I mentioned at one point to Badlydrawnjeff on a related note that one serious solution to a lot of problems were for someone to start a reasonably well-edited Journal of Popular Culture. ****** Such journals exist. Unfortunately they usually don't get around to the task until much of the information has deteriorated through neglect and disparagement as "trivia" and "ephemera." The remainder eventually rises to the status of "social history."
A physical example of this is the massive lost of early cinema stock. Only 10% to 20% of films from the silent era survive in even one print.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_preservation#Film_decay
-Durova