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Most Historic 19th Century post-Civil War Headline… revisited…
November 22, 2008 by Historys Newsstand · Leave a Comment
Although I think Tim’s choice was a good one (see his post), my choice for the most important event of the nineteenth century, post-Civil War is the invention of the first practical incandescent light bulb by Thomas Edison. His creation of this light bulb as well as his other inventions make him the most recognized inventor of the nineteenth century and perhaps of all time. In fact, reports about his most significant inventions were featured in several nineteenth century issues of Scientific American, more than any inventor of the era.
Newspapers, however, were slow but not reluctant to recognize Edison’s 
achievements. As a result, there is no single report that marked his most famous invention. The reports were usually topical ones written by staff writers who visited Menlo Park, witnessed demonstrations of his inventions, or interviewed Mr. Edison. Images and a description were featured in the Scientific American issue dated March 22, 1879. Nevertheless, the impact of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb and his other inventions are immeasurable and far-reaching. They continue to play a role in our daily lives and make the world a better place for all mankind.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Note: Images with a supporting article were featured in the March 22, 1879 issue of Scientific American.
Most historic Civil War event…
November 18, 2008 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Continuing with our discussion on the “most historic” reports to be found in newspapers, we have been
discussing the events of American history by era, the last being the post-Civil War 19th century. This post will discuss the Civil War era of 1861 – 1865.
Of the many events of the 19th century which changed the course of American history few would argue that the Civil War was the most significant. But what single event during the Civil War would rank as the most significant? If you could only have one newspaper from the Civil War in your collection, what one event would you most desire?
There are a number of events to consider:
1) The election of Abraham Lincoln. Although it happened in late 1860 and not technically from the war, this event would would set the tone of American politics which would lead to the war. What would have happened had he not been elected?
2) The beginning of the Civil War in April, 1861, for obvious reasons.
3) The Emancipation Proclamation of September, 1862, providing freedom to all slaves in all states, although more in theory than practicality.
4) The battle of Gettysburg, as the turning point of the Civil War.
5) The assassination of Lincoln: how would the country been different had he not been assassinated and served out his 2nd four year term?
Perhaps other events should be considered as the most historically significant. What are your thoughts?
My vote would be for the battle of Gettysburg. If it was a given that a war was inevitable to settle the political, cultural & economic divide between the North & South, it’s arguable that the war’s end was decided at Gettysburg. The tide had turned in favor of the North and at that point it was just a matter of when it would end and not who would win.
What’s your thought?
Rick Brown & HistoryBuff.com – Featured Website!
November 17, 2008 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
Rick’s entry into the hobby took a path similar to Timothy Hughes’. He started collecting historical newspapers in 1965 when he purchased a Philadelphia Inquirer for the capture and death of John Wilkes
Booth. As he held his new purchase in his hands, he was suddenly struck by what many since him have come to realize: “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported”. He describes this first encounter with historic newspapers himself…
“Reading the emotion-filled accounts from actual witnesses suddenly opened a new door for me. Before, my viewpoint of history was that it was just a series of dates, names and events. Reading the actual eyewitness accounts made the names and events come to life. Imagine, being able to hold something in your hands that was “alive” when the event happened — 100, 200 or even 300 years old. For the next four years I literally purchased every old newspaper I could find. By 1969 I realized that I was running out of storage room…”
By 1969 he became a mail order dealer in historic newspapers. In 1984 he started a publication for newspaper collectors, “Collectible Newspapers”, which featured journalism history articles.
Tim fondly remembers the publication and the extraordinary efforts of Rick to bring together newspaper collectors from all corners of the country–and across the globe as well.
“Rick was a true hobbyist. He expended much effort and money to provide a channel to bring together all collectors under a common banner–the Newspaper Collector Society of America (NCSA). Never was he motivated to profit by the hobby. In more ways then he might admit, Rick did much to help the fledgling hobby grow. Rick’s a terrific guy and remains an extremely valuable resource for the hobby” says Tim.
In 1995 he discovered the internet, and by October 1995, Rick had a small website utilizing articles he had first printed in “Collectible Newspapers.” By January 1997, the site was getting 25,000 hits per month, and he could no longer justify the publishing costs for 25,000 people, so he ceased publishing the print version with the April 1997 issue.
Now, thirteen years later, HistoryBuff.com is reaching nearly 90,000 unique viewers AND 500,000+ PAGE VIEWS monthly. In October 2003, HistoryBuff.com was granted nonprofit status at both the federal and state level. While donations help keep HistoryBuff.com online, Rick fills in with money of his own. As with most nonprofits, financing is always a chore and there is seldom enough to keep it going. He has never taken pay for his work; truly a labor of love.
