Printed History: Collecting 3.5M rare newspapers in Central Pa.

December 12, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

Approximately 2 months ago The Williamsport Sun-Gazette (PA) wrote an article about a presentation Tim Hughes gave a local historical society. As a follow-up, Joseph W. Smith III, a writer, speaker and teacher in Central PA, wrote an article about Tim’s trek through the hobby. If you ever wondered about “the story” behind “Rare & Early Newspapers“, or were considering jumping in yourself, this could be a great place to begin your adventure. The article may be viewed at:

Printed History: Collecting 3.5M rare newspapers in Central Pa

More than what meets the eye – categories on the RareNewspapers.com website…

August 28, 2020 by · Leave a Comment 

As of now there are over 15,000 individual historic newspapers posted on the Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers website, with nearly 3 million more waiting in the wings. The ability to search for specific dates, words (or word phrases), eras, themes, issues within specific date ranges, etc. to find newspapers of interest using the website’s basic search and advanced search interface was discussed in a recent post. While both interfaces give the user quite a bit of control over what results are found, there are times when we all prefer things to be simplistic, and to this end, we have several icons (buttons) on the front page which point the explorer to a ten popular categories. However, there is much more available than meets the eye. Directly below “Popular Categories” and to the right is another button/icon, which when selected, provides access to an extensive list of pre-made search queries, arranged alphabetically. The images below illustrate how to access the list.

Now that you are aware this is present, feel free to go to www.RareNewspapers.com and check it out for yourself. Also, if you would like to suggest a topic you believe may be of interest to many, let me know at guy@rarenewspapers.com. I’ll be happy to consider adding it.

Introducing: RareNewspapers.com – The Revolutionary War…

September 22, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Collectible Revolutionary War Era Newspapers

Blog-9-15-2016-Revolutionary-War“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”

First-hand Accounts of the American Revolution

What is now American history was once current news. Revolutionary War newspapers produced daily reports mentioning political leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, plus military leaders (both American & British) including Gates, Gage, Carleton, Howe, Clinton, John Paul Jones, Burgoyne, and the infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold, along with other noteworthy names, such as Paul Revere and Thomas Paine.

Follow The Stuggle Against Tyranny

We offer an opportunity to own complete, genuine newspapers from the era of America’s founding fathers. Read first-hand battle reports from including Lexington & Concord, Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Ticonderoga, and Valley Forge. Immerse yourself in significant political events, such as the Declaration of Independence, the “Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms,” Articles of Confederation, the Stamp Act, and other historical happenings. Read of soldiers protecting the liberty of their families; the British taking over our prized cities of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York; and the struggle of the 13 colonies as they fought to be freed from the tyranny of British rule and taxation.

The Relationship Between Great Britain and the Colonies

It’s always interesting to get a glimpse into how the British newspapers reported news about “her charter colonies in America.” The London Chronicle published some terrific content on that topic in April 1774, and another article about taxing the American colonies containing the quote: “Might not America, under tax masters thus interested in their oppression, be deemed in a state of abject slavery?”

Revolutionary War

Hold History in Your Hands

It comes as a surprise to many that newspapers from the Revolutionary War that are 200-plus years-old are available for purchase, and are reasonable priced and well preserved. The reason that 18th century newspapers have held up so well is mostly because they were printed on durable rag linen. Rag linen was a common type of paper that was made from pulping linen rags often from ship sails or clothing.

I need more than just the headline…

May 10, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

We get many emails and phone calls requesting values of newspapers found in attics, given by friends, or purchased at a yard sale, etc.  We try to be as helpful as possible and ask for photos if they use email.  This almost comical photo came in the other day–apparently with the thought that the headline was all we needed to see to determine a value. As you might imagine, we need to see more…..

Featured websites – TeachHistory.com

March 18, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

Teachers with a love of history, listen up!  The following resource can improve your curriculum and make you a stronger educator.  Students of history will enjoy the breadth and depth of the historical journey as well.

