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My collecting story… R. L. in Daytona Beach, Florida…
April 13, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Below we continue our series in which we post the “stories” graciously submitted by our collecting friends during the pandemic of 2020.
Newspapers Offer A Glimpse Into the Past
I don’t know if some things never change, or if history simply has a habit of repeating itself. As I watch today’s TV news in the era of the Corona Virus, I see many of the same challenges to society today that faced a particular society 76 years ago. Both then and now, people were searching for normalcy in their everyday lives.
Harper’s Weekly, September 11, 1858
Fall 1944 was a time when World War 2 was still raging across the globe. My period newspaper reports that “members of the International and Swedish Red Cross have been obliged to discontinue their activities…” Today, we hear of the possibility of hospitals becoming over-run and shutting their doors.
In 1944, an article headlined Enormous Drain On Resources feels just as relevant now as it did back then. As we see images of grocery stores with empty shelves, I am reading about food shortages which existed in 1944, with potato thieves being fined — or even going to jail. Yet despite shortages and community hardship, then and now, everyday life carried on. While Jeffrey Morris was born on November 4, an 85 year old widow, Marie Guilbert, died on the 6th. The cycle of life still rolls on today.
Meanwhile, one subscriber offered a billiard table for sale to help pass the long winter nights. The editor offered a column titled How to Enjoy Long Evenings. Reading, creating arts & crafts, or even doodling sounds just as good to folks quarantined today, as it did to folks back then in a time of war.
What I find really amazing is that the wartime newspaper so relevant today is the Guernsey Evening Press published on November 22, 1944. It was written in English, under Nazi supervision, on one of the German-occupied Channel Islands. I believe its readers would certainly know how to face the current hardships we are enduring, and then some.
Newspapers from the past offer a glimpse into everyday lives. For me, that is the lure of collecting old newspapers. They are our personal connection to the people who lived while history was unfolding. Many of their hopes and fears and challenges were the same then, as ours are today.
As additional “stories” are posted they will be available at: MY COLLECTING STORY. We did this many years ago as well – and their posts are also included.
March through the years via the lens of Rare & Early Newspapers…
March 6, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · 4 Comments
Walk with us back through time to see what noteworthy, historic and collectible events occurred during the month of February. In so doing, we hope you’ll agree: “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”
March Through Time
Announcing: Catalog #292 (for March, 2020) is now available…
March 2, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 292 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 292 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(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 1926… They said she would never make it…
February 24, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We recently came across an August 6th Leominster Daily Enterprise which had an article stating that a young woman was attempting to swim across The English Channel, and while acknowledging her spirit, made it clear she was soon to fail as many woman had done so prior to her effort. Of course this inspired us to check the issue for the following day to see whether this young girl, or her doubters would come up short. The headline tells it all. 
The February (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
February 17, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Each month the staff of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers sends out a newsletter to our members which includes special offers, discounts, alerts to new inventory, and information related to the rare newspaper collectible.
The February, 2020 newsletter:
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February through the years via the lens of Rare & Early Newspapers…
February 10, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Walk with us back through time to see what noteworthy, historic and collectible events occurred during the month of February. In so doing, we hope you’ll agree: “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.”
February Through Time
I’m New Here: Still Learning… Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper
February 7, 2020 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. Winston S. Churchill
This is an appropriate enough quote to summarize my perspective at the close of a year of many new lessons – and not all of them pleasant at the time of learning. It’s tough to be new, but it feels great to be not-new. Since I find myself in a “next stage” here at Rare Newspapers, as of this week I am transitioning the title(s) of my blog. Once a month I will continue to pass along something new I have learned, under the heading “Still Learning.” In the other three weeks I will focus on different aspects of this wonderful place.
My most recent orientation was a byproduct of searching the wide world of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. It seems these treasures, similar in size to Harper’s Weekly, are located in a completely different collection of Civil War Era papers. Although our titles are meticulously indexed and cataloged, the facilities could not possibly be rearranged with each new collection acquired. Consequently, the front warehouse has its own area of 1861-1865 issues, while the annex has a separate one. It’s so funny to still be discovering a nook packed full of Historical Relevance (in capital letters).
Within a publication from 1862, I located a four-panel, tipped-in centerfold. It’s a beautiful illustration that measures 20″ high by 32″ wide, folded inside the magazine, with no binding holes or glue lines within the image margins. The top half is titled “The Second Day of the Second Battle of Bunker Hill”, and depicts a lovely landscape in which lines of marching men wind along hilltops and alongside lanes of trees. Even the award winning photography of later wars doesn’t compete with the impact of this intricate rendering.
Note that this is not a double-page centerfold, as I originally described it to Guy, but a more extravagantly sized and highly desirable four-panel, tipped-in centerfold. I have recently been taught the difference.
Anyway, I have much more to learn, but in case you were wondering, I am ready for more Leslie’s requests — particularly Civil War issues.
Announcing: Catalog #291 (for February, 2020) is now available…
February 3, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
- Catalog 291 (in its entirety)
- Noteworthy Catalog 291 ($250+)
- Combined Catalogs (current, w/ remnants of previous)
Don’t forget about this month’s DISCOUNTED ISSUES.
(The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days, upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.)
I’m New Here: A Few Changes…
January 31, 2020 by Stephanie Williams · Leave a Comment
This week has gone by in a blur. The (exciting) new catalog ships out tomorrow, and all the attendant hoopla has filled our schedules. It’s always a juggling act to maintain regular work around special projects, because there is plenty of the latter to pack our days.
A seasoned collector was filling gaps prior to an approaching exhibit, and he called to have me check a New York Times obituary in 1898. 
We didn’t have the date it ran, and I exhausted all the other major papers. However, the deceased was an abolitionist who also contributed to the effort to gain the vote for women. As a last ditch effort I pulled a volume of the Woman’s Journal from Washington DC, and found a lengthy tribute to Robert Purvis. Mr. G was quite pleased, and I felt triumphant with my find, particularly as it led me to delve into my favorite category – publications in which women played an important role. Although much content pertains to suffrage, there seems to have been an effort to provide a platform for intelligent discussion that encompassed many other aspects of life in the 1800’s. These journals are a valuable resource for a look into the 19th Century, and I am always glad to fulfill an order with one of these gems.
As I begin this second year here at Rare & Early Newspapers, I am planning to dedicate my last post each month to a look at our titles, beginning with the Woman’s Journal. Hopefully, I can unearth enough nuggets that you will all start to consider that a collection cannot possibly be complete without containing at least an issue or two from the Woman’s Tribune, The Woman’s Journal, The North Shore Review, the Ladies Magazine or Womankind.
Thank you for the kind comments and encouragement in this first year. I beg your continued forbearance as I wade more deeply into the water.
Cheers!
The January (2020) Newsletter from Rare & Early Newspapers…
January 27, 2020 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Each month the staff of Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers sends out a newsletter to our members which includes special offers, discounts, alerts to new inventory, and information related to the rare newspaper collectible.
The October, 2019 newsletter:
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Welcome to the first member’s newsletter for 2020. Shown below are links to recently listed items (a great set – see below), newly discounted issues (50% off), the History’s Newsstand Blog, and our most recent catalog of original newspapers (Catalog 290). Please enjoy.
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