The HistoryBuff.com website provides a wealth of historical information beneficial to both novice and well-seasoned historians. It describes itself as:
“…a nonprofit organization devoted to providing FREE primary source material for students, teachers, and historybuffs. This site focuses primarily on HOW news of major, and not so major, events in American history were reported in newspapers of the time. In addition, there is information about the technology used to produce newspapers over the past 400 years.”
A sampling of resources provided at HistoryBuff.com includes:
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- Reference Library (articles from Collectible Newspapers)
- Historic Panoramas (30 and counting)
- Newspaper Collecting
- Online Newspaper Archive
- Newsletter Archives
The most recent addition to the website is panoramas of historic sites in America. Upon entering, you will be treated to a guided tour of more than a dozen well-known historic sites.
Whether your primary interest is history or the collection of “History in Your Hands” via newspapers, the resources available through these links will prove to be invaluable. As a former educator, I particularly appreciate the access to Rick’s Interactive Quizzes. Subscriptions to the monthly EMAILED newsletter are available at no cost.
If you have yet to browse through the pages at HistoryBuff.com, a treat awaits. Warning: Before visiting, make certain you’ve cleared your schedule for a few hours. Walking through history is a trek worth savoring. Thanks Rick!
Feel free to comment on your visit (or more likely… visits) to HistoryBuff.com.
Historic newspapers: the “crossover” collectible…
November 13, 2008 by TimHughes · 4 Comments
Stepping beyond the hobbyists who collect newspapers specifically, one collector which has become a mainstay of our business has been the person looking for a newspaper report relating to their own hobby. For example, antique car collectors have purchased Detroit newspapers featuring advertisements when a specific model they own was first introduced. Imagine owning a 1964 mustang and the thrill in finding a Detroit newspaper with an ad announcing the car–what a perfect companion piece for a car buff!
Coin collectors have often come to us with specific dates of when new coin designs were created, and it was not uncommon for detailed reports to be found in period newspapers. Whether it was the introduction of the Morgan silver dollar, the Barber nickel, dime, quarter or half dollar–or any of the 100’s of designs produced by the United States mint since 1792–collectors of those coins have cherished newspaper accounts of those new designs as a way of enriching their collection and enhancing the appeal of significant coins they cherish as collectors.
One example which comes to mind is the copper-nickel flying eagle penny introduced in 1857 (a small number of “pattern” coins exist from 1856), which was a dramatic departure from the much larger, all copper “large cents” of the previous decades. Its introduction was announced in the February 7, 1857 issue of Harper’s Weekly, actually a few weeks before the formal Act of February 21, 1857 which authorized the coin’s creation. The report even includes images of both the obverse & reverse of the coin.
The report is very intriguing. Included is: “…Provided the act of Congress, which establishes the new cent, becomes a law, which it has not as yet, we think the public will be a gainer by the new coin. Its smaller size makes it much more convenient for handling…” and “…We will lose an American proverb, now widely circulated, by the issue of the new coin. ‘He’s not worth a red cent’ will be of such general application that it will not have any specific meaning & will be of course dropped, for the new cent is not red, being of a gray, silvery aspect.” with more.
The field is wide open for “crossover” collectibles. Virtually any collectible produced in the last 300 years may well have a newspaper account of its creation or development. The thrill of the search is in finding it!
Are you aware of newspaper reports which relate to other collectibles you have? Feel free to share.
Contrasting pairs of historic newspapers: another way to collect…
November 11, 2008 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
The recent election, reflecting the great strides made socially & politically by the African-American community, brought to mind another opportunity in newspaper collecting not thought of by most. In preparing issues for a future Supplement the “Detroit Free Press” of June 12, 1963 struck me as a interesting
contrast to the election of just a few days prior. The headline proclaimed: “NEGROES ENROLL AT ‘BAMA”, noting the struggles African-Americans had just to enroll in universities across the country during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Zoom forward just 45 years and the headline of the “USA Today” read “America Makes History – OBAMA WINS” noting America’s first African-American president. (We have this pair listed on eBay. Click here to view.) I don’t believe it’s a stretch to say that in 1963 the thought of an African-American president in any person’s lifetime was considered a serious possibility, yet it happened, and indeed America did make history.
