It’s All About the Headline…

November 5, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Some of our collectors are drawn to a poignant political speech and some are passionate about 17th – 19th century maps. More than a few seek reports of famous battles while others can’t resist death reports of notable generals. When it comes to the Rare & Early Newspapers collectible, breadth of interest runs from the heart-wrenching past (illustrated slave ads – lest we forget), to the lighthearted (a recent issue containing an ad & review of a favorite movie. However, regardless of their interest, for a majority of collectors it’s all about the headline – the more frameable and dramatic, the better!

With this in mind, may I submit as an example the banner headline of Hearst’s Boston American for April 23, 1906: “SAN FRANCISCO SUFFERERS GO MAD! “, followed by: “Crazed By Horrors They Roam The Streets”. Can we all agree… even the tabloids of today can’t touch this! So, whether you are drawn to the macabre, the triumphant, or merely the historical, for many it’s all about the headline. After all…

GREAT HEADLINES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Announcing: Catalog #324 for November, 2022 – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…

October 31, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

 

November’s catalog (#324) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #324 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: the “Black Sox” scandal (in a Chicago newspaper), an issue of The Virginia Gazette (1775, Williamsburg), The Royal Gazette (American loyalist-leaning), printing of The Declaration of Independence, rarer than “Dewey Defeats Truman”, Lincoln’s 2nd Inauguration, the Battle of Fort Washington, the death pf Alexander Hamilton, The Polynesian (early from Hawaii), tarring and feathering, and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
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DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off)
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HISTORY’S NEWSSTAND – Recent Posts on the History’s Newsstand Blog may be accessed at: History’s Newsstand

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Thanks for collecting with us.

Sincerely,

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]

The Sounds of Summer and the Crack of the Bat…

October 28, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

What makes summer feel like summer? Hazy evenings where light still lingers until after 9… Fireflies flitting across the grass… Children laughing as they romp in the neighborhood yards or… the crack of a bat at the local little league field? We at RareNewspapers have a particular fondness for baseball – not only because our Phillies made it to the World Series… or that our founder (Tim Hughes) has served for decades on the board of Little League International… or that the Little League World Series is played each year within a few blocks of our archives in PA, but also because baseball captures the essence of summer, America and apple-pie (with vanilla ice-cream), and we each have a fondness for all three.
To join our baseball enthusiasm a bit, take a look at some of our best baseball issues including one from the current catalog … a CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, Sept. 29, 1920 covering the Black Sox Scandal. Even America’s pastime has a skeleton or two in its closet.

An oddity from 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg…

September 9, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

I don’t know about you, but if my town was occupied by enemy troops and the battle was ragging all around me, I’m thinking I would likely take up arms and join my fellow compatriots – and a host of my neighbors would certainly do the same. So, when I recently saw the illustration of “John Burns, the only man in Gettysburg, PA, who fought at the battle” on the cover of the August 22, 1863 Harper’s Weekly, I was perplexed. I understand the majority of able-bodied men were likely off to war elsewhere, but to think no one was left to “defend the home-front” other than this one man is a bit confounding. The writer of the corresponding article also took note of this curiosity, and his comments are posted below.

This statement was written shortly after the battle, and often, as time goes on, new information is unearthed. With this in mind, if anyone has information which would refute this claim, please send us a note and we will update this post. Thanks in advance.

Announcing: Catalog #322 for September, 2022 – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…

September 2, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

 

September’s catalog (#322) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #322 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: North Carolina secedes (in a North Carolina newspaper), a rare colonial title with a Battle of Bunker Hill report, the Emancipation Proclamation on the front page, a Paul Revere engraving in the masthead, the Funding Act of 1790, the Battle of Gettysburg (from a Confederate perspective), and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
————–
DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off)
————–

HISTORY’S NEWSSTAND – Recent Posts on the History’s Newsstand Blog may be accessed at: History’s Newsstand

————–

Thanks for collecting with us.

Sincerely,

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]

Frederick Douglass – A true American hero…

August 15, 2022 by · 2 Comments 

I’m currently reading “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”, and I must say, although I have always appreciated his accomplishments and admired him for his perseverance and tenacity as he moved from slavery to freedom, and then on to being a passionate herald for the freedom and equal right of others, over the past few weeks my eyes have been opened to his astounding skills as both a writer and orator. The fact that his cause resonates deep within me makes this revelation even more satisfying.

The quote shown above is from the introduction penned by George L. Ruffin. I couldn’t help but smile upon reading his statement about the value of historic newspapers as primary source material. While I personally prefer the label “contextual-source material”, he certainly seems to grasp the point – and the fact that Douglass himself was a long-time publisher of what we now refer to as rare & early newspapers only adds to the statement’s relevance.

