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The put it in print… America will become the greatest nation ever!
June 15, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
One of the joys of reading old newspapers is the opportunity to discover what were, in fact, very prophetic statements made long before anyone could have known they would become true. As they say, hindsight does provide 20-20 vision.
One of the best is found in “The London Chronicle” issue of Nov. 2, 1765. Some 150 years before the per-eminence of America as a world power both military and economically, a writer begins an article: “Little doubt can be entertained that America will in time become the greatest and most prosperous empire that perhaps the world has ever seen…”.
How true that statement would become, but to predict that future nearly a dozen years before America would even declare independence from the mother country was truly a stretch. It’s a neat find in an otherwise inconspicuous newspaper.
They put it in print… the best UFO alien abduction newspaper ever?
June 8, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
UFO stories, with supposed “photos” have become rather commonplace in tabloids over the last 50 years, but few are accounts of alien abductions, and even fewer are accounts of abductions with eye-witness corroboration.
The small town of Show Low, Arizona, has a weekly newspaper and its issue of Nov. 14, 1975 has a terrific account (see image below) of perhaps the most famous alien abduction case in American history. It appears dramatically in this newspaper because it is essentially the “hometown” paper for the event: it published 38 miles from the abduction site (very rural Arizona) and less than 20 miles from the home of Travis Walton, the man abducted for 5 days before being returned to earth.
See the link to the issue of the “White Mountain Independent” for further details including multiple images showing snippets of much of the coverage. For any UFO enthusiastic this could well be the very best UFO newspaper report to be had. Is it even better than a Roswell newspaper from 1948?
Note: While the link above states the issue is no longer available, it is currently listed on eBay at: Thomas Walton Abducted By Aliens?
They put it in print… Fall of the Leaning Tower of Pisa…
June 1, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The headline reads: “Fall of the Leaning Tower of Pisa”. Obviously it piqued my interest. I just had to read the report.
The letter was written by an eye-witness who was: “…an intelligent friend…now traveling…”. This report notes in part: “The building to which the extracts refer was called the Campanile…a gothic edifice at Pisa & was known to most Europeans as the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa.’ It was finished in 1174…I was fortunate enough to be in Pisa during the earthquake…As I was an eye-witness, I hasten to communicate the description…about 7 o’clock in the morning…was suddenly awakened by shouts…The Campanile, or Leaning Tower…has now become, I may say, almost a total ruin, having fallen to the southward…The centre is a completely mutilated ruin…The marble pillars…were very much shattered…” and even more.
This was obviously a hoax, but it is interesting the extend of detail the writer shares in an attempt to make his report believable.
The writer concludes by noting: “…can hardly tell you how proud I feel at being the first to bring the news to Paris…and though my account has not been so descriptive as I could wish, you will at least have in your power to contradict any misstatement made…There were no lives lost…Reports were current in Leghorn that the Duomo or Cathedral had suffered, but this is wholly incorrect.”
See the hyperlink for the full report, found in “The Daily Union” newspaper, Washington, of Aug. 14, 1847.
They put it in print… Cheating in baseball predates the “Black Sox” scandal of 1919…
May 29, 2015 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Cheating in baseball may be as old as the the sport itself, but it was most notably brought to national attention with the infamous “Black Sox” scandal of 1919, when several players of the Chicago White Sox were 
accused of throwing the World Series that year for financial gain.
As newspaper report from shortly after the end of the Civil War gives evidence that it happened much earlier as well. The “New York Times” issue of Sept. 29, 1865 reports on a game between the Mutuals and Eckford teams, ultimately won by the latter with a score of 23-11. Excellence in play was reported with: “…Some of the fly tips taken by Mills surpassed, anything we ever saw in that line of business, while their pitching came nearer to the Creighton mark in accuracy of delivery than any we have seen since his death…”. But records show that several Mutual players were later charged for accepting money to deliberately toss this game (see this hyperlink for the details). Ironically the summary mentions the poor play of the Mutuals marked by “…over-pitched balls, wild throws, passed balls, and failures to stop them…”. Interesting evidence that all was “not well” with the game.
Although the 1919 World Series remains prominent in sports history, this obscure game from 54 years earlier gives evidence to a a rather lengthy history of cheating in baseball.
