“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”…

December 5, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

I saved this post for today because I realize the “official start” to the Christmas Season can, on occasion, cause a degree of family angst. However, once Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror and December has arrived, few can argue against fully embracing all things Christmas. So, here we go…

Top on my list this year is a hope I’ll have a series of lightbulb moments which reveal the perfect gift to get for each of my loved ones. Inevitably, each year there are always a few whose selections cause me distress since I don’t want to merely check the box next to their name on my gift list; rather, I want the unboxing to cause them to smile from ear to ear. I’m sure it is no surprise that I find gift-buying for older relatives the most difficult. After all, what can you get for the person who has had a lifetime to collect all the things they want? Thankfully, last week I found my answer in a Motion Picture Daily from December 10, 1954. These quaint issues are full of movie news of the day and are often chocked full of high gloss vintage movie ads. Take a look for yourself at those we’ve already listed on our website… and, our archives hold many more.

Merry Christmas to all with a wish for successful gifting.

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… Black Dahlia found…

July 11, 2019 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with THE BOSTON POST, Massachusetts, January 17, 1947:  “FORMER MEDFORD GIRL FOUND SLAIN

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… death of Marilyn Monroe…

February 12, 2018 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the LOS ANGELES TIMES, California, August 6, 1962: “MARILYN MONROE FOUND DEAD”

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock…

August 14, 2017 by · Leave a Comment 

What do Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly, Lillian Gish, Ruby Keeler, Gergory Peck, Henry Fonda, Stanley Kubrick, Madeline Kahn, DeForest Kelley, Fay Wray, Michael Landon, Dalton Trumbo, Sal Mineo, Robert Mitchum, Anne Baxter, Rock Hudson, Orson Welles, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, John Candy, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Liberace, Cab Calloway, John Candy, Marlene Dietrich, Dean Martin, Orson Wells, Anne Baxter, Ava Gardner, William Holden, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Gilda Radner, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Cary Grant, Mary Pickford, Bette Davis, Natalie Wood, Robert Shaw, Alfred Hitchcock, Andy Kaufman, Jackie Gleason, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, John Belushi, Jimmy Stewart, and Steve McQueen all have in common? Answer: There was a time when they were each on top of the world – adored by millions, and thanks to the silver screen’s ability to capture them in their prime, they seemed as if they would live forever. However, truth be told, the clock strikes midnight for everyone – regardless of their fame.

Over the past few months this reality was brought home to the staff at Rare & Early Newspapers as we discovered the death reports of some of the most famous Hollywood celebrities of all time – nearly all within Los Angeles newspapers. As Mark Twain not-so-subtly revealed through Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and Frank Capra reinforced through the eyes of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart – shown above) in It’s A Wonderful Life, sometimes a glimpse at the brevity of life can be a healing, re-purposing salve for the soul. With this in mind, please enjoy(?): Death Reports of the Hollywood Famous

Movie Prop Newspaper… Can you identify the movie (round 1)?

June 23, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Movie prop newspapers are exactly that – newspapers which have been created for the purpose of being used within a specific movie. In some instances they are created using an authentic (actual) newspaper from the period in question, and splice-in content that meets the movie’s needs. In other instances a newspaper if created from scratch. Both are collectible and are typically hard to come by since only a handful were originally printed. We’ve had the privilege of having a few to offer over the years, but a new set of movie-prop issues has us (Rare & Early Newspapers) perplexed. We simply do not know from which movies they came. How do we know they are actually movie-prop issues?

  1. The actual titles do not exist.
  2. The paper upon which they are printed does not quite match the era from which they supposedly came.
  3. They were included as part of the Richard Robinson Collection (see http://blog.rarenewspapers.com/?p=7359), which included several properly identified movie prop issues.

So now the fun begins. Can anyone definitively state the movie from which the movie prop newspaper shown below (The Record Herald) came from? Blog-6-23-2016-movie-prop-630907Note: Since this post was initially published, we’ve posted several additional movie prop issues. These posts may be viewed at: Unidentified Movie Prop Newspapers

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… Yet others… The Manson Murders…

May 9, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Over the past few years we have listed a series of posts titled: “Great Headlines Speak For Themselves,” with the first line being: “The best headlines need no commentary.” However, in some instances history would prove other headlines to be grossly understated. Such is the case of the headline on one of the most desirable newspapers reporting the horrific murders which would eventually be attributed to Charles Manson and some of his followers. While still dramatic, the initial (false) implication of the house pool boy, relative to the actual truth regarding the murders, deflates the historical impact of many “1st-report” headlines as illustrated in The Herald Examiner, Los Angeles, August 10, 1969.Blog-5-9-2016-Charles-Manson

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… Jean Harlow dies…

September 3, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the HERALD EXPRESS–EXTRA, Los Angeles, June 7, 1937: “FILM STAR JEAN HARLOW  DIES; WM. POWELL, FAMILY AT SIDE“…

Blog-9-3-2015-Jean-Harlow-death

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… death of Groucho Marx…

June 26, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Aug. 20, 1977: “GROUCHO MARX DIESBlog-6-26-2015-Groucho-Marx-Death

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… Clark Gable’s death report…

May 15, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the HERALD EXPRESS, Los Angeles, November 17, 1960: “CLARK GABLE DIES WITH A SMILE, SIGHBlog-4-24-2015-Clark-Gable-Death

Great Headlines Speak For Themselves… death of Rudolph Valentino…

December 5, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

The best headlines need no commentary. Such is the case with the Los Angeles Record – Second Extra, August 23, 1926: VALENTINO DEAD, with subhead, Hollywood Mourns Film ‘Sheik’s’ Death“…

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino

 

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