ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the importance of ephemera in historical collections and archives by examining what constitutes ephemera and what its role might be in activating subcultural stories, with a particular emphasis on the Brisbane underground music scene from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Punk and post-punk were the protest musics of their time, and their related ephemera–magazines, posters, handbills, recordings, film and photos–are a rich source of cultural information. The magazines and other ephemera, like handbills and posters, were often constructed in very simple ways, with skills and information being shared in small working groups. Although many ephemeral items languish in the institutional dark, there are some avid culture-makers and fans who had been collecting the same items since the 1970s, and looking for ways to share what they love. A music scene will be defined by the bands and music itself and embedded in a chronology by factual data and interviews, fleshed out with ephemera.
