5 pieces of vintage devotional ephemera

Here are five interesting pieces of devotional ephemera, which is among the most common vintage paper that you can come across. These items get tucked away inside Bibles and hymnals. Or they get put in drawers for decades, helping them stand the test of time.

1. Reward for Sunday School attendance

The text under the illustration states:
Presbyterian Memorial
SUNDAY-SCHOOL
Presented to May Eckman
FOR REGULAR ATTENDANCE
during the Month of Mar 1887
2. Psalm 143:10 card

This flowery card, which is roughly the size of an index card, contains an excerpt of Psalm 143:10: "Teach Me to do THY WILL."

There is no other text or identifying information on the front or back.

3. Prayer card for Joseph Stanek Sr.

This is the front and back of a prayer card for Joseph Stanek Sr., who died on June 30, 1970. It measures 2¼ inches wide by 4 inches tall, and it was issued at the Joseph Mayurnick Funeral Home in Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

The cards are alternately known as memorial cards, funeral cards and holy cards.

The text on the front of this one indicates that it was printed in Italy, and there's a tiny little logo with an anchor in the lower-right corner (shown at right).

Katharine Garstka wrote this interesting article about the use of prayer cards in geneaological research.

4. Pamphlet by Ernest S. Williams

This six-page, double-fold pamphlet features a message by Ernest S. Williams titled "Behold He Cometh!"

Williams was the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God from 1929 to 1949. You can learn more about him in this article from The General Council of the Assemblies of God Enrichment Journal.

He also published a book titled "Faithful Minister" in 1941.

The back page of this pamphlet has a purple stamp stating it was distributed at the Pentecostal Mission on York and Altoona Streets in Enola, Pennsylvania. It also has this information regarding additional pamphlets:

Evangel Tract No. 605 — 5c per doz.; 10c for 25; 40c per 100. Send 25c for large package tracts. Subscribe for the Pentecostal Evangel, a live, full-gospel paper, published weekly, $1.00 per year. Send for free sample copy. The Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, Mo.

5. "Thy Will Be Done"

Here's another card from a set that I wrote about back in September 2011. The cards do not contain any information about who published them, or when.

This one is titled "Thy Will Be Done" and contains a few Bible quotations and a short poem.

Here's a closer look at the illustration on the card: