1925. An overflowing scrap book of cherished ephemera belonging to Ruth Irene Cox, documenting the “author’s” high school years. Cox was clearly active in her high school years, as well as a dedicated archiver. From Football scorecards to newspaper reviews of Orchestras, the album contains three years of high school ephemera carefully preserved and annotated. Her membership in the Young Women's Christian Association, The Glee Club, and The Girl Reserves among many other clubs are all detailed. A musicophile, Cox enthusiastically attended (and collected at) state-wide concerts, from high schools and universities to the Kansas Symphony Orchestra, Mirza Theatre and more.

Ephemera includes holiday celebration notes, special edition Christmas stamps, Epworth League ephemera, as well as Valentine’s Day cards and cut-outs gifted to our heroine, comedy letters from “The Goblina”, and a pink token from Health Week, March 1926 “I wear Hygienic Shoes”.

Throughout the collection, Cox acquires a car, and begins giving lifts to parties to

the other girls. Her older sister graduates, her commencement slip preserved in the pages here. What begins as a collection of school years becomes an intensely annotated catalogue of a social circle, giving the most wonderful insight into the lives of teenagers in America in the 1920s. Utterly charming, perfectly unique.

Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Co. 1925. 23.5 x 16 cm. 88 pages. Publisher's paper covered boards, half bound in ivory wide grain cloth, printed in yellow and black. Title and decoration to front in black and gilt. Boards a little loose and worn, inner front hinge starting. Boards are bumped and a little bowed. Pages toned.