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This Month in History – September…
September 26, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
“History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” (Timothy Hughes, 1975). Exploring events which have occurred in September as they appeared in rare & early newspapers are no exception. To view a selection of over 1000 such reports within the context of additional news of the day, go to:
NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER
We missed it – Nellie Bly edition…
September 20, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
No matter how hard our staff at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers tries not to, inevitably we occasionally miss gems buried within the collectible newspapers we offer. Dozens of issues of the New York Tribune left our premises with undiscovered (unsigned) articles by Karl Marx. A real heartbreak was missing one of the first (1st?) published articles by a journalist with the initials S.C. Unfortunately, we were unable to get in touch with the recipient of the newspaper, but we sure hope they discovered this precious, early work from Mark Twain. Today we are aware that many of the issues of The Village Voice which pass through our hands have a good chance of containing an ad for one of the very first appearances of an iconic musician or band. As they say, “it is what it is”. What is it? One of special pleasures of the hobby: discovering unidentified treasures within the pages of old, rare, and historic newspapers.
We’ve mentioned this before, so why bring it up now? IT HAPPENED AGAIN!
Not too long ago a collector-friend mentioned they had an issue of The World (Pulitzer’s paper from New York) which contained a puzzle-game based on journalist Nellie Bly’s “Round the World” trip. The (New York) World followed her travels during her glorious excursion and printed the full-page puzzle soon after she returned home. The collector told us the date, and we immediately checked our database to see if we had a monthly volume of The World which spanned the date of the issue. We did. Next, we checked to see if our records revealed a previous sale for the issue? No! So, armed with great enthusiasm we headed off to the archives with anticipation. The volume was about 18 feet off the ground and buried under 5 other volumes (which is always a bit tricky when our feet are not firmly planted on the ground). Still within about 15 minutes from start to finish we were confronted by our worst-case scenario. The volume was present, but the issue was gone. It had very likely sold as a “birthday newspaper” (issues sold primarily to be used to give as gifts to recipients which highlight they day they were born). Bummer.
One may wonder how we could we have missed something so large… and so precious. Actually, it was as easy as 1, 2, 3 (or if you prefer, a, b, c):
- (a) We had no idea such an item existed, so we weren’t looking for it.
- (b) The sale probably took place prior to the ramp-up of the internet, so we didn’t have the capacity to make even a generalized search for content.
- (c) We would have been reluctant to page through the issue looking for special items since many newspapers from this era are rather brittle – and the puzzle-game was on an inside page.
Does this upset us? Not really. This aspect is one of the traits which make this collectible so rewarding.
Note: You can read more about Nellie Bly here and find a free downloadable high-resolution digital print of the puzzle here. 
Announcing: Catalog #346 for September, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
August 30, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
This Month in History – August…
August 5, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We often are asked how we find newspaper reports covering such a wide variety of topics. Part of the answer is simply longevity. We’ve been collecting and offering issues for a half-century, and time itself as helped us amass an extensive database of notable events. Customer requests, what we’ve learned in school, the news, historical books and movies, etc. have all contributed to the cause. However, our capacity for discovery exploded with the development of the internet. Thanks to an abundance of historical websites, we can now search by day, week, month, era, event, and more in our quest to “mine” our archives. One such resource (among many) is The History Place. Through this online database one can find events by the day, week, month, and year.
As each month approaches we often access this (or a similar) resource to search for new/fresh topics to explore. In our most recent effort, we search for historic events, discovers, accomplishments, etc. which occurred in the month of August. Our results were found here: The History Place – Month of August.
If you take a few moments to scan their index of August events, perhaps you’ll see an overlap between some of those shown and our currently listed newspapers dated in August through time (see below). If you decide to explore, we hope you enjoy.
NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN AUGUST
Announcing: Catalog #345 for August, 2024 – Rare & Early Newspapers…
August 2, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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[The links above will redirect to the latest catalog in approx. 30 days
upon which time it will update to the most recent catalog.]
The reason I collected it: The Spirit of ’76…
July 29, 2024 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
I have always been intrigued by newspapers with unusual, huge, patriotic, or simply beautiful mastheads. They always make for very displayable items.
This issue from New York, dated September 3, 1835, certainly fits the patriotic category and was added to the private collection for that reason. It features a heraldic eagle with a 7 1/2 inch wingspan, a scroll reading “The Spirit of ’76” in its beak, the US. flag in its talons, and a small portrait of George Washington.
A quite rare title as this is the only issue we have located in our approx. half-century of collecting. It appears to have lasted for just one year, this being the volume 1, number 113 issue. I only wish we had hundreds more!
