Not too much has changed in over 60 years…

June 22, 2012 by · 1 Comment 

This six-point prescription for a longer life appeared on the front page of the “Detroit Free Press” issue of March 17, 1951.

Fast food with home delivery…

June 1, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

The October 7, 1939 issue of “The Topeka Daily Capital” newspaper from Kansas has an interesting piece headed “Fish Lands on Front Porch Already Fried”.  Interesting to note such levity present within an issue with sobering content.

Escape from the zoo…

September 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

The “New York Herald” of Nov. 9, 1874 had a very lengthy article reporting an “Awful Calamity” “The Wild Animals Broken Loose from the Central Park” with many other one column headlines. This full page article–with considerable detail–reports that all the animals had escaped their cages & were roaming free in the park, leaving dozens of people “…mutilated, trampled, and injured…” not to mention killed.

The problem was it never happened.  At the very end the writer admits it’s a completely made up version of what might happen if conditions in the zoo aren’t improved. But how many people read all the way to the end of this very lengthy article? Apparently not many considering the panic which gripped New Yorkers that day. The entire city fell into a frenzy before finding out that it was all a hoax. (credit “Ephemeral New York”)

This much abbreviated report in this post was taken from the “New York World” issue of Jan. 13, 1888. See the hyperlink for the lengthier, original report found in the “Herald” of 1874.

A fascinating hoax issue which resulted in real-life panic:

Another cure for baldness…

September 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

This advertisement for “Graham’s Glass Vacuum Cap” appeared in the Oct. 7, 1905 issue of “Scientific American“. It proclaims: “See Your Hair Grow”. The instructions say that: “…when you have caused a good, healthy, red glow in the scalp…” it will cause hair to grow. I would think a red, glowing scalp would be a sign of other problems…

It’s all relative…

March 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

The following item reflects court costs from 1877, fees which are very much in the distant past.  But it’s all relative. While the cost may have outweighed the benefit, sometimes things are still worth fighting for – on matters of principle. This appeared in the “Democratic Watchman” newspaper from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, dated February 16, 1877:

A double palindrome…

February 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

While creating and using palindromes can be fun, the following takes the science to a whole new level.  This “super palindrome”, found within the June 8, 1877 issue of “Democratic Watchman” (Bellefonte, PA),  appeared on our radar just a few weeks ago.  While some believe such word play to be evitative, we are convinced it is our civic duty to bring it to light”:

A carefully worded conclusion…

August 21, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

This item was published in the June 6, 1771 issue of the “London Chronicle“, but was taken from the Boston Evening-Post. It’s a comical piece which could have come from a modern-day situation comedy. As always, its the style of writing which adds to the article’s appeal.

The Traveler… possibilities in Alaska??

July 15, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

While reading through The Christian Science Monitor dated July 15, 1910, I came across a report from Jacob H. Schiff.  The report states that he and a party of friends were inspecting part of Alaska and as a result, are convinced it will become as populous and as productive as parts of Norway, Siberia and Russia. He (Jacob) states the  greatest need of the far north to be transportation (access) and goes on further to identify the regions he believes would best be served by access by rail (train).   At the time, did they really think that this would become possible??

Note (Google exploration):  Through a little fun internet searching I discovered that Mr. Schiff was a well known banker and philanthropist with a descendant married to Al Gore’s daughter.

Looking further through the issue, a name of a city quickly caught my eye – Williamsport, PA! It seems that our hometown, the Lumber Capital of the World, was honoring the lumbermen with the hosting of a convention.  Very cool!!

The final small article that just made me look twice had a heading of “Japanese Envoy Coming”, followed with the dateline “Honolulu”. Just knowing what occurred only three decades later…

~The Traveler