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Newspaper Museums abound… Looking for input…
January 28, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Newspapers have been one of the main means of community communication for several centuries. While many newspaper publishers have closed their doors as on-line access has increased, one would still be hard-pressed to find a city without its own printed newspaper. However, as the number of newspaper publishers gradually decrease, the number of newspaper museums appear to be on the rise. Current news may be best viewed within a moment of its occurrence via the internet, news of the past (history) seems to be best viewed first-hand – either by reading a historic newspaper first-hand, or by visiting one of the hundreds of newspaper and print-shop museums. Collecting rare newspapers satisfies the first, but what about the second? The Newseum and the American Antiquarian Society (think Isaiah Thomas) are great place to start, but what about museums with a more local or historical bent? A favorite for some is the relatively new Edes & Gill Print Shop attached to The Old North Church in Boston, but what about others? If you have visited a newspaper museum and/or historic print shop which you found interesting, please share by commenting with the name, location, and a brief mention of what you enjoyed.
America stunned by Soviet success in the space race…
January 25, 2016 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It can be difficult to appreciate how stunning the event of the Soviet Union’s success with the Sputnik launch was given the phenomenal success of American space exploration in the 1960’s, but at the time this headline in the “Los Angeles Times” issue of October 5, 1957: “RUSS SATELLITE CIRCLING EARTH” was terrifying for many (see first few moments of October Sky).
The Soviet Union had taken the lead in what became known as the “space race”, with fears of what havoc Soviet domination of the heavens could mean to the United States. Early American attempts to reach outer space were plagued with failures before a string of successes would cause America to be the first to put man on the moon. Today there are joint American-Russian space efforts with the Space Station, a situation which could not have been imagined in 1957.
Peace on earth, good will toward men… The Year of Jubilee…
January 21, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
While I am certainly not an expert on Jewish sacred days, festivals, and special/holy celebrations, one significant event has always captured my imagination: The Year of Jubilee – referred to by some as The Golden Jubilee. It was such a celebration which led President Warren Harding to write a letter to the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in response to their invitation for him to attend the Golden Jubilee Dinner in 1923. This letter was printed in The New York Times, January 25, 1923. While we often quote the phrase “Peace on earth, good will toward men”, few are aware of its roots (Luke 2:14) or its significance and/or relationship to the Year of Jubilee. While President Harding (a non-Jew) was certainly not a popular president, this is one instance where his “good will toward men” was well-received. His letter is as follows:
The Traveler… Martin Luther King… voted in but can’t… first woman…
January 18, 2016 by The Traveler · 2 Comments
With today being Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I was trying to find something pertaining to him. In the January 20, 1966 issue of The New York Times I found a small article stating that he was sending his top aide to Birmingham “…to help organize demonstrations protesting alleged voter registration 
discrimination…” Also, “…At the same time a call went out from Dr. King’s headquarters in Atlanta for a meeting next week of civil rights leaders… to map strategy for mass demonstrations against segregated Southern schools…”.
Also in the issue is a nearly full page advertisement for the support of African-American congressman Julian Bond, who was voted into Georgia’s House of Representative after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But the state representatives voted 184-12 not to seat him due to his affiliation with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He took this matter to higher courts in order to be seated. The advertisement reads “Negroes have died for the right to vote in Georgia. Now they are saying, what good does it do to get the vote, to elect representatives, if those elected must face ‘attitude tests’ and loyalty oaths?” This includes list of names of his supporters including: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Woody Allen; Mr. & Mrs. Harry Belafonte; Diahann Carroll; Sidney Poitier; Dr. Benjamin Spock to name a few.
The first woman prime minister to India had been chosen, Mrs. Indira Nehru Gandhi, only the third Prime Minister to head India. She was the second woman in modern history to head a government.
~The Traveler
Lincoln Assassination Newspapers Atlas…
January 14, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Rick Brown been collecting Lincoln assassination newspapers for over 50 years. He has also been a historic newspaper dealer and bought, sold, or brokered in excess of one million historic newspapers. Currently he has in about 200 original Lincoln assassination newspapers – Both Union and confederate. In that same time he been setting aside reprints of the April 15, 1865 New York Herald as he came across 
them. In 1992 he self-published “An Atlas of Known April 15, 1865 New York Herald Reprints.” In that work, all pages of 17 different reprint versions were shown. With concentrated efforts in 2015 he contacted a few major institutions and has now discovered 48 different/variants of this edition. His online version of the current atlas that shows all pages of 45 different variants. Also included in this online atlas is background information about the reprints – who published, when, how many pages, etc. The URL for his online Atlas is: http://www.historyreference.
An average of three April 15, 1865 New York Herald’s are listed on eBay EVERY WEEK – that’s over 150 per year. Almost all of these listings claim there’s is an “authentic,” “original,” or “genuine” edition. In the past 15 years he has been conducting weekly searches for “April 15, 1865 New York Herald” on eBay. There have been approximately 2,250 listings for this edition on eBay and ONLY TWICE the listings were actually original editions! Also, since he has been going to estate sales and auctions for over 20 years, he has seen a few hundred of these editions offered – NOT ONE OF THEM were an original!! Over 95% of these reprints were produced over 100 years ago so they LOOK OLD, Looking old does not necessarily mean it is an original. Buyer beware – Collector value for these reprint editions is $10-$20 depending on condition.
If you have a Lincoln-related Web site or know someone that does, please have them add a link to my online atlas.
Rick Brown
http://www.historyreference.
A Nonprofit Organization
One of the icons of Hollywood… Marilyn Monroe…
January 11, 2016 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Death reports have always been of prime interest among newspapers collectors. Not that morbidity is an issue for those of us who collect, but rather newspapers of the day remain the single best document to remember the heroes, villains, famous, and infamous of the past.
Icons of Hollywood are a particular focus among collectors and the death of Marilyn Monroe remains among the most desired newspaper reports of any from the world of television and movies.
We share today the report of the death of Marilyn Monroe in the “Los Angeles Times” (August 6, 1962), the city where she died. It is difficult to image that she would have been 89 years old today had she lived.
A January stroll thru time – 50, 100, 150, 200, & 250 years ago…
January 7, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What news was reported in the month of January – 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.
The start of a new year…
January 4, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The start of each new year typically brings a sense of promise – a certain newness of hope and expectation which drives us to peel off bad habits and at least seek to develop new ones. Of course this new refreshed outlook is often quickly squashed once we grab the morning paper and allow the events all around us to cast a wet blanket on our hopes and dreams for the new year. Perhaps a bit jaded – but all too true.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way. I’m convinced part of the antidote is for us to practice counting our blessings throughout the year – day-in and day-out. Sound like a plan? For those of us who are “all in”, let’s put our resolution for 2016 to the test and look through the news reports of the first week of January through time and see if we can come out the other end with a sense that life is truly good – after all, we could be living in the past when technology, medicine, the average standard of living, and life-expectancy were not what they are today: 1st Week of January thru Time