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A February stroll thru time – 50, 100, 150, 200, & 250 years ago…
February 1, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What news was reported in the month of February – 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.
Newspaper Museums abound… Looking for input…
January 28, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Newspapers have been one of the main means of community communication for several centuries. While many newspaper publishers have closed their doors as on-line access has increased, one would still be hard-pressed to find a city without its own printed newspaper. However, as the number of newspaper publishers gradually decrease, the number of newspaper museums appear to be on the rise. Current news may be best viewed within a moment of its occurrence via the internet, news of the past (history) seems to be best viewed first-hand – either by reading a historic newspaper first-hand, or by visiting one of the hundreds of newspaper and print-shop museums. Collecting rare newspapers satisfies the first, but what about the second? The Newseum and the American Antiquarian Society (think Isaiah Thomas) are great place to start, but what about museums with a more local or historical bent? A favorite for some is the relatively new Edes & Gill Print Shop attached to The Old North Church in Boston, but what about others? If you have visited a newspaper museum and/or historic print shop which you found interesting, please share by commenting with the name, location, and a brief mention of what you enjoyed.
Peace on earth, good will toward men… The Year of Jubilee…
January 21, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
While I am certainly not an expert on Jewish sacred days, festivals, and special/holy celebrations, one significant event has always captured my imagination: The Year of Jubilee – referred to by some as The Golden Jubilee. It was such a celebration which led President Warren Harding to write a letter to the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in response to their invitation for him to attend the Golden Jubilee Dinner in 1923. This letter was printed in The New York Times, January 25, 1923. While we often quote the phrase “Peace on earth, good will toward men”, few are aware of its roots (Luke 2:14) or its significance and/or relationship to the Year of Jubilee. While President Harding (a non-Jew) was certainly not a popular president, this is one instance where his “good will toward men” was well-received. His letter is as follows:
Lincoln Assassination Newspapers Atlas…
January 14, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Rick Brown been collecting Lincoln assassination newspapers for over 50 years. He has also been a historic newspaper dealer and bought, sold, or brokered in excess of one million historic newspapers. Currently he has in about 200 original Lincoln assassination newspapers – Both Union and confederate. In that same time he been setting aside reprints of the April 15, 1865 New York Herald as he came across 
them. In 1992 he self-published “An Atlas of Known April 15, 1865 New York Herald Reprints.” In that work, all pages of 17 different reprint versions were shown. With concentrated efforts in 2015 he contacted a few major institutions and has now discovered 48 different/variants of this edition. His online version of the current atlas that shows all pages of 45 different variants. Also included in this online atlas is background information about the reprints – who published, when, how many pages, etc. The URL for his online Atlas is: http://www.historyreference.
An average of three April 15, 1865 New York Herald’s are listed on eBay EVERY WEEK – that’s over 150 per year. Almost all of these listings claim there’s is an “authentic,” “original,” or “genuine” edition. In the past 15 years he has been conducting weekly searches for “April 15, 1865 New York Herald” on eBay. There have been approximately 2,250 listings for this edition on eBay and ONLY TWICE the listings were actually original editions! Also, since he has been going to estate sales and auctions for over 20 years, he has seen a few hundred of these editions offered – NOT ONE OF THEM were an original!! Over 95% of these reprints were produced over 100 years ago so they LOOK OLD, Looking old does not necessarily mean it is an original. Buyer beware – Collector value for these reprint editions is $10-$20 depending on condition.
If you have a Lincoln-related Web site or know someone that does, please have them add a link to my online atlas.
Rick Brown
http://www.historyreference.
A Nonprofit Organization
A January stroll thru time – 50, 100, 150, 200, & 250 years ago…
January 7, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What news was reported in the month of January – 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.
The start of a new year…
January 4, 2016 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The start of each new year typically brings a sense of promise – a certain newness of hope and expectation which drives us to peel off bad habits and at least seek to develop new ones. Of course this new refreshed outlook is often quickly squashed once we grab the morning paper and allow the events all around us to cast a wet blanket on our hopes and dreams for the new year. Perhaps a bit jaded – but all too true.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way. I’m convinced part of the antidote is for us to practice counting our blessings throughout the year – day-in and day-out. Sound like a plan? For those of us who are “all in”, let’s put our resolution for 2016 to the test and look through the news reports of the first week of January through time and see if we can come out the other end with a sense that life is truly good – after all, we could be living in the past when technology, medicine, the average standard of living, and life-expectancy were not what they are today: 1st Week of January thru Time
New Year’s Eve – 1965
December 31, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
It is not uncommon to read a History’s Newsstand post which takes us on a walk through time. Historic newspapers are all about placing ourselves in the shoes of those who experienced history – first hand. However, such strolls often dig deep – going back 150, 200, 250, or as many as 300 years into the past. This time we’d like to take a more nostalgic approach by focusing on a day some readers may actually remember themselves: New Year’s Eve, 1965.
Vietnam, Jackie Kennedy, The Sholbergs (?), Edward Brooke, Billy Graham, Sean Connery, Audry Hepburn, Soupy Sales, Jimmy Brown, Vince Lombardi, Lassie and more all managed to find their way on to the pages of the last newspaper printed by The Detroit Free Press in 1965. Use the following link to enjoy a series of images which tell of time in the not-to-distant past:
Detroit Free Press, December 31, 1965
Christmas Eve… 1915
December 24, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
War, peace, pain, hope, life, death – what “news items of the day” were our brothers and sisters from 100 years ago reading on Christmas Eve? Certainly the typical newspaper was pregnant with holiday cheer, but people were still born… died… and wars and rumors of wars didn’t always take a vacation. Scroll through select images of The Bethlehem Globe (PA) dated December 24, 1915 to catch of glimpse of 100 years ago – Christmas Eve.
So you wanna go back to Egypt? Ocean rescue methods…
December 10, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The Bible tells of the historical account of the Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in The Promised Land. At one point, as their trek became particularly challenging, some began to grumble and complain – going so far as to attempt a coup in order to turn the wagon-train around and head back to Egypt – to slavery… to oppression… to strife… to the very misery which had caused them to cry themselves to sleep night-after-night as they called out to God for deliverance. How could they have so quickly forgotten? Yet, are we any different? Our brains have a tendency to filter the bad from our memory banks to allow our occasional backward glances to fall upon the good. If we’ve learned to walk through life with an acknowledgement of ever-present blessing and with a heart-deep gratitude for the very breath of life, this filtering-process can be healing and redemptive to our soul – perhaps even treasured as a gift from our Creator. However, when we walk with our heads down – with thoughts of dissatisfaction poisoning our minds and morsels of entitlement chaffing our lips, what was designed to be sweet-nostalgia turns into quite the bitter pill – causing us to forget just how great it is to live in the present. How sad.
BUT – In an effort to right the ship for some, reinforce good thinking in others, and foster a positive outlook regarding the present for all, we will occasionally post a newspaper article, image, or clip from the past to help remind us of how good it is to live in the 21st Century. Our first selection is a print from a late-19th century issue of Scientific American Supplement which depicts a rather precarious method for rescuing distressed air-travelers at sea – or was it air-travelers rescuing seafarers (???). Please enjoy – or better yet, allow it to nurture a thankful heart for contemporary travel methods and rescue techniques. 
A December stroll thru time – 50, 100, 150, 200, & 250 years ago…
December 3, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What news was reported in the month of December – 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.