The Springer Ephemra Collection contains more than 1,600 items and more than 400 calling cards -- in excess of 2,000 items in all -- organized into 19 boxes. Items have been grouped by format (e.g., calendars in Box 1, tokens in Box 18), by subject (e.g., paper in Box 3, advertising materials related to food in Box 12) and by events (e.g.,1893 World's Fair in Box 10, Iowa City events in Box 14). Few of these groupings are entirely systematic and related materials, however defined, can often be found in more than one place in the collection.

In addition to the ephemera pieces inventoried here, Springer (1850-1937), an Iowa City printer, presented some 2,000 books documenting or illustrating the history of printing. These titles are held together as a collection in Special Collections and are cataloged on InfoHawk. A shelflist in card format is also available in the Special Collections department.