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Don’t tell the kids…
November 27, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
An article in the August 14, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier, Vermont, yields at least one perspective on how to be a successful student. Kids, please don’t try this at home. What does the phrase “having cold feet” mean anyway?
With the holiday season upon us… thanks Bing!
November 25, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
With the holiday season upon us it is time to dig out and dust off our collections of holiday-themed videos (movies??? Dvd’s???) for their annual viewing. One of our family favorites is Holiday Inn. Who can forget Bing Crosby’s vision:
Lazy
I want to be lazy
I want to be out in the sun
With no work to be done
Under that awning
They call the sky
Stretching and yawning
And let the world go drifting by…
However, before we sell all we have in our quest for the easy life running a New England Inn, or simply immobilize ourselves with longings for the lazy hazy days of Summer, an article we found in the September 4, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier (oddly enough – from Vermont) has a different perspective on laziness – providing ample food for thought:
Here’s to good health…
November 20, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
An article the the September 4, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier, Vermont, provides a mid-19th century perspective (advice) for how to acquire good health. Try to imagine the follow-up letters to the editor in response had this appeared within this morning’s paper. Please enjoy:
My collecting story… Graham Dukes…
November 15, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
I have been collecting newspapers longer than most fellow enthusiasts, beginning when I was at school in England in 1943. My father went into a small second-hand shop and noticed that the owner, who sold candlesticks, old dinner plates and suchlike, was wrapping up the items in copies of the London evening “Star” for 1818, that he was tearing out of a bound volume. There were about 150 papers left and my father, who was well aware of my budding historical interest, bought the whole volume for threepence (10c).
From there I continued myself, often picking up items from shopkeepers who had no idea what they were. Nearly 70 years later, with several thousand items in store, (particularly London national papers, but also items from many other countries) some of my prize items, going back to the earlier sixteenth century, are still those that I found in the English back streets during my time as a schoolboy and later as a university student!
Graham Dukes
New discovery… Who knows what one might find?
November 8, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We’ve often mentioned that one of the pleasures of the Rare & Early newspaper collecting hobby is finding unforeseen historical nuggets buried deep within the pages of newspapers… just waiting to be unearthed. 
This was recently brought to the surface again by a collector/history teacher who purchases 19th century wholesale lots (undescribed as to content) for his students and for personal use . His note is as follows:
This paper (from a wholesale lot) had a reference to a house vote for the “relief” of Susan Decatur, wife of naval hero Stephen Decatur. She had inherited $75,000 from her husband, who was killed in a duel in 1820. This is the equivalent of $1.4 million today. The bill was defeated. One of the nays was cast by Congressman Crockett (David). Minor, but priceless info. Your company does more good than you know.
Feel free to share your own discoveries with the collecting community.
Mission to Mars… Climb aboard…
November 6, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
As China, Russia, and the U.S. (among others) begin to enter a new space race – a manned mission to the Red Planet, we are reminded of the early days of flight when dreams were high and understanding was… perhaps a bit lacking. While early film fueled the excitement, it wasn’t until knowledge of Robert Goddard’s work became widespread that the thought of space travel made the leap from dream to real possibility. These dreams took a hit on January 13, 1920 when the NY Times printed an editorial (unsigned) which scoffed at the proposal. However, on February 4, 1920, the President of the Aviator’s Club of Pennsylvania, Captain Claude R. Collins, restored the public’s hopes of space travel when he volunteered to be a passenger on a Mars bound rocket, if ever developed. Ironically, this “offer” was published on the front page of the of the February 5, 1920 NY Times (see image), alongside of the announcement from the Smithsonian Institution stating Goddard had invented and tested a rocket that might have the potential to reach the moon. This battle between nay-sayers and dreamers continues to this day. I wonder how we will be looked upon 100 years from now?
April 15, 1865 New York Herald reprints… revisited…
November 1, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 10 Comments
A previous post by guest contributor Rick Brown detailed how one can identify whether or not their April 15, 1865 New York Herald is authentic. One of the most notable differences between an authentic issue (which is quite rare) and one of the reprints (which are rather common) is that the common reprint has an image of President Lincoln on the front page, whereas, the original does not. We recently came across a photo of the Lincoln image (as shown to the right). If your issue has it… unfortunately, your’s is not an original.
The unearthing of a President… yet another discovery!
October 28, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The image shows a portion of a full-page ad found buried in the back of the January 4, 1902 edition of Harper’s Weekly Illustrated. One of the joys of collecting rare and early newspapers is the fun collectors have digging up hidden treasures. A student at Arizona State University recently noticed that one of the contributors listed in an ad for encyclopedias was Woodrow Wilson, more than 10 years before he would be elected as the 28th President of the United States. In case one did not already know, this ad also reveals that he was a Professor at Politics at Princeton. I wonder if any other noteworthy individuals are named within this ad??? Additional close-up images can be found at: Additional Images. Feel free to add your finds.
Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1987…
October 25, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 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 GuyHeilenman · 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