Freddie Mercury collectable card
To mark World AIDS Day, the Archives team are selecting their favourite items which are currently on show in the HIV/AIDS: Controlling and eradicating an epidemic exhibition, more information at: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/events/2014/10/hivaids-controlling-and-eradicating-a-modern-epidemic
I have chosen the AIDS Awareness Illustrated information collectable cards, 1993.
Collectable card
The HIV/AIDS archive collections feature a number of non-traditional ephemera designed to raise awareness in young audiences including comics, ‘fanny packs’ and teenage magazines. The collectable trading cards on AIDS Awareness were produced by comic book publisher Eclipse Enterprises. The set of 110 cards feature a variety of HIV/AIDS information and organisations, as well as personalities who died from AIDS, or were involved in AIDS Awareness. The cards include entries for Elizabeth Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Rock Hudson and organisations such as ACT UP and The Foundations for AIDS Research (amFAR). The cards provide more information on the topic, individual and theme on the back. They were originally distributed in packs of ten along with a free condom, with 15% of the proceeds were donated to ‘Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’.
Collectable card
Other prevention material on display includes a selection of ephemera from the Europe against AIDS summer campaign, 1994-1995: a European wide condom normalisation campaign that used multiple media platforms which is reflected by the items within the collection including a t-shirt, condom packets, leaflets, stickers, postcards and even sachets of granulated sugar.
