Search
History of Newspapers Video (see more)
Email Subscription
Sign up to receive our latest blog updates!Buy Historic Newspapers
They put it in print… “Liar, Liar”…
April 11, 2016 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
From a time before internet dating, the Dec. 30, 1791 issue of “The Morning Post“ from London contains an interesting–and hopefully tongue-in-check–report headed: “Advertisements Matrimonial” which provides amusing reading if nothing else. “Liar, Liar” in print – what if people desiring a mate through ads in newspapers had to write what they were really wanting??? Enjoy.
They put it in print… living Tammy Wynette’s anthem “Stand By Your Man”…
October 12, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
“The News” from Cleveland reports in its September 30, 1926 issue comments of the wife of famed boxer Jack Dempsey following his unexpected loss to Gene Tunney in one of the more noted fights in boxing history. In defense of her husband she noted: “…I didn’t marry the heavyweight title – I married Jack Dempsey.” and later: “I have never taken an interest in boxing… Jack didn’t bring the ring into the home… But fighting is Jack’s business. That is the thing he loves to do, and I have no more right to influence him with regard to it…”.
She put into practice the anthem Tammy Wynette would make famous some 42 years later with her song “Stand By Your Man”.
The times they are a-changin’… 19th century mixed-racial marriages
October 3, 2014 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
While progress in regards to interracial relations has been both painful and agonizingly slow an 1880’s issue of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (November 15, 1880) provides a great opportunity for us to see just how far we have come in the last 100 years or so. Sometimes a 1,000 foot view provides a degree of encouragement where a close-up view only draws our attention to the blemishes. Yes, while slow, the times they are in fact a-changin’.
Long live the dead… a zombie love affair?
October 31, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The New-York Observer (August 14, 1856) has a report which seems right out of a Hollywood Halloween-Thriller script (or crypt?). Was this a bogus story? Perhaps the blockbuster “Ghost” (1990) wasn’t fiction after all. I’ll save the “being married to a dead-beat” jokes for another post.
If at first you don’t succeed…
April 13, 2012 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
A post-Civil War issue of the New York Herald, October 2, 1865, had an interesting article regarding a young lady who was determined to elope… and the lengths her parents undertook to retrieve her… on more than one occasion. Perhaps the 3rd time will be the charm. Please enjoy:
Searching for a husband…
February 12, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The following thought appeared in the “New York Illustrated News” of July 23, 1853. While many newspapers chronicle engagements, marriage, etc., this snippet stood out as a fitting warning to young men with cold feet. I believe the first word should be “Popping” and not “Poping”:
Some legal notices never change…
August 8, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Although the wording may be different, some legal notices placed in newspapers haven’t changed much in over 200 years. Note this item from the “New York Journal” of January 7, 1768.
Marriage & death in the same news report…
May 2, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Typically marriage and death reports are found in separate columns in the newspapers, but one news item in the Salem Mercury of July 6, 1831 could combine both into one:
“Marriage and Death — In Bath, Steuben Co. N.Y. 11th ult. Mr. Moses Alexander, 88, to Miss Frances Tompkins, 105. They wre taken out of bed dead on the following morning.”