We frequently receive requests for “birthday newspapers” for friends and family of our collectors. Giving a person, young or old, a glimpse of the world as reported on the day they were born is certainly a convivial and thoughtful gift. Being a bit more creative, some gift-givers branch out and select an issue from 100 years prior to their birthdate in order to help the receiver capture a snapshot of life a century prior to their birth. With this on my mind today, I went looking for a common title people often select, the New York Times. In this particular instance (March 6, 1923), being smackdab in the middle of Prohibition, a sampling of the headlines included: “CITY WANTS WHISKY FOR HOSPITAL USE”, “MODERN PAUL REVERE WARNS OF LIQUOR RAID”, and “RUM-RUNNING ON THE SOUND”. There was also an eclectic mix of other headlines which included: “LAUDS NEGRO EDUCATION”, “Harding Foresees Beneficent Results to Race and Nation”, “’Human fly’ FALLS 10 STORIES TO DEATH”, and “Harry F. Young, Scaling Martinique Hotel for a Movie Film, Misses His Grip”. Take a peek at this issue [1] to see additional details regarding these stories and more.
With over 3-million newspapers within our archives, perhaps someday someone will send you a newspaper from the day you were born [2] – or a 100-year prequel.