Considering much was also written about (and by) Frederick Douglass in the newspapers of his day, please forgive me if I indulge readers of this blog with related posts over the next few months. At my age, placing the quest to explore more about his life on the backburner would likely be tantamount to tossing it into the recycling bin. Therefore, there is no time like the present. Thanks in advance for your understanding. If anyone would like to contribute a post regarding his life and can tether it to a newspaper (or newspapers) from the past, please be in touch (guy@rarenewspapers.com).

Announcing: Catalog #321 (for August, 2022) – Rare & Early Newspapers for collectors…

July 29, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

 

August’s catalog (#321) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #321 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: the most-desired masthead from the 18th century (Franklin’s “Join or Die”), a 1665 Oxford Gazette (predecessor of the London Gazette), the Battle of Gettysburg (the desirable New York Times), a Newsbook from 1664 with American reports, the first newspaper printed in Alaska, Lincoln’s assassination (illustrated), and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
————–
DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off)
————–

HISTORY’S NEWSSTAND – Recent Posts on the History’s Newsstand Blog may be accessed at: History’s Newsstand

————–

Thanks for collecting with us.

Sincerely,

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]

Announcing: Catalog #320 (for July, 2022) – Rare & Early Newspapers (for purchase)…

July 1, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

 

July’s catalog (#320) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #320 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: Spindletop (in a Houston newspaper), King Philip’s War (the first war in America), a Virginia Gazette from 1775 reporting the election of Patrick Henry, the Battle of Bunker Hill AND Washington named commander-in-chief reported in the same issue, Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, the famous ‘New York Herald’ reporting Lincoln’s assassination, and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
————–

Video – Highlights of Catalog #320 (3 options – same video):

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DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off)
————–

HISTORY’S NEWSSTAND – Recent Posts on the History’s Newsstand Blog may be accessed at: History’s Newsstand

————–

Thanks for collecting with us.

Sincerely,

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]

Juneteenth Revisited – “The rest of the story”…

June 27, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Roughly a week ago we were observing the most recent addition to our list of Federal Holidays: Juneteenth, which commemorates the day when Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas and Major General Gordon Granger informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. His General Order (No. 3) stated: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free…”. However, what is that at the end? Dot, dot, dot? There’s more?

His full order reads as follows: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” In other words, “You are free, but if you think the government is going to support you if you leave your new ’employer’, think again.” For many, this would be analogous to someone who was bound, kidnapped, and being transported by airplane to some horrible location having their bindings removed and told they were welcome to leave any time they want (albeit, at 10,000 feet without a parachute). While this Order is quite historic, and the day does deserve to be celebrated, there is a whiff of Hotel California in the air: “You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!”

Am I exaggerating – misrepresenting the circumstances? One might think so, but an article I recently discovered within a July 16, 1865 issue of The New York Times which printed a follow-up Order by General Granger given approximately one week later begs to differ:

Even when granted with good intentions, freedom needs to be embraced – and the “doing so” is often fraught with hardship. However, while the struggle continues, taking time to celebrate this momentous occasion (along with the many victories which have occurred since June 19, 1865) is worthy of our unified, citizen-wide efforts – regardless of our racial, social, political, religious or economic differences. The intrinsic hope of “We The People!” must ever be before us.

Announcing: Catalog #319 (for June, 2022) – Rare & Early Newspapers (for purchase)

May 31, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

 

June’s catalog (#319) is now available. Also shown below are links to a video featuring highlights from the catalog, our currently discounted newspapers, and recent posts to the History’s Newsstand Blog. Please enjoy.

CATALOG #319 – This latest offering of authentic newspapers is comprised of more than 300 new items, a selection which includes the following noteworthy issues: the notorious pirate Captain Kidd is executed, a Boston newspaper dated 1739, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (in the New York Times, the Gettysburg Address, a displayable issue on the end of the Civil War, the Beatles come to America, and more.

 

Helpful Links to the Catalog:
————–

Video – Highlights of Catalog #319 (3 options – same video):

————–

DISCOUNTED ISSUES – What remains of last month’s discounted issues may be viewed at: Discount (select items at 50% off)
————–

HISTORY’S NEWSSTAND – Recent Posts on the History’s Newsstand Blog may be accessed at: History’s Newsstand

————–

Thanks for collecting with us.

Sincerely,

Guy Heilenman & The Rare & Early Newspapers Team

570-326-1045

The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days,

upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.

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