Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1987…

October 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

Blondie, Kool & the Gang, Ambrosia…  Rubik’s Cube, Break Dancing, Transformers…  The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Moonlighting… the 80’s!  Our walk through time now brings us to the 8o’s.   Our exploration of authentic newspaper pricing through time takes us back to Catalog 60. To see a larger image of the catalog’s page, go here: Catalog 60

Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1993…

October 18, 2010 by · 2 Comments 

Forest Gump, Jerry Maguire, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana… the 90’s.  Our price-searching through time continues… all the way to “back in the day”… when everything was “aiight. Over the past few weeks we’ve looked at sample prices from 2006 and 2009.  Today we explore a half-dozen years earlier – 1993.  To see a larger image of the catalog’s page, go here:  Catalog 90

Contest/drawing… humorous nuggets…

October 14, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

Over the years, while searching for key content within our newspaper archives, we inevitably have found articles, images, headlines, anecdotes, etc. which are quite humorous.  Many such snippets have appeared on the History’s Newsstand blog and may be viewed at:  https://blog.rarenewspapers.com/?tag=humor

What about you?  Have you found a little comic relief within your personal collection? If so, we would love for you to share your most humorous discovery (or discoveries) with the Rare Newspapers collecting community – and receive a reward for doing so.  There are several ways to participate:

1) post the text of your newspaper anecdote, article, headline, etc. directly on the blog as a comment to this post.

2) post a scan/photo of  your newspaper anecdote, article, headline, image,  etc. directly on the blog as a comment to this post.

3) send the text or photo of your entry to guy@rarenewspapers.com, and we will post it for you.

You may submit as many entries as you wish, through Thursday, October 31st.  Everyone who makes a submission will receive a coupon for 10% off a future website order at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers.  However, we will also have a random drawing for three winners whom will also receive $50 gift certificates for use at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers.  Why draw at random as opposed to selecting the most humorous?  What one may find to be funny, another may not.

Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1999…

October 11, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

A week ago we looked at authentic newspaper prices from 2006.  Today will go a little farther back in time… to 1999. To see a larger image of the catalog’s page, go to:  Catalog 120

Prices… a walk down memory lane… 2006…

October 4, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

We recently took a look at “prices realized” for a number of historic newspapers spanning the centuries.  We’ll now take a look a the pricing of authentic newspapers from a different perspective:  pricing over time.  Over the course of the next several weeks we’ll post a random page from old Rare & Early Newspapers catalogs.  We’ll start with a page from a catalog sent in 2006, and work backwards through time.

20th century prices realized… revisted…

September 30, 2010 by · 2 Comments 

The previous post focused on “prices realized” from a sampling of key issues from the 20th century.  Fellow collector, Charles Signer, posted a response we thought collectors would appreciate.

These papers (see previous post) are excellent choices for your article. I think the Titanic disaster marked a new era in journalism, since improvements in printing technology and inventions like the facsimile machine made it possible for newspapers all over the United States and the world for the first time to cover the story simultaneously with full coverage and great graphics. Because the Titanic event took place at sea there was no “home advantage” as there would have been for a disaster taking place in a populated area. I don’t have the Rhode Island version of the story that you show, but I have seen others like it from other cities. I am amazed how they could get such good reporting and graphics literally overnight on such an unexpected story.

When I see the Honolulu Star-Bulletin First Extra I think of it as a time capsule marking of an end of an era. The front page of course gives the full first report, but the inside pages were mostly set up before the event, in the last hours of peacetime. The ads for 1941 consumer goods and Christmas sales suddenly fell out of place in the grim new wartime world. I imagine the people shown in the ads floating at the bottom of the ocean where they are all drowned dead but still visible to divers. It’s eerie.

I was going to say that the whole First Extra paper could be seen on the Honolulu Star-Bulletin website, but in trying to test the link as I write this I see that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser merged on June 7, 2010. The combined paper is now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. There used to be a great story on the Star-Bulletin’s old website about the people who put out those first reports that day. I guess it’s gone now.

I got a copy of the Dewey Defeats Truman paper from Tim Hughes before 2000 for about $850. It was real cherry. I grew up in Chicago where my dad and I would drive down in the evenings to get the first edition of the following day’s Tribune. When you opened up a Tribune for the first time there were tiny holes made in the printing process which made the pages stick together. The copy I got from Tim had those little holes so I knew I was opening that Dewey Defeats Truman paper for the first time ever. It was almost like being there on November 2, 1948, the evening the paper was printed. Yes, it truly is a classic that will be recognized as long as newspapers are remembered, which may be a lot longer than some of them are being published.

