“Dear Daughters, Welcome to summer…”

June 16, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

A well-known “letter” has been making its rounds for many decades which was supposedly written by a young female college student to her parents, updating them on the recent events that had befallen her. While the letter is fictitious, it certainly encourages us to keep perspective when hearing bad news concerning loved ones. A (modified) form of the letter is as follows:

Dear Mother and Dad:

It has been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing and I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down. You are not to read any further unless you are sitting down, okay.

Well then, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival are pretty well healed by now. I only spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can see almost normally and only get those headaches once a day.

Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump was witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called the Fire Dept. and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital and since I had nowhere to live because of the burnt out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him. It’s really a basement room, but it’s kind of cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married. We haven’t set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, mother and dad, I am pregnant. I know how very much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some minor infection which prevents us from passing our premarital blood tests and I carelessly caught it from him. This will soon clear up with the penicillin injections I am now taking daily.

I know you will welcome him into the family with open arms. He is kind and although not well educated, he is ambitious. Although he is of a different race and religion than ours, I know that your oft-expressed tolerance will not permit you to be bothered by the fact that his heritage and religion are different than ours. I am sure you will love him as I do. His family background is good too, for although I’ll need to learn my place when I visit, I am told his father is one of the most respected men in his village and is often called upon to help keep order when those from his community step out of line. 

Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you there was no dormitory fire; I did not have a concussion or a skull fracture; I was not in the hospital; I am not pregnant; I am not engaged. I do not have a communicable disease, and I am not dating someone from a culture which is oppressive to women. However, I am getting a D in sociology and an F in science; and I wanted you to see these marks in proper perspective.

Your loving daughter,

(unsigned)

It is with the heart of this letter in mind I present a copy of a recent rather-lengthy text my wife and I sent to our young daughters:

Dear Daughters,

As you know, the summer season is nearly upon us and your annual quest to find swimsuits your mama and I are willing (if even reluctantly) to allow you to wear in public is upon us. We know this is about as challenging and frustrating as finding a “mama acceptable” evergreen tree at the start of each Christmas season. Need I say more? However, this year, as your loving parents, we’ve decided to alleviate your stress by purchasing matching suits for all of you. While they have yet to arrive, we were able to download a picture of the ad for the style we selected from the online catalog at AuntieAmysAuspiciousApparel.com:

Blog-6-23-2016-Swimwear

Okay, we didn’t purchase swimsuits for each of you, but we’re considering doing so next year. Please keep the above in mind as you begin your quest. I’m sure we’ll be pleased with your choices.

Love,

Mom and Dad

 

PS  A special thank-you goes out to the Public Ledger, Philadelphia, June 15, 1893, for this most wonderful advertisement. It’s a bit unsettling to note the ad appears in an issue containing an article on Lizzie Borden.

 

Full Disclosure: My wife and I are blessed to have 5 daughters with whom we never need to fight this battle. Thank you!

October newsletter from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers…

October 16, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

Each mid-month Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers… History’s Newsstand sends an e-newsletter to their members and collector friends.  This month’s edition is shown below. Please enjoy.

Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers… History’s Newsstand

October 2012 Newsletter

Welcome to the October newsletter from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers.  In addition to links to recent listings (including our most recent catalog), October’s discounted issues, an issue containing the Emancipation Proclamation (it’s the 150th anniversary), and new posts on the History’s Newsstand blog, this month we would like to bring to your attention to our recent inventory expansion which extends our Birthday/Gift Newspapers availability through the mid-1980’s.  Please enjoy!

1)  Discounted Issues – Nearly 300 issues have been reduced in price by 20% (as shown) thru October 31, 2012, and may be viewed at: Discounted Issues

2)  Birthday/Gift Newspapers – As mentioned, we have expanded our major city newspapers through the mid-1980’s. These make wonderful birthday, anniversary, and holiday gifts.  Feel free to see what might be available for your key memorable dates:  Birthday/Anniversary Newspapers

3)  Catalog 203 is available. This latest release for October includes over 350 new items, all arranged in chronological order.

4)  The Emancipation Proclamation – In celebration of the 150 year anniversary of the printing of the Emancipation Proclamation, we have an original printing available for viewing and/or purchase at:  Emancipation Proclamation (note: as an added bonus, this issue also contains a print and report of the Battle of Antietam)

Best wishes,

Guy Heilenman & Rare Newspapers Team

Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers . . .
. . . History’s Newsstand

“…desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.” Hebrews 13:18

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Happy New Year!

December 31, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

To:  The Collectors and Friends of Rare & Early Newspapers…

Have a Happy New Year!

From:  The Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers Staff

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

To:  The Collectors and Friends of Rare & Early Newspapers…

Have a blessed Christmas!

From:  The Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers Staff

18th century & pre-18th century newspapers… revisited…

December 17, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Over the past two weeks Timothy Hughes has explored his thoughts on what he believes to be the top ten pre-18th century and the top ten 18th century newspapers (see below).  Some of these thoughts were captured in the following video:

Collecting authentic rare and historic newspapers from the 1500’s – 1700’s can be exciting, rewarding and surprisingly affordable. British titles such as the London Gazette, London Chronicle, Gentleman’s Magazine and more, are all available for much less than you would expect, as are their American counterparts, the Columbian Centinel, Dunlap’s Daily American Advertiser, Concord Herald, and more.

Whether your interest is in the Colonial Era or the Revolutionary War Era, or extends to the 1500’s and/or 1600’s, original newspapers provide an excellent view of history in context. History is never more fascinating than when when it’s read from the day it was first reported. If you love history… you deserve to have it in your hands. Rare and early historic newspapers make this possible.  Please enjoy the hobby!

Top ten newspapers: 16th and 17th centuries…

Top ten newspapers: 18th century…