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What meaningful gift do you give to a 90-year-old?
May 31, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
One of the greatest challenges when it comes to gift-giving is what to purchase for someone in their 50’s-90’s+ that is both unique and meaningful. While we at Rare Newspapers specialize in offering historic newspapers from the 1600’s, 1700’s, and 1800’s, we also offer Birthday Newspapers – issues from 
the day someone was born. A recent note from a purchaser of such a gift warmed our hearts. Thanks to R.M. for allowing us to share his response:
Original newspapers for the “Day You Were Born” do make wonderful gifts.
The War of 1812… through contemporary newspapers and more…
May 13, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Rare & original newspapers have always been an excellent resource for capturing the context, contemporary response, and details of historic events. This truth was brought home recently via Todd Andrlik’s, “Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News“. Moving slightly into the future, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired) George W. Emery does the same in his work, “In Their Own Words – The Navy Fights The War Of 1812“. Yet again we are reminded that “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” Additional details worth exploring may be found at:
In Their Own Words: A New Look at the Naval War of 1812
Thanks for this latest contribution which brings the past into the present through the eyes of those who experienced the War of 1812 first-hand.
Always the pessimist…
April 12, 2013 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Allegany County Reporter” issue, dated July 28, 1887, with a lengthy article on the “Exhaustion of Petroleum” could have been written 5 years ago or 30 years ago, but in fact it was from 1887. Great evidence that pessimism was alive and well over a century ago. Enjoy the entire text of the article (shown below):
Black History Month… looking back…
February 22, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Slavery. The word itself stirs intense emotions for nearly all who hear it… even for those who have not been directly confronted with the institution. For some it brings feelings of guilt… “How could my forefathers have engaged in such activity?” For others it brings feelings of oppression… anger… and more. While many people groups have been subjected to this burdensome yoke of man through time, for Americans, none is quite as impacting as the enslavement of African Americans. In honor of Black History Month, Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers has created a Pinterest Board which takes a look back at a time in U.S. history when slavery was alive and (not so) well:
Pinterest… Slave Ads & Related Woodcuts Prints
Additionally, we’ve arranged our available authentic newspapers related to Black Americana in chronological order (recent first) to provide a snapshot into the past for those interest in reviewing how slavery in general, and Black History more specifically, has been depicted in newspapers over the past few centuries. They may be viewed at:
African-American / Black Americana / Slavery…
Additional kudos for, “Reporting the Revolutionary War”…
February 15, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
Additional recognition has been received for “Reporting the Revolutionary War“, by Todd Andrlik:Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News (ISBN: 9781402269677; November 1, 2012; $39.99 U.S.; History; Hard Cover) by Todd Andrlik is being awarded the annual prize of best American Revolution book by The New York Revolutionary War Round Table.
News worthy of the headline… Which would you choose?
February 8, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · 1 Comment
Selecting the news for a newspaper’s headline must be quite challenging at times, especially when there are multiple significant events clamoring for top billing. We recently came across a Leominster Daily Enterprise, MA, April 16, 1947, which had 5 noteworthy events to choose from:
* Execution of Rudolf Hoess, Nazi commandant of Auschwitz… oversaw massacre of 2,000,000 Jews
* Milton Reynolds breaks Howard Hughes around-the-world aviation record in his “Bombshell”
* Jackie Robinson breaks racial barrier… 1st regular season MLB game played by an African American
* Texas City disaster (350 killed)
* Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten (from Greece) become engaged, with photo
Which do you think grabbed the headline back in 1947?To find out if you made the right choice, go to:
1947 Headline
(see the 4th image)
What if the same events occurred today? Would the editors make the same choice for tomorrow’s headline? We’d love to know your thoughts… and reasons.
Patrick Henry bio in the Citizen Soldier… 1840…
January 16, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
The following is a 2nd look at a post from a few years ago. We’ve updated the images to make the text easier to read. Please enjoy.
Although much has been written about Patrick Henry, a December 18, 1840 issue of the Citizen Soldier, Vermont, gives us a glimpse as to how he was viewed within less than 50 years of his death. The end of the biography has a few extra treats as well. Although quite lengthy… it is certainly worth the read:
A gem in the American Antiquarian Society… Charleston Mercury Extra…
January 14, 2013 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
In celebration of its 20oth anniversary the American Antiquarian Society published a beautiful exhibition catalog titled “In Pursuit Of A Vision – Two Centuries of Collecting at the American Antiquarian Society”. Featured are a fascinating array of books, documents, maps & other paper ephemera, as well as several very rare & unusual newspapers we felt worthy of sharing with our Rare & Early Newspapers’ collectors (with permission from the A.A.S.).
“Charleston Mercury Extra“, December 20, 1860
The divisive political events of the 1850s had pitted North against South on numerous issues, including the expansion of slavery into the western territories, tariffs on goods such as cotton, and broader concepts of states’ rights vs. federal law. Political compromises made throughout the decade in an attempt to keep the nation together effectively collapsed with the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860. South Carolina, heir to the legacy of states’ rights lion John C. Calhoun, was the first to address the possibility of leaving the Union. On November 10, 1860, four days after the presidential election, South Carolina brought the issue to a head by calling a secession convention for the following month.
Considered by virtue of timing to be the first Confederate imprint, this broadside announced to the public the convention’s declaration, on December 20, 1860, that South Carolina would secede from the United States. This sheet was removed from a wall in Charleston by the Boston-born author Caroline Howard Gilman (1794-1888), who had moved permanently to Charleston following her marriage to the Rev. Samuel Gilman. Gilman mailed the broadside to her daughter Eliza in Salem, Massachusetts. Eliza in turn presented the document to AAS member Nathaniel Paine who, heeding the Society’s call to preserve all printed material relating to the unsettling national events, passed the broadside along to AAS.
A high-resolution image of this issue is viewable at: American Antiquarian Society, #47
A New Year’s Retrospective thru Historic Newspapers…
December 31, 2012 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
A New Year’s-themed Pinterest pin-board has just been created through Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers… History’s Newsstand which we think you will enjoy. Happy New Year!
Pinterest: A New Year’s Retrospective thru Historic Newspapers…
It looks like we might make it to 2013…
December 28, 2012 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
While the jury is still out, it looks like we just might make it to 2013. The Mayans certainly gave us a few things to think about (or at least the head of the Mexican Bureau of Tourism – what a genius). Apocalyptic fears have generated quite a bit of stir over time and have motivated (inspired?) many to think through the eternal vs. the temporal. While this version of the “end of days” may have been misconceived, the process of giving our mortality serious consideration is certainly worth the exercise. In the meantime, please enjoy a newspaper-based look back at similar end of the word fears posted by the British Newspapers Archives:
It’s not the end of the world!
Historical Newspaper Stories About the End of the World