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How to be a cowboy: The protocol in 1882…
August 13, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It’s interesting how the stereotype of the cowboy as created by Western movies and the lore generated by Western writers can hold true to reality. This was my thought when I can across an interesting tidbit from a Yuma, Arizona, newspaper of January 7, 1882—from a truly Western town at the high point of the Wild West era:
“He Wanted to be a Cowboy”
A youth recently went all the way from Chicago to New Mexico to become a cowboy. When there he explained his desire to a typical mountaineer whom he met and asked for instructions in the role he had wished to assume. Grasping him by the hand the mountaineer said: “You want to get a buckskin suit with plenty of fringe, a pair of high boots and a pair of high spurs. Then you want to get a broad-rimmed hat–the broader the better; two fort-fives, a knife, a Winchester rifle and a horse; then you want to get drunk and get on your horse; then take the reins in your teeth, a revolver in each hand, and go down the street at a full run, shooting at every jump. then come back and yell as loud as you can: ‘My name is ______ and I’m stinking for a fight; I’m a sone-of-a-gun from the plains.’ After that you will be a cowboy.” The picture is duly referred to the cowboy’s prototype in Western Missouri.”
More on the time lag in news reporting…
August 10, 2009 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
Some weeks ago I commented on the time lag between a news event and its appearance in newspapers of the day, focusing on the publication dates of the Declaration of Independence in various newspapers.
Because time lag is a major factor in looking for news reports prior to the use of the telegraph in the mid-19th century, I thought more discussion should be given to the issue. Again I turn to Brigham’s “Journals and Journeymen” for much valuable information.
Obviously the delay in receiving news of world events was beyond the control of newspaper publishers. The news of the death of Queen Anne on August 1, 1714 arrived in America on September 15. George I died June 14, 1727 but his subjects in America did not learn of it until August 13. George II died October 25, 1760 and it was two months later before the news arrived at Boston. Even the significance of the Treaty of Versailles at Paris which ended the Revolutionary War was first heard of at Boston on October 22 and not published in a newspaper until October 30 despite the event happening on September 3.
Ocean travel was dangerous & speed was dependent on the weather. Foreign wars & privateering also made voyages quite hazardous. The first issue of the “Boston News-Letter” of April 24, 1704 carried London reports of December 20, 1703. It was common for ships to load their passengers & their London newspapers and then wait around in the Channel for up to 3 weeks or more before sailing. During the first two years of newspaper publication there were exceptional voyages of five weeks, but the average was about two months.
After the Revolution & before 1820 merchants began building larger vessels which meant improved speed. In 1820 there were frequent sailings of 28 to 30 days, but there was no dependable time schedule.
Noting the diaries of some famous travelers we gain some insight. In 1722 Samuel Johnson traveled from Boston to England in 39 days. Benjamin Franklin in returning from England to Philadelphia in 1726 did so in 67 days. William Beverley sailed from Virginia to Liverpool in 37 days. Abigail Adams, whose story of a voyage is one of the most detailed on record, sailed from America to England in 30 days in 1784.
Postriders took a week to travel from New York to Boston, and at least two days from Philadelphia to New York. When stagecoaches came into use around 1785, the delivery of letters & newspapers was quicker & more consistent.
But by the establishment of the magnetic telegraph in 1844 and the laying of the Atlantic cable in 1858 (but not perfected until 1866) news was transmitteed from country to country instantaneously.
Some legal notices never change…
August 8, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Although the wording may be different, some legal notices placed in newspapers haven’t changed much in over 200 years. Note this item from the “New York Journal” of January 7, 1768.
Preserving shelf space: beginning of microfilm…
August 3, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We again credit follow collector Paul Sarna for providing the following information concerning the very beginning of microfilm as a means of allowing libraries to preserve valuable shelf space. It is excerpted from “News-Week” magazine of Oct. 28, 1933:
“…Another idea which got yet more attention was presented by Eastman Kodak Company. A new apparatus can photograph whole newspaper pages on a strip of film one and three-eights inches wide. An eight page paper would require a strip only twelve inches long, and a complete month’s file of a bulky metropolitan newspaper could be recorded on a four inch reel of film.
Any person wanting to find an item, for instance, in the Atlanta Constitution of July 15, would ask for the film of that date at the library desk. The film would then be snapped on an axle on top of a projection box. With the light switched on, a shadow, much like that cast by any motion picture projector, appears on a slanting screen before which the reader sits. A knob on the side of the apparatus moves the film rapidly until the desired page is reached.
One big advantage of the apparatus is that the items, thrown in clear relief, appear 50% larger than in newspapers. A year’s file, instead of occupying six feet of double shelving, would not take up much more room than a shoe box.
Furthermore the non-explosive film could be renewed an indefinite number of times and reprints of news items could be made by placing photosenstive paper on the projection screen.
The ingenious apparatus is largely the work of Roy S. Hopkins of the Eastman Research Laboratory…”.
An interesting review of the birth of microfilm. I would not have guessed it dated back to 1933.
Thanks Paul!
A legal conundrum…
August 1, 2009 by TimHughes · 4 Comments
“The Olympia Transcript” newspaper of Washington Territory, Nov. 30, 1867, poses an interesting question:
“Suppose a man owns a skiff; he fastens the skiff to the shore with a rope made of straw; along comes a cow; cow gets into the boat; turns around & eats the rope; the skiff thus let loose with the cow on board, starts down stream and on its passage is upset; the cow is drowned. Now, has the man that owns the cow got to pay for the boat or the man that owns the boat got to pay for the cow?”
