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Removing those annoying address labels…
November 11, 2010 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
Fellow collector Morris Brill raises a question which others may have pondered as well: “Is there a safe way of removing the label without harming or staining the newspaper?”
Address labels come in various sizes. The earliest ones are generally from the post-Civil War years and those labels tend to be relatively narrow strips with just the subscriber’s name or an institution’s name. A city might be included as well. Those of the 20th century tend to be one-half to three-quarters of an inch tall and contain the full address of the subscriber.
If discretely placed above the masthead & not touching any text they can be quite harmless and add a certain “charm” and authenticity to the newspaper, but those which cover portions of the masthead or headline are annoying. And they can be removed.
In every case I’ve encountered the glue is water soluble, and once softened the label can be peeled off with little trouble. Since the label is almost always of thicker paper stock than the newspaper, the quickest way to soften the glue is to moisten the reverse side, meaning the actual newspaper from page two. Once the outline of the label is felt (or hold up to the light & note the outline), I use a cotton swab and warm water (distilled would be best) to dampen the back side of the label. Patience and experimentation are important, as often two or three applications of water and up to ten minutes of waiting are required for the glue to soften such that the label can be removed by using an exacto-knife to peel it up from a corner.
Once removed and the dampness dries there may or may not be a minor water stain which remains, but I always find this much less offensive than the label covering part of the headline. It is my opinion that the value of the newspaper is enhanced by having the label removed despite a minor stain.
If you have had success with other methods of removing address labels, feel free to share.
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.
The Traveler… election time… one horse tail…
November 4, 2010 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Our elections have been over for a couple of days, however I found that not the case 100 years ago. In the November 4, 1910 issue of “The Call” from San Francisco, the governor race was heated with the report of a rally of 7,000 people. “Johnson Hurls Lie Direct in Teeth of Detractors and Lays Bare True Meaning of Battle” is one of the sub-headlines. It seems that politics has not changed…
But the deceit and lies does not stop in the political arena. A man traded a mule under the guise of a “shaved tail” horse. Afterward he began to laugh about it, to the point he could not stop laughing. This continued for hours to which a physician was called in. Finally after 12 hours of laughing, they resorted to electric shock therapy which did stop the laughter. This may truly be a case of who really got the last laugh in this deal!! ~The Traveler
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
The Traveler… coffins… do they really have an expiration?
October 21, 2010 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Take me out to the ballgame… It’s the reporting for Game Three of the World Series between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs in the October 21, 1910 issue of The Allentown Morning Call in which it is reported, “The Combat to-day was a slaughter with the final score Philadelphia 12 – Cubs 5″. Just a Wikipedia tidbit of information — in 
Game 2, all nine Philadelphia players in the line-up got a hit, the first time in World Series history.
The reporting of Dr. Crippen’s murder trial is also on the front page as well. This was the first murderer caught via wireless communications.
An unrelated article caught my eye as I was quickly scanning through inside pages… “Three Years For Coffin”. It ends up being about a man with the last name of Coffin who was being sent to Leavenworth on counterfeiting charges. At a quick glance, it makes one wonder if there were was an expiration date on “coffins”. I thought they were to last an eternity. 🙂
~The Traveler
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
Contest/drawing… humorous nuggets…
October 14, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
Over the years, while searching for key content within our newspaper archives, we inevitably have found articles, images, headlines, anecdotes, etc. which are quite humorous. Many such snippets have appeared on the History’s Newsstand blog and may be viewed at: https://blog.rarenewspapers.com/?tag=humor
What about you? Have you found a little comic relief within your personal collection? If so, we would love for you to share your most humorous discovery (or discoveries) with the Rare Newspapers collecting community – and receive a reward for doing so. There are several ways to participate:
1) post the text of your newspaper anecdote, article, headline, etc. directly on the blog as a comment to this post.
2) post a scan/photo of your newspaper anecdote, article, headline, image, etc. directly on the blog as a comment to this post.
3) send the text or photo of your entry to guy@rarenewspapers.com, and we will post it for you.
You may submit as many entries as you wish, through Thursday, October 31st. Everyone who makes a submission will receive a coupon for 10% off a future website order at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers. However, we will also have a random drawing for three winners whom will also receive $50 gift certificates for use at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers. Why draw at random as opposed to selecting the most humorous? What one may find to be funny, another may not.
Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1999…
October 11, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
A week ago we looked at authentic newspaper prices from 2006. Today will go a little farther back in time… to 1999. To see a larger image of the catalog’s page, go to: Catalog 120