Golden Nuggets… yet another “find”…
May 25, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
At Rare & Early Newspapers we always enjoy hearing about the various “finds” that permeate the collectible. While most significant content is know before one purchases an issue to add to their collection, due to the nature of the hobby, golden nuggets cannot help but be buried, yet 
undiscovered, deep within the pages of a newspaper. In some instances, the discoveries are quite significant – that is, significant to all having a general knowledge of history. In other cases, the find might be a little more subtle – yet still worthy of bringing to light.
The following account was sent to us a few weeks back. Feel free to send along your own stories as well (send to guy@rarenewspapers.com).
You mentioned you like to hear about “finds”, in a group of 100 cheap
newspapers I bought from you folks probably many years ago I found a find. I have started to place my collection into all the same mylar holders and cataloging it into my computer one by one. [It was during this time] I came across a New York Tribune from August 12th, 1865 that was included in one of those $199 for 100 newspaper lots I purchased from you. The front page has a couple of interesting articles like the “Annexation” of Canada, which led up to their confederation in 1867. The most interesting was the hours old accounts of the Steamship Pewabic which collided with the Steamship Meteor on Lake Huron. As I recall I think it was either a National Geographic or Discovery channel show. When they discovered the ship that sank in 1865 it was perfectly preserved even the woodwork with the cold non salt waters of the Great Lakes.
It would have been better in a Detroit paper, but for $2, I certainly will not complain. I have probably purchased over a thousand newspapers and it took me this long to discover a neat find – maybe not great, but I am pleased. I probably purchased this lot in the mid to late 1990’s. Looking at your website, especially the warehouse photos, there is just too much material to read everything even with a good size staff.
Thanks T.C. for sharing your story with the Rare & Early Newspapers’ Family.
They put it in print… Interesting Kennedy obituary…
May 21, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
One of the more desired of the newspapers reporting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has always been the “Dallas Morning News“, published in the city where he was killed. 
Unbeknownst to most–including us for many years–is the curious obituary found on page 6 of the last section. Inconspicuously listed among the 33 entries in the “Deaths & Funerals” section is the one shown in the photo. It is a paid obituary notice inserted by a private funeral home announcing the death of an American president. The O’Neal Funeral Home handled President Kennedy’s remains in Dallas and furnished the casket in which he was sent to Washington. Although certainly not a local funeral, I suspect the funeral home sought the opportunity to gain some stature & credibility by letting all know they handled the remains of a President of the United States.
Has anyone else discovered this obituary notice?
And of note as well, relating to the Kennedy assassination, is the death notice of “J.D. Tibbit”, the police officer killed by Oswald shortly after the Kennedy assassination. In fact it was for Tibbit’s death that Oswald was initially arrested, the connection to Kennedy’s assassination discovered afterwards.
The Traveler… Jack Johnson bombs…
May 18, 2015 by The Traveler · 2 Comments
Today I traveled to Fairmont, West Virginia, by the way of The Fairmont Times dated May 19, 1915, where I found a small article about Jack Johnson being in Paris. When asked if he was going to war, he replied “Man, for me war is over. I am at peace for the first time in several years… Anyway your name goes down in war history, for big German shells are called Jack Johnsons… wasn’t I in history before the war?”
~The Traveler
Ford’s Theater… then and now…
April 24, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
150 years ago, much of the nation was still reeling from the death of Abraham Lincoln. A mere 10 days previous time stood still and tears flowed freely at the news that the President had been killed. Did many travel to Washington, D.C. to mourn his passing? Did some visit the very site of his tragic and untimely demise to place a candle… flowers… mourn? The Philadelphia Enquirer, April 17, 1865, not on only printed a sketch of the captured John Wilkes Booth, but they also included a front-page schematic (right) of the back-alley escape route where a horse was waiting for the infamous villain and his accomplice. While the region has gone through several transformations over the course of the last 150 years, this same alley exists today. The current-day photo shown below was sent to us be a collector friend who also included the following note:
I have attached a picture of the rear of Ford’s Theater as it looks today (showing the original windows/doorways that have been bricked-up)…and I want to point out that the alleyway shown on that April 17th issue is incredibly, to this day, the only exit on the entire block and proportioned to what it was in that newspaper.
If you’ve never visited Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., it is certainly worth the trip.
Note: During my days as a Middle School Teacher, can anyone guess the most common question students asked upon visiting this spot during a school trip?
The things we take for granted… Let there be light…
March 30, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Ludicrous advertising in the late 1800’s…
March 20, 2015 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Hofstra University maintains a Facebook page where staff from their special collections department can post interesting finds. We recently discovered the following which illustrates one of the collecting strands of the hobby: sensational (or absurd) advertising: