The John and Carolyn Grossman Collectionthe Grossman Collection, one of the world's largest collections of printed ephemera, now housed at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware, consists of roughly 250,000 items that document the print processes of lithography and chromolithography from approximately 1820 to 1920.The items and images in the collection include Christmas, valentine, and greeting cards; children's toys, books, and amusements; postcards and scrapbooks; product boxes; and textile samples- all portraying the ideals of Victorian and Edwardian life.A highlight of the collection is the close to 85,000 cigar box labels from American, Canadian, Cuban, and European companies, along with some 5,000 related items such as cigar bands, cigar boxes, embossing dies, lithographic stones, progressive proof books, and proof sheets.One of the most detailed facets of the Grossman Collection is the archive of the George Schlegel Lithographic Company, which specialized in cigar box label printing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is presented in this volume. This collection detailes the life of this company and its significant contribution to the literature on printing as well as American life and business.John GrossmanGrossman is one of the leading collectors of printed ephemera. His many years of collecting began in 1974 with his first purchase of several antique postcards, labels, trade cards and valentines from a shop in Port Costa, CA. From there his collection kept growing to more than 250,000 pieces.

The John and Carolyn Grossman Collection is now housed at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware, and is open to the public.In 1985, John and his wife, Carolyn, founded The Gifted Line, a giftware and licensing company well known for quality products designed from images in his collection. They operated The Gifted Line until 1998.Articles on John, his collection, and products designed by him or under his direction have appeared in Cigar Aficionado, Collector's Showcase, Gift & Stationary Business, Holiday Crafts, USA Today, Victoria, and a variety of other magazines and newspapers.A member of The Ephemera Society of America since 1981, and currently a member of the Board, John was the recipient o the 1990 Maurice Rickards Award presented by the Society for his promotion of the public awareness of ephemera.