Left Behind: Country Music Promotional Materials, Various

Lauren Leja ("Furtive chronicler of lives of quiet desperation") recently sent me a folder of items she purchased at a flea market in Massachusetts. They appear to have belonged to one Richard ("Dick") Smith of Manchester, New Hampshire, who collected promotional and fan-club materials of mid-century country artists. There are some very cool finds in the box lot.

I like the Wilburn Brothers' and the Phillips Sisters' warm and welcoming faces:

And The Crossroads Quartet:

Here are some Season's Greetings, country-style:

And some righteous-looking dudes:

As Lauren helpfully points out, rudimentary biographical information on a few of these artists can be found at Hillbilly Music, but many of the details are lost to time. Until the next heartfelt archivist researcher digs them up, that is.