Deciding which newspapers to offer – Bond Hall Explosion edition…
July 26, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
We are often asked how we decide which newspapers from our archives to collect and/or offer to other collectors. The answer is quite involved. Is it rare, and if so, is it desirable? Is it historic? A large portion of collectible issues relate to the plethora of events we all learned about in grade school. Does it tell of a sports or political milestone… a broken record… a tragedy… a discovery… an invention? Does it have content related to another collectible (ex., model train enthusiasts love to add newspapers featuring coverage of the development of the railroad). If the answer to any of these questions (and similar) is yes, chances are the newspaper will have value to a collector of historic newspapers. Requests from collectors are also a great way to discover new issues to offer, as are movie releases, current events which relate to the past, and new books (both non- and historical fiction).
One of my favorite “reasons” for exploring our archives in the hopes of finding something new to collect and/or to offer to others is the latter: historical fiction. I think part of the fun for me is discovering whether or not a particular event I read about is more “historical” or more “fiction”.
This trek was recently inspired when I became aware of author Michelle Collins Anderson’s new novel, “The Flower Sisters”.
A review by journalist James Gardener included in part: ““The Flower Sisters” is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of history, memory, and storytelling. Join Daisy Flowers on her quest for truth and justice”.
The outcome? The photo below from an issue of the Kansas City Journal for April 15, 1928 reveals what I surmised by a brief internet search. How horrible. Unfortunately, the cause still remains a mystery.
Note: What’s a Zizzer? A town can often be defined by a single sensational event – be it tragic (in this instance), historical (Williamsburg, VA), spectacular (Aspen, Colorado), etc. It is easy to forget that these locations have much more to explore than these single moments in time. While the Bond Dance Hall was truly horrific, there is no doubt those who have lived there over time see much more. Feel free to learn more about West Plains, Missouri at: West Plains. Perhaps “Zizzer” will become part of your vocabulary. Randon thought: I wonder if Dick Van Dyke ever had a local Zizzer?
The July (2024) Newsletter from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers…
July 19, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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The Founding Documents – the Bill of Rights edition…
July 12, 2024 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
I recently read about a “man on the street survey” where people were asked to choose one of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights from a list of 4 options. The options were: The right to vote, the right to healthcare, the right to a public education and the right to trial by a jury of your peers. Sadly, most of those interviewed did not pick the correct one. Even worse, most picked either the right to healthcare or the right to a public education. I quickly sent a group text to my adult children and asked them the same question and then awaited their responses with a bit of trepidation. Thankfully, my concern was unfounded.
One of the reasons we at RareNewspapers.com love what we do is that we feel as if we are helping to keep the heart of our country alive by protecting authentic papers containing real-time (contemporary) reports regarding our founding documents such as the Bill of Rights. The portion shown below was printed in THE PENNSYLVANIA PACKET & DAILY ADVERTISER, Philadelphia (PA), October 6, 1789. Newspapers like these need to be cherished and their message intentionally disseminated to all generations so future surveys are a bit more encouraging. Thanks in advance.
This Month in History – July…
July 8, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
July was a busy month from a (an) historic perspective. While it has always been a “time for war”, some of the most amazing discoveries, accomplishments, and human advancements have also made their way onto the historic July Calander. While the list is almost endless, three-handfuls include:
- A French soldier discovers the Rosetta Stone (July 19, 1799)
- First photographs were used in a newspaper (July 1, 1848)
- U.S. Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor (July 12, 1862)
- P.T. Barnum’s Museum burns down (July 13, 1865)
- Philadelphia Zoo opens, the first zoo in the U.S. (July 1, 1874)
- President Garfield is shot (July 2, 1881)
- Louis Pasteur successfully gives first anti-rabies vaccination to nine-year-old (July 6, 1885)
- The 16th Amendment, the power to tax income, is passed by Congress (July 12, 1909)
- Albert Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity (July 1, 1905)
- “Lady Astor’s Bill” passes lowering UK drinking age to 18 (July 13, 1923)
- The bikini is showcased for the first time (July 5, 1946)
- Walt Disney’s Disneyland opens in Anaheim, CA (July 17, 1955)
- The first moon walk takes place (July 20, 1969)
- Hank Aaron hits his 755th and last home run (July 20, 1976)
- First ‘Test Tube Baby’ is born (July 25, 1978)
For those who have interest in exploring the available newspapers at RareNewspapers.com which may contain reports on some of the above, along with a host of other newsworthy articles, a link to the chronological list is shown below. We hope you enjoy your trek.
NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN JULY