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The reason I collected it: The Battery, 1848…
January 19, 2024 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
THE BATTERY, from Washington, D.C., was a campaign newspaper supporting Zachary Taylor for President and Millard Fillmore for Vice President.
In the era before radio, television, and the internet it was not uncommon for political parties to create short-lived newspapers to support their candidate and publicize their political platform. Such newspapers tended to be short-lived; once the election was over… so was the newspaper. However, some titles existed for some months afterward.
Shown below is a portion of the #16 issue dated Oct. 19, 1848, the title existing from July 6 through November 2, 1848, then printing just two more issues: Nov. 16, 1848 and Jan. 25, 1849, for a total of 20 issues.
Of special interest–and a prime reason for it qualifying for the private collection–is the great masthead engraving, which is essentially a political cartoon showing the heroic Taylor on his horse commanding: “A little More Grape! Captain Bragg” to be shot at Lewis Cass, his political rival.
This phrase was a famous one in Taylor’s military career, a command to then-Captain (later General in the Confederacy) Braxton Bragg to fire more grapeshot at the Mexicans during the Battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican War.
A wonderfully rare title, a short-lived Presidential campaign newspaper, and a political cartoon for a masthead.
The reason I collected it: Dodge’s Literary Museum…
August 21, 2023 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Mastheads of newspapers through the centuries offer a very wide assortment of styles, sizes and decorativeness, with many being quite mundane. Only the “special” ones make it to the private collection, and “Dodge’s Literary Museum” is one.
Any newspapering which the masthead consumes one-third of the front page qualifies. This title’s masthead engraving consumes over half of the front page, very unusual as such. The content may be literary items with no “newsy” reports, but the front page is certainly worth of collecting, regardless of what is inside.
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Time capsule dating to 1795 included coins, newspapers…
January 9, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
It’s all over the news (thank you API): “Time capsule dating to 1795 included coins, newspapers!” The time capsule was embedded in a cornerstone of the historic Massachusetts Statehouse by a group which included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. The contents, in part, contained a number of coins, a silver plate with one of Paul Revere’s engravings – often used in the creation of the mastheads for various Boston area newspapers, and several late-18th century Boston newspapers. As newspaper collectors ourselves, we’ll be anxious to discover their exact titles and dates. While we have several authentic issues from the 1700’s with either Boston mentions or which were printed in Boston, it will be interesting to see if those placed within the capsule were included due to noteworthy content, their containing Paul Revere engravings, or for yet another reason. A video and related article covering the opening of the capsule is available at: 18th Century Time Capsule