Some 47 years ago when I (Tim Hughes) started collecting and selling early newspapers, the collector part of me want to keep any issues I found intriguing, unusual, and historic. I really just wanted the “business” side of the hobby to support my “collector” side.
Once a month I will highlight one of the saved issues and will explain why. Not all will be rare, not all will be valuable, and some will be simply bizarre. But they intrigued me, and so I share with all of you.
An eagle motif in mastheads is rather common, most rather small & proportional to the type used for the title. But the Freeman’s Journal & Philadelphia Mercantile Advertiser (the Oct. 21, 1812 issue is shown below [1]) has perhaps the largest eagle I have found, with a wingspread of nearly 7 inches. I’m glad I saved one many years ago as I haven’t seen this title in quite some time.