TeachHistory is a fantastic website (blog), developed and maintained by Ben Edwards, which provides engaging information & a plethora of useful educational resources related to history.  It describes itself as:

“a blog dedicated to social studies and history teachers across the United States who use Colonial American history, imagination and multisensory teaching methods to inspire their students. Our goal is to provide a resource where teachers like you can access information about colonial history plus technologies, methods and products that are making a difference in education today.”

While Ben’s experience with teachers and students is varied, perhaps the most useful channel for keeping him in touch with the pulse of teacher/student interests and needs occur via the many intimate conversations had while engaging teachers and students through his Walking Tours of Historic Boston.  Combine this with both his (historic) heritage and his natural love of history, and you have the making of a blog which is sure to stay relevant over time.  Some of the recent posts include:

Colonel Shaw, Sergeant Carney and the 54th Massachusetts

Remembering Alex Haley and Roots

Black History Month: A Tribute to Phillis Wheatley

Young Ben Franklin and the Silence Dogood Letters

Teachers: Are You Engaging AND Empowering Your Students?

Many of the posts include detailed images and reference accounts of actual Rare & Early Newspapers – most of which come from his personal collection.  Ben fully grasps a foundational truth regarding primary sources:  “History is never more fascinating than when it is read from the day it was first reported.” Thanks Ben, for your contributions to both the Rare Newspapers and Educational communities.

Featured websites – RagLinen.com

March 11, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

From time to time we like to take a look at various websites which may enhance our Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers‘ members collecting experience.  Todd Andrlik’s “Rag Linen“, is such a site.  It describes itself foremost as “…an educational archive of rare and historic newspapers, which serve as the first drafts of history and the critical primary source material for historians, authors and educators.”  A sample of Rag Linen’s posts on the corresponding blog include:

Rag Linen also has useful information on the History of Newspapers, the Condition & Preservation of newspapers, and more.  Well done Todd.  Thanks for your contributions to the rare newspapers community.

First newspaper in Connecticut…

January 25, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

Tim Hughes, founder

Printing in Connecticut began as early as 1710 by its first printer, Thomas Short. Short became an orphan at a young age and was captured by Indians & carried away to Canada. He was eventually ransomed, likely by his brother-in-law, Bartholomew Green, who taught him the printing trade. The Green family was well known as early printers throughout New England.

Printing in New Haven began when James Parker, of New York, was appointed postmaster by Benjamin Franklin, although there is no evidence he ever spent much time either as postmaster or printer. He employed John Holt, of Williamsburg, Virginia, to manage the printing office. “The Present State of the Colony of Connecticut Considered” from 1755 is the earliest known production by James Parker in New Haven. On April 12, 1755 he brought out the first number of a  newspaper titled the “Connecticut Gazette“, with Holt as editor. It was the very first newspaper printed in Connecticut and continued until Feb. 19, 1768 at which time it ceased publication.

Just a few months later in Hartford, on April 25, 1768, the “Connecticut Courant” began publication and remains in print today as the country’s oldest continually published newspaper.

20th century newspapers… revisited…

January 4, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

Over the past month, Timothy Hughes has explored his thoughts concerning what he believes to be the top ten newspapers from each of the pre-18th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries (see below), the most recent being the latter. Some of his thoughts concerning historic newspapers from the 1900’s were captured in the following video:

Collecting authentic rare and historic newspapers from the 1900’s can be exciting, rewarding and surprisingly affordable. From the Wright brothers inaugural flight in 1903…to today’s routine shuttle hops to the orbiting space station, no other period in history bore greater witness to man’s capacity for brilliance, innovation, depravity, strife, compassion and technological ingenuity…than the 20th Century. And with this ingenuity came remarkable visibility into the daily lives of our parents and grandparents, through newspapers.

Each single page from the vast 20th Century archive of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers brings this amazing century to life: from World War I, Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II, onward… newspapers of the 20th century bring it all to daily account, from those who lived it!