Carrying forward with this “contrasting pairs” idea, a fascinating collection of newspapers could be built around this theme. How about a December, 1903 issue report on the Wright brothers’ first flight alongside 
an issue of July 21, 1969 announcing man landing on the moon? How about an 1844 newspaper on the first successful telegraph transmission alongside an issue announcing the launching of the Telstar satellite, noting the achievements in distance communication? How about a 1920 newspaper reporting the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment giving women the right to vote, along side an issue just 64 years later reporting Geraldine Ferraro as the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party? Consider the contrast in perspectives of having both a Yankee and Confederate newspaper for the same Civil War date. The advantage that newspapers offer to this interesting theme is they offer physical evidence of achievements & accomplishments…one can display such headline issues side by side.
What other “contrasting pairs” do you believe would be intriguing additions to an historical newspaper collection, and why?
Obama election victory : a follow-up…
November 10, 2008 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
I commented previously on the most desirable issue or issues to have on the November presidential election. My thought being a newspaper from the victor’s hometown and/or a newspaper from Washington,
D.C. being among the best. Plus, how desirable are presidential election newspapers in the scope of the historical newspaper hobby?
To most collectors, election reports are desired. But this election was different. More than just another presidential election, history was made. The first African-American will be heading to the White House in January and it’s interesting to speculate on how this makes a 2008 election newspaper more desirable than any previous election report.
It has been interesting following the eBay sales over the past six days. Not surprisingly thousands of newspapers have been listed and many have been sold, including at least one lot of over 600 issues of the Chicago Tribune (sold for $1799). The highest sold prices I’ve noticed have been the New York Times, and being one of the 
more famous & prestigious newspapers in the world I’m not surprised it would command some attention among bidders. I saw bona fide sale prices for individual issues of $400, $300, $265, $255 and another dozen sales above the $100 mark. Curiously, the highest Chicago newspaper sale price I noted (Tribune) was for $115. Most of these prices were achieved the day after the election as savvy sellers took advantage of the expected post-election euphoria to achieve what seem to have been the highest prices of the week.
Although I have no statistics upon which to base this thought, I don’t believe past election newspaper sales resulting in so many $100+ final sales. I suspect the added historical appeal this election provided had much to do with both the demand and the prices achieved. We are selling election issues from 2004 for $28 (interesting pair from Florida: see listing) and $50 for the Washington Post.
But how will prices be affected going forward? As is the case with all collectibles, buyer demand will set the
mark. The degree to which collectors recognize or appreciate this election as being different from most, and the shear quantity of issues hoarded last week–and which come on to the market over the next ten years–will determine whether prices will languish in the $10 to $25 range or whether $75 might be a typical sale price. Time will tell.
What’s your thought?
The vast majority of Chicago issues and the New York Times sold the past 4 or 5 days seem to be in the $10 to $25 per issue range although there are exceptions at both ends of this range. Looking forward ten years… will they be considered bargain purchases? Again, time will tell. It’s part of the fun of collecting!
All this being said, please note: When the potential investment value of a newspaper becomes the primary motivation for purchasing historic newspapers rather than the intangible value of holding history in your hands, the joy of the hobby may well be sacrificed. Keeping true to the hobby, we urge “collecting” and not “investing”.
Obama Wins… What newspapers provide…
November 5, 2008 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Regardless of your view on the recent U.S. election, one thing is for certain: Barack Obama’s victory was a very significant and historic event! If you collect historic newspapers you’ve been able to follow the
progression of African Americans – from slavery, through the early rumblings of the abolitionist/anti-slavery movement, into the struggle for emancipation (both officially and pragmatically), to achieve the right to vote, followed by the struggle of the civil rights movement, and finally, to the top and most honored position of all – The President of the United States. It has been a long and hard-fought struggle, but thanks to all that has made our country great, it was a struggle with hope. The realization of this hope has set the stage for a new era in this great experiment in self-government. The melting pot is working, evolving the United States into a country where there are no African-American, Latino-American, Anglo-American, Mexican-American, etc. citizenry, but rather, one united citizenry poised to return to the great American Dream founded on the principles wisely set forth by our forefathers and supported by the many men and women who have given their lives in the cause of this great hope… And it has been and will continue to be chronicled passionately in rare and historic newspapers.
Note: To all those who have African American and/or slavery/anti-slavery newspaper collections: Don’t forget to obtain a USA Today, Washington Post, or similar newspaper containing the election results. Although it may not have siginificant financial value at the moment, my guess is there are many who have gone before us whom would declare it “PRICELESS”. 🙂
Thoughts on the most historic 19th century report…
October 21, 2008 by TimHughes · 7 Comments
A few weeks ago we had some interesting comments on what collectors thought was the most historic 20th century newspaper report. Let’s try the same with the 19th century. But given the tremendous diversity of events from 1801 thru 1900 I’m going to break the century into three parts: pre-Civil War; the Civil War; and post-Civil War. Let’s work our way backwards and discuss the post-Civil War era first.
