead & Hoag, silks from the Paterson, NJ, silk mills, and advertising paper from the (formerly) Newark-based Mennen Company. At last count, my collection contains thousands of bookmark examples. I would classify myself as an 'advanced' collector now that I am very selective of which bookmarks and pagemakers I add to the collection.
Picture
NY World's Fair, 1939-49, aluminum and ribbon souvenir on advertising card
Picture
Producers' Pride Milk, die-cut paper, no date

​My collection contains bookmarks and pagemarkers dating from the mid-19th century to the present and are made of paper, silver, gold, pewter, wood, brass, copper, ivory, mother-of-pearl, aluminum, chrome, tin, plastic, celluloid, leather, Fiberglas, silk, ribbon, woven and embroidered, and handmade originals. There are examples from around the world.

I find bookmarks in many places - at antique and book stores, antique and book shows, paper and collectible shows, and just free-for-the-taking new ones. My husband is the proprietor of the Old Book Shop in Morristown, NJ, and he is another welcome source of new and old bookmarks to add to the collection.

​Over the years, I have had the occasion to exhibit parts of my collection, mostly at libraries including Princeton and Rutgers Universities, and several public libraries in New Jersey. I had the pleasant opportunity to present a lecture about the history of bookmarks and my collection to members of The Ephemera Society of America at the Ephemera 22 show in 2002, and exhibit a small group there the following year. It has been a most enjoyable experience sharing my collecting obsession with the public.
Picture
Die-cut hand, celluloid, Whitehead & Hoag, Newark, NJ ca. 1906
Picture
Buckwalter Stove Company, Royerford, PA, die-cut celluloid by Whitehead & Hoag, Newark, NJ

​One great thing about collecting bookmarks: they are easy to store! Small and mostly flat, the pagemarkers are stored in miniature drawers and boxes, while the older paper and other materials bookmarks are stored in archival photographic negative sleeves and kept in binders. They are sorted into general categories but I could do a better job of cataloging them. A new retirement project in the making!
Picture
Ulbrich & Kingsley school books, paper, ca.1890
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Penny Goods Chocolate, paper, no date
Picture
Piehler's Shoes, die-cut paper no date

​This entry is a repost of the original blog post by Lois Densky-Wolff on the website of
The Ephemera Society of America (ESA) from 2011.

My Experiences With Collecting Bookmarks

6/2/2016

0 Comments

 
​To kick off the IFOB blog, we wish to start a new thread of blog posts with the above title. We hope you will share your story about how you decided to collect bookmarks.  What was it about that first bookmark that led you to want more?  What have you developed as your special areas of interest?  Which other experiences have you had with your collection and with people you encountered while collecting? These questions and any other ones you can think of could be answered in a personal blog post of yours to be published here.

Feel free to submit your story at any time by creating a blog entry.  The editors will review it briefly and then it will be posted for our members to read.  Don’t be shy! We are eager to hear your story.

Laine Farley
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    • Raffle
  • WOBODA
    • WOBODA 2022
    • WOBODA 2021 >
      • WOBODA 2020
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        • WOBODA 2018
        • WOBODA 2017
        • Wobo on World Tour 2016
  • Gallery
    • Gallery Page 3 - New Year's
    • Gallery Page 4 - Bookmarks on Bookmarks
    • Gallery Page 5 - Care of Books
    • Gallery Page 6 - Owls
    • Gallery Page 7 - Woboda Bookmarks
    • Gallery Page 8 - Countries
    • Gallery Page 9 - Bookmarks Speak
  • Library
    • Reading Room
    • Book Reviews
    • Bookmark Quotes
    • IFOB Publications >
      • Earliest History of Bookmarks
      • Diamond Registration Marks on British Bookmarks
      • World Literature Classics
      • Holiday Haunts Bookmarks of the Great Western Railway
      • Reprints of the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games Bookmarks
      • Fascinating Bookmarks
      • Traditional Costumes of Countries - A bookmark Series by Rowohlt Verlag
      • Charting the Course of Celluloid Bookmarks
  • Bibliographies
  • Workshop
  • Events
  • Links
  • Bookmark Producers