Marking the Life of a Collector

by

Lauren Roberts

One of the things I like most about collecting bookmarks is the fact that the circle of bookmark collectors, which is relatively small compared to collectors of other items, is balanced nicely by their intense passion. It’s an enormous joy for me to come across them, and several of us have become online friends—and more.

Finding them takes some doing, though. Googling “bookmarks” is a frustrating experience because the term has become closely associated with the Internet and all sorts of “e-use” bookmarks come up. But by using variations and adding modifiers (antique, paper, etc.) I was able to dig up several sites and people.

Among others, I ran across the name of Lois Densky-Wolff at The Ephemera Society of America site where she has an article on bookmarks. Lois is a serious collector with years of experience. I thought our readers would enjoy getting to know her and some of her collection. 

Who is Lois? What is she like?
I’m an East coast kid, originally from Brooklyn, who spent many years in the Southwest, but have lived in New Jersey for the past 25 years. I’m now 55 and getting ready to retire from my job as librarian and archivist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Libraries, where I am head of the Department of Special Collections on its Newark campus. I am married to a used, out-of-print, and rare bookseller and ephemera/postcard dealer. We collect a lot of different stuff, mostly paper-based, but have varied interests. In addition to my bookmark collection, I collect Inuit prints from the Canadian Arctic and Southwestern Native American pottery. I dabble in postcards but not seriously, except for work-related collecting. I adore ephemera. I love to travel and have been working my way around Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. Of course, I look for bookmarks while traveling. I’m a reader, naturally, mostly mysteries and fiction. It’s probably what got me into all of this in the first place.

Tell us about your professional background.
I majored in anthropology in college and almost went into the museum field. Instead, I got a job in a medical library in Colorado, went to graduate school and have a Masters in Librarianship from the University of Denver. While I was in graduate school I discovered special collections, rare books and manuscripts, and ended up specializing in archival administration. I've worked in special collections in  Barrow, Alaska (a polar collection), and a variety of libraries in New Jersey including a county historical society (Monmouth County Historical Association), municipal library (Morristown & Morris Twp. Public Library) and university (UMDNJ). The last three all have to do with local history and  history of a place (New Jersey) or subject (medicine). It has been a very satisfying profession since I have gotten to work with great historical material and really interesting researchers. It’s probably what got me interested in seriously collecting bookmarks.

Do you have a particular sub-interest in bookmarks such as 19th century or metal ones?
Definitely. In addition to the above, I collect the same thing in celluloid (an early plastic), and three types of New Jersey-made bookmarks: antique silks manufactured in Paterson, NJ;  antique paper, including die-cuts, advertising The Mennen Company of Newark, NJ; and antique advertising celluloid, including die-cuts manufactured by Whitehead & Hoag, an old Newark-based company. I also collect intricate silver and other metal pagemarkers—metal bookmarks that date between circa 1870-1940.

But the collection is not limited to these. If it is interesting and I do not have it, I buy it. However, I am now an advanced collector, and have become very selective in what I purchase. I have many wonderful antique pagemarkers with unique handles and shapes, and these I continue to look for. I am interested in sets, particularly antique writing sets in original cases that contain pagemarker examples. I have three of these—two British and one French, found in Europe, naturally.

This still doesn’t explain the collection, however. My bookmarks include many examples in paper, celluloid, silk, handmade, woven, embroidered, cross stitched, painted, silver, gold, brass, copper, wood, ivory, horn, fiberglass and other materials. Dating from the Victorian Era (and heavy on the Edwardian), there are those handmade and early printed varieties you would expect, as well as many of the early pagemarker types. The bookmarks reflect all the usual categories that A.W. Coysh (author of Collecting Bookmarkers) and Joan Huegel (of the defunct "Bookmark Collector" newsletter) describe. But I guess my most interesting are the old advertising, expositions, fantastic pagemarkers, and even some of the modern book publishers. And I augment the collection with bookmark ephemera and bookmark miscellany.

                   

What is the least and most you’ve ever paid for a bookmark? What was so important about the most expensive one that made you willing to pay the price?
The least expensive was probably $1. The most expensive was $1,000. The expensive one is one of two 14k gold pagemarkers in my collection. It is a real beauty, a lovely little horse atop the gold marker with a ruby eye and red enamel bridle. I had to have this bookmark. In all the years of collecting, I had seen only two other 14k gold pagemarkers and I bought one of them (a horseshoe shape). I passed on the first one because I could not afford it at the time. About five years later, I found the second one and bought it knowing then how rare they were. About five years later, the horse one showed up at an antique show, so I knew I had to buy that one, too, since I might never see another one for a very long time. It also is very well designed and made.

You’ve said prices for bookmarks have risen since you started collecting. Do you think that’s a good or bad trend?
 As a collector, rising prices are a bad thing because it is more costly to acquire nice examples, especially really unique and interesting ones that advanced collectors want. As a collector, rising prices are a good thing because the overall value of the collection has increased. Another thing I have noticed is it has become harder to find really good to excellent examples because of  an increasingly limited supply, so that has also been a factor in the higher prices. That's probably true of a lot of collectibles.

Where do you find your bookmarks?
Everywhere! I go to antique shows, ephemera shows, bookstores. I visit antique shops (and love to do that when I am abroad). My husband (and now, even some of his customers) brings me bookmarks he finds in his book stock. My friends and family bring or send me bookmarks from their travels. I have bookmarks from all over the world. These, mostly, are new ones. And I am always picking up new ones in stores, libraries, bookshops, museums, etc. But I do try to be more disciplined about buying them now. I really try to fill in gaps. I am selective. I do discriminate. They are much more expensive now than when I first started collecting. I love a good deal.

How do you store and display your bookmark collection?
The bookmarks are stored in several ways. Right now, I cannot keep up with the new ones and these are stored in a number of small boxes, some sorted, some not. I must have about a dozen or so containers. The old ones are stored much better. Paper, celluloid, silks, and other handmade bookmarks are sorted into general categories and stored in archival sleeves designed for photographic negatives and kept in binders. The pagemarkers (all metals), wood, plastic, horn, and other three dimensional bookmarks are stored in a series of small velvet lined drawers. Better storage is another post-retirement project. For some of my better gold, silver and other metal bookmarks, I have them displayed in small locked glass top boxes.