There are many ways to approach “most historic”. My approach will be the most life-altering event with emphasis on “event”. One could argue that the second Industrial Revolution dramatically changed the world but it cannot be pinned down to a single date or event.
Several items come to mind: the first successful Atlantic cable in 1866 was a major step in causing the world to be much smaller–a trend which continues to this day; the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the United States was a major step in the westward expansion & settlement of the United States which changed the country in many ways; and then there is the Battle of Wounded Knee which was the last battle in the American Indian Wars and the official end of the Old West. Not to be omitted would be the invention of the automobile by gentlemen in Germany in 1889.
I’m going to go with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. In thinking of the multitude of events which played off this event and how it changed the fabric of America (pardon the ethnocentrism) I’ll vote for it as the most historic event of the 19th century post-Civil War era.
What are your thoughts?
Contest – Share your best “golden nugget discovery” story with the world!
October 16, 2008 by GuyHeilenman · 33 Comments
What do gold prospectors, pirates, treasure hunters, archeologists, and rare newspaper collectors have in common? They all share the thrill of the hunt and the reward of discovery.
When it comes to rare newspapers, finding the unexpected, in contrast to other collectibles, is often a good thing… and at times can even be quite valuable. Since the inception of the History’s Newsstand Blog, a number of posts have focused on this intrinsic pleasure of the hobby, and several readers have responded with “discoveries” of their own. In an effort to communicate this joy to the world, we would like to invite our readers to share their stories – for fun and for potential reward!
From now until Sunday, October 31st, you will have the opportunity to share your story (or stories) of a time when you purchased a newspaper (for one reason or another) only to discover upon reading the issue that it 
also contained key, historic, or highly interesting content that you did not know was present when you initially obtained the issue. The staff at Rare Newspapers will select a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place story by Friday, 11/7 (perhaps sooner), and announce the winners via the blog and through a personal e-mail contact. The winners will have their stories recognized on the blog, will receive Rare Newspapers gift certificates worth $100 (1st place), $50 (2nd place), and $25 (3rd place), and will have the satisfaction of knowing they contributed to the enhancement of the rare newspapers collectible community. If you have more than one story to share, enter them as separate comments to this post. Please include the title and date of the issue along with your story of discovery.
Don’t delay. Share your story with the world!
Finding those unexpected historical nuggets.
October 13, 2008 by TimHughes · 5 Comments
Few thrills are greater in the rare newspaper collecting hobby than finding the unexpected historic gem. Those moments of serendipity are the treasures we all hope for at some point in our quest for new additions to our collection.
I have come across many in my years of collecting with two among the more interesting.
Long before the days of the internet I subscribed to the catalogs of the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house in New York City as they occasionally ran Americana sales which included newspapers. One sale offered an 
issue of the SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE from August of 1776. Trying to assemble one newspaper of all thirteen colonies from the Revolutionary War, this would be a new addition to that set. The lengthy catalog description noted some war skirmishes but nothing significant. But that was not a concern to me as I was only seeking a title from that colony from during the war, and the date of 1776 made it that much better. I placed my bid and was excited to learn I won the issue.
Several weeks later the issue arrived. In preparing it for my collection I casually looked over the content, and you can imagine my shock upon finding on page 2 a complete printing of the Declaration of Independence! I couldn’t imagine the incompetence of the cataloger–employed by Sotheby’s no less–who missed this report.
Not many years ago we purchased the newspaper holding of a public library in Massachusetts which includes a lengthy run of a Springfield newspaper, in fact two truckloads of volumes ranging from the mid-1800’s thru the latter part of the 20th century. Knowing the wealth of historical material which could be culled from this collection we put our attention to those events for several months upon its return to our
office & warehouse in Williamsport. Some time later we realized that the sport of basketball was founded in Springfield. Could we be so fortunate to to find a report off the very first game every played? Did the local newspaper even report what is now an extremely significant event in the history of basketball?
Indeed they did. The Springfield Republican, March 12, 1892 issue reported somewhat inconspicuously on page 6 an event headed “Basket Football Game” played the day before (which we now recognize as the first public basketball game), with mention of James Naismith who is recognized as the founder of the sport. It was a thrill to find the report which languished for over 100 years, unbeknown to anyone, in the back shelves of a library. Curiously the curator of the Basketball Hall of Fame didn’t appreciate its significance, however the Smithsonian Institution did as it now is part of their collection.
What historical gems have you discovered serendipitously in issues purchased for another reason, or as part of a collection where nothing special was expected? Feel free to share your stories with other collectors!