Items with a specific and limited use, created with the intention of being discarded after serving their purpose, are called ephemera. This collection consists of mixed-format ephemera from various endeavors within American culture, primarily the manufacturing and selling of products or services.

Greta Barksdale Brown (1891-1965) was a descendant of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) in 1802. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Greta Barksdale Brown was the daughter of Ethel du Pont (1857-1934) and Hamilton M. Barksdale (1861-1918), and the wife of (Frank) Donaldson Brown (1885-1965). The collection consists of about a hundred hand-drawn nineteenth century embroidery patterns that she inherited from female family members.

A needlebook is a small pocket-sized case used for keeping sewing needles in; it is made of fabric or paper and folded to look like a book. The trend of making needlebooks began in the 1800s and rose in popularity through the 1950s. The needlebook would store all the various sizes and types of needles needed for a project. This small collection consists of six packages containing sewing needles, with illustrated covers.

The Singer Company was once the world's leading producer of sewing machines that achieved peak domestic and foreign influence by the late nineteenth century. The collection consists of photographs, trade cards and other ephemera related to the Singer Company. Most of the photographs feature Singer sewing machines and many of these are identified by date and model number.

The Singer Manufacturing Company was the world's leading producer of sewing machines. It was established in 1851 as the Singer Company, the successor to I.M. Singer & Co. Isaac M. Singer (1811-1875) patented improvements to initial inventions that resulted in the first commercially viable sewing machine. This is a small collection of letters written to the company, primarily from agents, regarding how work has been impacted by the American Civil War (1861-1865).