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Cigarettes do not cause cancer…
December 18, 2010 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Hindsight means everything when it comes to history, and browsing through the pages of newspapers from years ago can often turn up reports which now are almost humorous in their inaccuracy. One item: “Clears Cigarettes As Cancer Source”, which appeared in the July 10, 1928 issue of the “New York Times“, provides some interesting reading in light modern scientific research about the effects of cigarette smoking and cancer.
What could happen to a rumor…
December 9, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
“The Daily Journal” newspaper of August 20, 1861 from Wilmington, North Carolina, a Confederate publication, printed an interesting series of dispatches of a fictitious assassination attempt upon President Lincoln (see below). They provide an interesting perspective on how a dramatic event could be much less so once more trustworthy news reports found their way to the press.
The reliability of news reports was a big problem in the 18th & 19th centuries during the pre-telegraph, pre-wire service days when word of mouth was often the source of what made it into the newspaper. This somewhat comical piece illustrates a quandary likely dealt with by most newspaper publishers of the day.
Patrick Henry… A mid-19th century view…
November 30, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
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… please enjoy:
Don’t tell the kids…
November 27, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
An article in the August 14, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier, Vermont, yields at least one perspective on how to be a successful student. Kids, please don’t try this at home. What does the phrase “having cold feet” mean anyway?
With the holiday season upon us… thanks Bing!
November 25, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
With the holiday season upon us it is time to dig out and dust off our collections of holiday-themed videos (movies??? Dvd’s???) for their annual viewing. One of our family favorites is Holiday Inn. Who can forget Bing Crosby’s vision:
Lazy
I want to be lazy
I want to be out in the sun
With no work to be done
Under that awning
They call the sky
Stretching and yawning
And let the world go drifting by…
However, before we sell all we have in our quest for the easy life running a New England Inn, or simply immobilize ourselves with longings for the lazy hazy days of Summer, an article we found in the September 4, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier (oddly enough – from Vermont) has a different perspective on laziness – providing ample food for thought:
Here’s to good health…
November 20, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
An article the the September 4, 1840 issue of The Citizen Soldier, Vermont, provides a mid-19th century perspective (advice) for how to acquire good health. Try to imagine the follow-up letters to the editor in response had this appeared within this morning’s paper. Please enjoy:
My collecting story… Graham Dukes…
November 15, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
I have been collecting newspapers longer than most fellow enthusiasts, beginning when I was at school in England in 1943. My father went into a small second-hand shop and noticed that the owner, who sold candlesticks, old dinner plates and suchlike, was wrapping up the items in copies of the London evening “Star” for 1818, that he was tearing out of a bound volume. There were about 150 papers left and my father, who was well aware of my budding historical interest, bought the whole volume for threepence (10c).
From there I continued myself, often picking up items from shopkeepers who had no idea what they were. Nearly 70 years later, with several thousand items in store, (particularly London national papers, but also items from many other countries) some of my prize items, going back to the earlier sixteenth century, are still those that I found in the English back streets during my time as a schoolboy and later as a university student!
Graham Dukes
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.
A great rarity comes into our inventory…
October 7, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
One of the more rare items in the world of early newspaper collecting has come into our inventory: a collection of the very first newspaper in Hawaii, including the volume one, number one issue.
Hawaii’s first newspaper was essentially a student newspaper, titled “Ka Lama Hawaii” (The Hawaiian Luminary), done by Protestant missionaries at their school at Lahainaluna on the island of Maui. The missionaries transported a printing press some 18,000 miles around Cape Horn to Hawaii, setting up what would become the very first newspaper building west of the Rocky Mountains. The newspaper was printed in the Hawaiian language on the manually operated flatbed press which could turn out 100 sheets per hour. Content included articles on government, Christian teachings, and in keeping with the educational element, illustrations of exotic animals like the lion, elephant and zebra. The very first issue, dated Feb. 14, 1834, was dominated by an essay on the habits & habitats of the lion.
This newspaper lasted for just these 25 issues printed in 1834, then did not print for several years only to resurrect itself to print just two final issues in January, 1841. Not only is it the first newspaper in Hawaii, but it also predates any newspaper in North America west of the Rocky Mountains.
We felt these rare issues were worth sharing with fellow collectors.
20th century prices realized… revisted…
September 30, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · 2 Comments
The previous post focused on “prices realized” from a sampling of key issues from the 20th century. Fellow collector, Charles Signer, posted a response we thought collectors would appreciate.
These papers (see previous post) are excellent choices for your article. I think the Titanic disaster marked a new era in journalism, since improvements in printing technology and inventions like the facsimile machine made it possible for newspapers all over the United States and the world for the first time to cover the story simultaneously with full coverage and great graphics. Because the Titanic event took place at sea there was no “home advantage” as there would have been for a disaster taking place in a populated area. I don’t have the Rhode Island version of the story that you show, but I have seen others like it from other cities. I am amazed how they could get such good reporting and graphics literally overnight on such an unexpected story.
When I see the Honolulu Star-Bulletin First Extra I think of it as a time capsule marking of an end of an era. The front page of course gives the full first report, but the inside pages were mostly set up before the event, in the last hours of peacetime. The ads for 1941 consumer goods and Christmas sales suddenly fell out of place in the grim new wartime world. I imagine the people shown in the ads floating at the bottom of the ocean where they are all drowned dead but still visible to divers. It’s eerie.
I was going to say that the whole First Extra paper could be seen on the Honolulu Star-Bulletin website, but in trying to test the link as I write this I see that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser merged on June 7, 2010. The combined paper is now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. There used to be a great story on the Star-Bulletin’s old website about the people who put out those first reports that day. I guess it’s gone now.
I got a copy of the Dewey Defeats Truman paper from Tim Hughes before 2000 for about $850. It was real cherry. I grew up in Chicago where my dad and I would drive down in the evenings to get the first edition of the following day’s Tribune. When you opened up a Tribune for the first time there were tiny holes made in the printing process which made the pages stick together. The copy I got from Tim had those little holes so I knew I was opening that Dewey Defeats Truman paper for the first time ever. It was almost like being there on November 2, 1948, the evening the paper was printed. Yes, it truly is a classic that will be recognized as long as newspapers are remembered, which may be a lot longer than some of them are being published.
Thanks Charles!