Any thoughts from our readers?
Rare newspaper prices from 60 years ago…
July 30, 2009 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
While cleaning out some files at home I came across a little catalog of “American Newspapers 1732 – 1890” offered for sale by Stephen Nagy of Philadelphia. The back page has various items noting the date of the catalog as 1948.
The photos show some interesting prices. Some may not be shown in the photos but I noticed a Confederate issue of the “Norfolk Bulletin” of 1864 for $1.25; the “Daily Hawaiian Herald” of 1866 for $3; a colonial issue of the “Pennsylvania Chronicle” of Phila., 1768 for $7.50; a ‘Phila. Inquirer” with a first report of Lincoln’s assassination for $3; the very desirable “Inquirer” of April 25, 1865 with the full pg. illustration of Lincoln’s remains in Independence Hall for $4; and a wide selection of “Dunlap’s American Daily Advertiser“, Phila., from 1796 and 1797 for $1 each.
We’ve never promoted the investment potential of rare newspapers but rather encourage the collecting of historic issues for enjoyment & personal pleasure, but this catalog from the past does give evidence of the considerable variance in prices from 61 years ago. Additional images of this early newspapers catalog may be found at: American Newspapers (1732-1890) Catalog – 1948.
Newspaper circulation in the 1700’s…
July 27, 2009 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
We often get queries as to what the circulation numbers were of colonial and later 18th century newspapers. Clarence Brigham, in his book “Journals & Journeymen” provides some helpful information.
The earliest comment on newspaper circulation in America was by publisher John Campbell in his Boston News-Letter of 1719. He notes that “…he cannot vend 300 at an impression, tho’ some ignorantly concludes he sells upwards of a thousand…”.
Famed publisher Isaiah Thomas remarked: “In 1754 four newspapers only were printed in New England…weekly, & the average number of copies did not exceed 600 from each press.”
Circulation gradually grew as the days of the Revolution approached. Rivington’s New York Gazetteer of Oct. 31, 1774 boated his weekly impressions “… increased to 3600…”, and Thomas noted in his Mass. Spy of Dec. 21, 1780 noted he had a pre-Revolutionary circulation of 3500 copies, then was driven out of Boston by the British invasion & established the Spy in Worcester. In 1775-6 circulation was 1500, in 1778-9 it was 1200, and in 1781 it did 500 impressions. He also noted that: “It has always been allowed that 600 customers, with a considerable number of advertisements, weekly, will but barely support the publication of a newspaper.”
Later Thomas noted that the famous Connecticut Courant of Hartford had a circulation which exceeded his Mass. Spy, that: “…the number of copies printed weekly was equal to, if not greater, than that of any other paper on the continent.”
In the last decade of the 18th century the number of newspapers increated, but circulation did not keep step & in generally averaged from 600 to 700. A few papers from larger cities were exceptions such as the Maryland Journal of Baltimore which claimed a circulation of near 2000. And the very popular Columbian Centinel would top the list of all 18th century newspapers in circulation with over 4000 per issue. Other popular late-18th century titles & their circulations included the Aurora with 1700; the Farmer’s Weekly Museum with 2000 and Porcupine’s Gazette with over 2000 in circulation in 1799.
But given these numbers, how many copies of any single date survived? A good question as certainly the vast majority were read and discarded. Outside of those held by institutions in bound volumes those which exist in collectors’ hands today almost assuredly came from deccessioned institutional holdings and likely will be the only issues to see the light of day for many years to come.
Competition isn’t always friendly…
July 25, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Amador Dispatch” newspaper from Jackson, California—small mining town in the northern part of the state—has two related items in its April 8, 1882 issue. The first is a report from the neighboring “Plymouth Reporter” newspaper concerning a pen knife which was found noting the owner could have it by proving ownership & by paying for the newspaper notice. The other is an editorial note from the competing “Dispatch” which includes: “…why in thunder don’t you give it up to her without putting her to the trouble of proving property, and charging her for such a small notice. We hate to see such petty avariciousness on the part of a high toned editor.”
I guess competing newspapers were not always friendly towards one another.
“Telegraph” newspapers prior to 1844?
July 20, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It is commonly known that the magnetic telegraph was developed in 1844 by Samuel Morse, so perhaps you’ve wondered—like I have—why so many newspapers had the title “Telegraph” dating long before this date? Clarence Brigham in his book “Journals & Journeymen” provides some details.
Between 1792 & 1794 several systems of telegraphic signals were developed in England & France. They were dependent upon cross-bars pivoting into difference positions at the top of high poles.
In 1795 a paper was established at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, titled “The Telegraphe”. The first issue did a history of telegraphic experiments taken from British & French periodicals, & stated it was the first paper in America to use the title. This was true, but less than a month after the Carlisle paper’s beginning the “Fells Point Telegraphe” was established at Baltimore, and shortly thereafter newspapers in Charleston, Greenfield (Mass.), and again in Baltimore changed their titles to include the word “Telegraphe”. In the next five months another 4 newspapers incorporated this word into their titles.
By 1820 forty newspapers in America had employed this word into their mastheads, but the phenomena was almost entirely American. Curiously only 2 papers in London & Paris used the word in 1794 and none after that until later in the 19th century.
A new (old) definition of a “sacrifice hit”…
July 18, 2009 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Since we are in the midst of baseball season, this little comic item from “Life” magazine of June 28, 1894 would seem appropriate.