Thanks Charles!

Prices realized… 20th century…

September 27, 2010 by · 1 Comment 

We continue with our series on “prices realized”, with this 4th installment providing select examples of issues from the 20th century.  While there are many issues to choose from, we tried to cover a variety of collectible interests.

Note: While collectible newspapers have had a good track record of increasing in value over time (see upcoming posts), we encourage hobbyists to collect for non-financial reasons.  History in your hands…

20th century selections:

The most famous of all Stock Market Crash newspapers…
THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 25, 1929 ($1,830 – 2010)

Perhaps the nicest Titanic report to be had ?
THE EVENING TIMES, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, April 16, 1912 ($2,423 – 2008)

Best of all Pearl Harbor newspapers…
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, 1st EXTRA, Dec. 7, 1941 ($2,352 – 2005)

Most recognized of all 20th century headlines…
CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, Nov. 3, 1948 ($1,925 – 2005)

The previous posts in this series are:

Prices realized… 16th & 17th centuries…

Prices realized… 18th century…

Prices realized…  19th century…


Prices realized… 19th century…

September 20, 2010 by · 5 Comments 

This post is the 3rd installment of a series dedicated to exploring actual sale prices of historic newspapers from various periods of time.  Below please find a few selections from the 19th century.

Note: If you have an issue of your own you’re trying to price, one trick/strategy is to go to the “advanced”  search engine at www.rarenewspapers.com (see top left of window), enter a 2 week range of dates (one week prior to your issue’s date to one week after), and view the results.  This will give you comparable issues (if available) to help you in establishing a reasonable price for your issue.  Make certain to take into consideration your issues title, city of location, proximity to the location where the event (key content) occurred, condition, displayability, proximity of issue’s date to the date the key event occurred, etc.

19th century selections:

1st Ever Public Basketball Game Played…  SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN, Massachusetts, March 12, 1892 ($15,000, 2007)

The best Lincoln Assassination issue to be had…  THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 15, 1865 ($2,800, 2009)

Wallpaper issue!  THE OPELOUSAS COURIER, Louisiana., Apr. 4, 1863 ($2,650, 2006)

Winslow Homer’s famous “SNAP THE WHIP”…  HARPER’S WEEKLY, New York, NY, September 20, 1873 ($1,000, 2009)

The previous posts in this series are:

Prices realized… 16th & 17th centuries…

Prices realized… 18th century…


A real gem…

September 16, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 

In the past we’ve taken several looks at one of the inherent pleasures of the rare newspaper collecting hobby – that of finding hidden (unexpected) gems within issues.  While unearthing such gems is nearly a daily occurrence for our staff, it is especially rewarding when we discover content of the significance as what we’ve shown below.  The December, 1787 issue of The American Museum contains, in addition to the printing of four Federalist Papers and the ratification of the Constitution by Pennsylvania and Delaware,  the full text of Benjamin Franklin’s final speech before the assembly on the last day of the Constitutional Convention.  Thanks to one of our members, this treasure is no longer “lost”.  As for the content… it speaks for itself.  Please enjoy the wisdom of Dr. Franklin:

Prices realized… 18th century…

September 13, 2010 by · 2 Comments 

We continue with our series on “Prices Realized”.  Below are a examples of actual prices paid for a few scattered issues from the 18th century.  While not the highest valued from the period, they certainly are “premium” issues.  Our hope is to provide a more-comprehensive listing in the not-too-distant future.  In the meantime, for what it is worth…

The Constitution of the United States… CONNECTICUT COURANT, Hartford, Oct. 1, 1787 ($17,500, 2007)

The Boston Massacre…  THE ESSEX GAZETTE, Salem, Massachusetts, March 20, 1770 ($9,250, 2006)

America proclaims independence…  THE AMERICAN GAZETTE OR, THE CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNAL, Salem, Massachusetts, July 23, 1776 ($9,750, 2007)

The premiere (British) issue of the war…  The Declaration of Independence…  THE LONDON CHRONICLE, August 17, 1776 ($9,750, 2009)

The following is a link to our previous post in this series:

Prices realized… 16th & 17th centuries…

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