Of course, many original newspapers documenting this century’s “turning-points” command premium prices (Titanic, Crash of 29, P. Harbor, V-E/V-J Day, Dewey Def Truman, Oil Strike, San Franc Earthquake, etc.)… but most other original and historical 20th century newspapers remain available for much less than you might think. At Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers, you can still own original editions recounting key events of the gangster era of the 20’s and 30’s, World War II, the industrial revolution, Korean War, the automobile, the golden age of Hollywood and beyond.

We also offer obscure original editions that are perfect gifts to commemorate a friend or loved-one’s birthday, marriage, graduation, or other event. They’ll love reading about what else was in the news back on their special day!

Whether your interest is in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the golden age of Hollywood, the gangster era, a view of how life looked on the day you were born, etc., 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 newspapers make this possible. Please enjoy.

Top ten newspapers: “20th century”…

Top ten newspapers: 19th century…

Top ten newspapers: 18th century…

Top ten newspapers: 16th and 17th centuries…

The top ten: “20th century”…

December 28, 2009 by · 9 Comments 

From this period in newspaper publishing history, displayability has much to do with the desirability of a newspaper, perhaps more so than historical significance. Since I come to this task of listing the “top ten” from the perspective of a rare newspaper dealer and knowing the requests we receive for certain events, the following list may not be the same as my most “historic” but they are my thoughts for the most “desirable” based on customer demand. Certainly FDR’s New Deal is more historically significant than the death of Bonnie & Clyde, but not more desirable from a collector standpoint. I’d be curious to hear of your thoughts.

Bonnie&ClydegifHere they are, beginning with number ten:

10) St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Feb. 14, 1929  An issue with a dramatic banner headline, & ideally dated the 14th. Morning papers would be dated the 15th.

9) Death of Bonnie & Clyde, May 23, 1934  The gangster era remains much in demand, & perhaps due to the movie this event beats out Dillinger, Capone & the others from the era. A dramatic headline drives desirability–ideally with a photo–even if not in a Louisiana newspaper.

8.) Charles Lindbergh flies the Atlantic, May 22, 1927  The New York Times had a nice headline account with a map of the route, and the prestige of the newspaper always keeps it in high demand.

Dewey_Defeats_Truman7) Call-Chronicle-Examiner, San Francisco, April 19, 1906  I note a specific title & date for this event, as these 3 newspapers combined to produce one 4 page newspaper filled with banner heads & the latest news. No advertisements.

6) Crash of the Hindenberg, May 6, 1937  The more dramatic the headline the better, & ideally with the Pulitizer Prize winning photo of the airship in flames.

5) Wright brothers fly, Dec. 17, 1903  Here’s where the significance of the event drives desirability over dramatic appeal. Few can argue the impact of manned flight on the world. Reports were typically brief & buried on an inside page with a small headline, so a lengthy front page report would be in top demand.

4) Stock market crash, October, 1929  Demand is driven by the dramatic headline and its wording. Too many newspapers tried to put an optimistic spin on the tragedy. Collectors want “collapse, disaster, crash” & similarly tragic words in the headline (how about Variety magazine’s: “Wall Street Lays On Egg”?)

Pearl_Harbor_HSB_1_extra3) Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Dec. 7, 1941  “1st Extra”  The defining issue from World War II but be careful of reprints as most issues on the market are not genuine.

2) Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 3, 1948 “Dewey Defeats Truman”. What more need be said?

1) Titanic sinking, April 14, 1912  Certainly low on the historically significant list, but off the charts on the desirability scale, much due to the block-busting movie. The more dramatic the headline the better, and hopefully with a nice illustration of the ship going down.

My “honorable mention” list might include baseball’s “Black Sox” scandal of 1919, sinking of the Lusitania, end of World War II, D-Day, JFK’s election, the New Deal, a great Babe Ruth issue, etc. Maybe they would rank higher on your list.

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…

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