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“Just a Moment Before”… The Wild West is Romanticized…
September 2, 2024 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
Our lives are filled with “Just a Moment Before” instances – the brief seconds, minutes, or day right before we hear either good or bad news which changes our lives forever. From dramatic events to small, nuanced changes, our life’s path is littered with turning points. On July 26, 1881, a newspaper editor set about his daily work of printing the day’s news in THE TOMBSTONE EPITAPH, without any inkling of what he would be printing exactly 3 months later.
“Few could argue for a more recognizable title from the Old West, nor could any town be more linked to the romance of the West than this one. Tombstone is steeped in Western lore, and the several movies done concerning the gunfight at the O.K. Corral have kept this town in popular culture.” ~ Tim Hughes
But on this July day, the editor only gave brief mention to the Earp brothers, with a page 3 legal notice for a mining claim beginning: “United States Land Office…Notice is hereby given that Robert J. Winders for himself and his co-claimants, Virgil W. Earp, Wyatt [misspelled at Eyatt] S. Earp, and James C. Earp, whose post office address is Tombstone, Cochise county…”
Little did he know that just 3 short months later he would be printing a defining moment in the epic drama of the United States’ Wild West era.
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.]
Leading up to the Political Season… Late 1800’s Edition…
August 26, 2024 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
Here it comes – at about this same time on a 4-year rotating basis… the autumn media ramp-up to our presidential election. Although it can seem a bit overwhelming at times – like a tsunami of ads and interviews, I thought it might be fun to look to the past at a more humorous version of political culture and embrace the comedy and satire that accompanied the mid-to-late 1800’s press. So, feel free to join me as I peruse Puck and Judge Magazines – not to mention the endless stream of Harper’s Weekly Nast Cartoons. We could all use a chuckle right about now.
The reason I collected it: Ai Anglo Sacsun…
August 19, 2024 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Sometimes stepping outside the normal categories of historic, rare, or early when it comes to collecting newspapers can turn up some intriguing items. The odd, strange, unusual, and outright bizarre can be attractive additions as well.
The Ai Anglo Sacsun fits that bill.
This newspaper attempted to exploit a movement to spell words phonetically, just as they sounded. So their motto in the dateline is: “Devoted Tu Ai Difyushun ov Nolej and Nuz, Tru Ai Medium of Fonotipi, or the Tru System ov Spelin Wurdz As Iz, Just Az ae are Pronnst.” (difficult to translate as they use some characters not in the traditional alphabet. Their alphabet is found on page 3).
The entire issue has various articles spelled phonetically, making it difficult to read. Otherwise the layout is much like other newspapers of the era, with a very decorative masthead.
Obviously a movement that never caught on. Yet it produced a fascinating newspaper worthy of collecting.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words… The Beginning of a Series…
August 12, 2024 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
On March 22, 2021, I created a post titled, “A Picture paints a Thousand Words”. Using that post as a jumping off point, today begins a series of the same name. Of course, by calling this a “series”, the pressure is on to (somewhat) regularly find front pages worthy of this age-old adage. However, here I go…
There are issues we come across in the Rare Newspapers Archives in which the image on the front page stops us dead in our tracks. The event may be new to us or a historical event of which we’re familiar. However, regardless of the category the images fall into, their impact gives us cause us to stop and contemplate what is before us. Sometimes the pause brings a smile… sometimes it brings a chill. Either way, these newspapers (often front pages) were able to capture the entirety of the impact the journalist and publishers hoped for with just an illustration or photo.
My 1st choice to kick off this series is a bit of an obvious one. As a hint, this event brought forth the dramatic statement of, “Oh, the humanity!” and was captured in THE EVENING BULLETIN, May 7, 1937.
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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