ephemera
Saved discardable papers
Ephemera are things meant to last only briefly—printed materials like tickets, pamphlets, postcards, and posters that weren't designed for preservation.
Collectors prize vintage ephemera precisely because so little survives: The auction featured Victorian trade cards and other ephemera.
The word extends to anything transient or short-lived: the ephemera of daily life, social media ephemera.
The singular ephemeron is rare; ephemera serves for both.
Printed promotional sheets
- flyersPrinted promotional handouts
- leafletsBrief printed information sheets
- broadsidesSimultaneous discharge of guns
- pamphletsThin informational booklets
circulars · tickets · receipts · postcards · greeting cards · invitations · programs · playbills
Mailable souvenir notes
- trade cardsSwap collectible cards
- ticketsDocuments permitting entry
- playbillsTheater performance listings
- postersPrinted wall advertisements
pamphlets · broadsides · handbills · programs · menus · greeting cards · valentines · die-cuts
Temporary, soon departing
- evanescentTending to vanish quickly
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- passingMoving by or temporary
- briefShort in duration
short-lived · temporary · impermanent · fugacious · vanishing · fading · mayfly · butterfly
Unimportant miscellaneous facts
- minutiaePetty precise particulars
- triflesInsignificant things
- incidentalsMinor, unplanned expenses
- marginaliaNotes in page edges
footnotes · curiosities · oddments · scraps · fragments · bits · pieces · flotsam
Aquatic insects, extremely short-lived
- aquatic insectsInvertebrates living in water
- nymphsMinor female nature deities
- hatchesEmerges from egg
- emergenceComing into existence
swarms · molting · fly fishing · spinner · dun · imago · streamside · fishflies
handbills
Printed promotional sheets
- flyersPrinted promotional handouts
- leafletsBrief printed information sheets
- broadsidesSimultaneous discharge of guns
pamphlets · circulars · tickets · receipts · postcards · greeting cards · invitations · programs · playbills · menus
postcards
Mailable souvenir notes
- trade cardsSwap collectible cards
- ticketsDocuments permitting entry
- playbillsTheater performance listings
posters · pamphlets · broadsides · handbills · programs · menus · greeting cards · valentines · die-cuts · scraps
transient
Temporary, soon departing
- evanescentTending to vanish quickly
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- passingMoving by or temporary
brief · short-lived · temporary · impermanent · fugacious · vanishing · fading · mayfly · butterfly · cherry blossom
trivia
Unimportant miscellaneous facts
- minutiaePetty precise particulars
- triflesInsignificant things
- incidentalsMinor, unplanned expenses
marginalia · footnotes · curiosities · oddments · scraps · fragments · bits · pieces · flotsam · jetsam
mayflies
Aquatic insects, extremely short-lived
- aquatic insectsInvertebrates living in water
- nymphsMinor female nature deities
- hatchesEmerges from egg
emergence · swarms · molting · fly fishing · spinner · dun · imago · streamside · fishflies
- collectingcollector, art collection, stamp collecting, collectible, coin collecting
- bookstoresbookshelves, bookstores, bookshops, booksellers, indie bookstores
- pluralsmen, women, feet, mice, geese
- book collectingbibliophiles, first editions, rare books, first edition, antiquarian
- Decoupagedecoupage, collage, napkins, tissue paper, glue
- library collectionsrare books, manuscripts, medieval manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, first editions
ephemerapermanence
Quality of lasting indefinitely
archives · monuments · permanent records · permanencies · heirlooms
ephemeracanonical works
Officially recognized masterpieces
magnum opus · landmarks · masterworks · seminal texts · touchstones
ephemerasubstance
Physical material with mass
weightiness · gravitas · fundamentals · essentials · monuments
- ephemeral streamsChannels wet only briefly
- spring ephemeralShort-lived woodland wildflower
- ephemeral beautyLoveliness brief in duration