An open letter to those currently holding the reigns at Disney…
August 7, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Dear current Disney board and top-level staff,

Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Signed: “Those of us who collect authentic newspapers (including reports related to the Wonderful World of Disney) to be reminded of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the past… that is, to keep us tethered to the good, to learn from the bad (and to be encouraged by how far we’ve come), and to help us gain sobering perspective from the ugly. In this case, while an imperfect man, we put Walt Disney in column #1.”
This Month in History – August…
August 5, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We often are asked how we find newspaper reports covering such a wide variety of topics. Part of the answer is simply longevity. We’ve been collecting and offering issues for a half-century, and time itself as helped us amass an extensive database of notable events. Customer requests, what we’ve learned in school, the news, historical books and movies, etc. have all contributed to the cause. However, our capacity for discovery exploded with the development of the internet. Thanks to an abundance of historical websites, we can now search by day, week, month, era, event, and more in our quest to “mine” our archives. One such resource (among many) is The History Place. Through this online database one can find events by the day, week, month, and year.
As each month approaches we often access this (or a similar) resource to search for new/fresh topics to explore. In our most recent effort, we search for historic events, discovers, accomplishments, etc. which occurred in the month of August. Our results were found here: The History Place – Month of August.
If you take a few moments to scan their index of August events, perhaps you’ll see an overlap between some of those shown and our currently listed newspapers dated in August through time (see below). If you decide to explore, we hope you enjoy.
NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN AUGUST
Announcing: Catalog #345 for August, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
August 2, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
Deciding which newspapers to offer – Bond Hall Explosion edition…
July 26, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We are often asked how we decide which newspapers from our archives to collect and/or offer to other collectors. The answer is quite involved. Is it rare, and if so, is it desirable? Is it historic? A large portion of collectible issues relate to the plethora of events we all learned about in grade school. Does it tell of a sports or political milestone… a broken record… a tragedy… a discovery… an invention? Does it have content related to another collectible (ex., model train enthusiasts love to add newspapers featuring coverage of the development of the railroad). If the answer to any of these questions (and similar) is yes, chances are the newspaper will have value to a collector of historic newspapers. Requests from collectors are also a great way to discover new issues to offer, as are movie releases, current events which relate to the past, and new books (both non- and historical fiction).
One of my favorite “reasons” for exploring our archives in the hopes of finding something new to collect and/or to offer to others is the latter: historical fiction. I think part of the fun for me is discovering whether or not a particular event I read about is more “historical” or more “fiction”.
This trek was recently inspired when I became aware of author Michelle Collins Anderson’s new novel, “The Flower Sisters”.
A review by journalist James Gardener included in part: ““The Flower Sisters” is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of history, memory, and storytelling. Join Daisy Flowers on her quest for truth and justice”.
The outcome? The photo below from an issue of the Kansas City Journal for April 15, 1928 reveals what I surmised by a brief internet search. How horrible. Unfortunately, the cause still remains a mystery.
Note: What’s a Zizzer? A town can often be defined by a single sensational event – be it tragic (in this instance), historical (Williamsburg, VA), spectacular (Aspen, Colorado), etc. It is easy to forget that these locations have much more to explore than these single moments in time. While the Bond Dance Hall was truly horrific, there is no doubt those who have lived there over time see much more. Feel free to learn more about West Plains, Missouri at: West Plains. Perhaps “Zizzer” will become part of your vocabulary. Randon thought: I wonder if Dick Van Dyke ever had a local Zizzer?
The July (2024) Newsletter from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers…
July 19, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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This Month in History – July…
July 8, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
July was a busy month from a (an) historic perspective. While it has always been a “time for war”, some of the most amazing discoveries, accomplishments, and human advancements have also made their way onto the historic July Calander. While the list is almost endless, three-handfuls include:
- A French soldier discovers the Rosetta Stone (July 19, 1799)
- First photographs were used in a newspaper (July 1, 1848)
- U.S. Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor (July 12, 1862)
- P.T. Barnum’s Museum burns down (July 13, 1865)
- Philadelphia Zoo opens, the first zoo in the U.S. (July 1, 1874)
- President Garfield is shot (July 2, 1881)
- Louis Pasteur successfully gives first anti-rabies vaccination to nine-year-old (July 6, 1885)
- The 16th Amendment, the power to tax income, is passed by Congress (July 12, 1909)
- Albert Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity (July 1, 1905)
- “Lady Astor’s Bill” passes lowering UK drinking age to 18 (July 13, 1923)
- The bikini is showcased for the first time (July 5, 1946)
- Walt Disney’s Disneyland opens in Anaheim, CA (July 17, 1955)
- The first moon walk takes place (July 20, 1969)
- Hank Aaron hits his 755th and last home run (July 20, 1976)
- First ‘Test Tube Baby’ is born (July 25, 1978)
For those who have interest in exploring the available newspapers at RareNewspapers.com which may contain reports on some of the above, along with a host of other newsworthy articles, a link to the chronological list is shown below. We hope you enjoy your trek.
NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN JULY
Announcing: Catalog #344 for July, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
June 28, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
Snapshot 1973 – Henry Kissinger – 1st ethnic Jew & 1st naturalized U.S. citizen to become Secretary of State…
June 7, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
When it comes to politics and ethnicity, gender, religion, etc., U.S. firsts are noteworthy. A few which stand out are John F. Kennedy (1st Roman Catholic President), Barack Obama (1st black President), Kamala Harris (1st female and 1st black Vice-President), Antonin Scalia (1st Italian-American Supreme Court Justice), Hiram Revels (1st former slave to serve as a U.S. Senator), etc. The list of such significant milestones is almost endless.
Although it took place during my lifetime, to my loss one failed to capture the attention of my (then) 14-year-old mind. However, thanks to a collector’s request to see if we had coverage of the tragic death of singer-songwriter Jim Croce, my digging within our archives turned up a September 22, 1973 News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) which not only had a report on his death, but also featured the front-page headline: “KISSINGER CONFIRMED IN 78-7 VOTE” – telling of his becoming both the first Jewish-American AND first naturalized citizen to be confirmed as Secretary of State. He was sworn in the following day. Quite historic. Such “finds” are nearly a daily occurrence in the lives of our Rare & Early Newspapers’ staff – just one more reason to love this collectible!
This Month in History – June…
June 3, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Continuing with our series of “This Month in History”, we thought we’d jump right in and provide the link to the available issues which were published during the month of June. This time around we’ve arranged them in chronological order to provide a newspaper version of a walk forward through time – from 1666 to 2022. Enjoy.
Announcing: Catalog #343 for June, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
May 31, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]








The June catalog (#343) is now available. Shown below are links to various segments of the catalog, our currently discounted