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Reflection: George Washington’s Birthday…
February 20, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
My five siblings and I grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks”. There really were tracks… and refineries which lit up the night sky… and rodents running around the neighborhood… and other creepy-crawly things which kept us awake at night. We had little money, but our lives were full, and our parent’s efforts to indulge us on a shoestring (when they could afford them) budget were always met with enthusiasm and thankful hearts. Holidays were the best – always soliciting a high degree of anticipation, for our dad would never fail to bring home a special treat to celebrate the occasion. My personal favorite was Washington’s Birthday – the holiday where I discovered the joys of dark chocolate and sweet cherries – the former birthed by “silver coins” to celebrate his amazing talent of throwing silver dollars across the Potomac River, and the latter through delightful chocolate covered cherries which reminded us to never lie – especially about chopping down trees. I didn’t know much about Washington other than him being our first President, but one thing I knew for certain, he must have been pretty awesome – a truth confirmed with jubilance by my tastebuds.
While I embrace the profound value we all have as a result of being made in God’s image, and appreciate the contribution each president has made to this great nation, I was sad to see Washington’s Birthday downgraded to an “all inclusive/generic” holiday. As one of my favorite authors (David McCullough) once said: “If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.”
As time went on and I became a bit more educated, I accepted the reality that Washington didn’t actually chop down a cherry tree (let alone own up to doing so); and, while I’m still a bit uncertain, the realization that he likely found better use for silver dollars settled in.
Still, these annual mini-celebrations, flawed as they were, helped awaken my appreciation for our “Founding Parents” in general, and for George Washington in particular. Is everything I learned about him accurate? Of course not. However, one thing I know for sure, the populace cried deep tears of sorrow when their beloved leader, to the amazement of the world, voluntarily steps aside so “We The People” could select their choice for the next to hold the reigns. Is his birthday still worth celebrating? Maybe so, or maybe not, but as for me, I’m picking up some chocolate covered cherries on the way home today.
In honor of this great leader, the pre-resignation announcement as it appeared in The Supplement To The Federal Gazette dated September 20, 1796, is shown below. A truly historic moment!
Meet the Staff of Rare & Early Newspapers: Lyndsay Miller
February 17, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Introducing Lyndsay Miller
Lyndsay is the youngest and newest member of the Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers‘ Staff. Her technical title is “Office Assistant”, but her daily tasks include interfacing with collectors, searching our archives for historic newspapers matching client requests, preparing orders, shipping orders, processing the many images we post on our website, helping us to increase our footprint in the world of social media, and more. She is mature beyond her years, has a fantastic work-ethic, and operates out of her strong faith. Married with a great husband and two Golden Retriever pups, she is a wonderful asset to our staff. In the video shown below, she highlights her 4 favorite collectibles within our archives. Please enjoy.
Catching Everyone By Suprise… A Valentine’s Day to Remember…
February 13, 2023 by LauraH · Leave a Comment
Some holidays catch us by surprise. Countless men have either forgotten their wedding anniversary until it was either too late, or until the last minute when buying that “perfect gift” was no longer an option. So it is in spades with a more recently “invented” holiday: Valentine’s Day. While some refuse to be manipulated into yet another obligation to invest in the greeting card, flower and candy industries, yet others invent creative new ways to mark this wonderful day of romance and the celebration of love. Such was the case with Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1929. This mob hit, nicknamed The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, stumped police until more than 2 years later, and even then no one was formally charged. Hopefully, everyone this year will opt for flowers… and not the kind we see adorning graves as as we drive by our local cemetery. 
Snapshot 1941 – Crushing Debt’s Impact on Democracy…
February 10, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
With the U.S. national debt spiraling out of control, many economists are predicting the demise of this once (still?) great nation. Is this merely politics… fearmongering… crying wolf? Such concerns have been voiced as far back as when Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of the Treasury and continue to this day. One such instance surfaced in 1941 and was chronicled in the Liberty Magazine dated February 15, 1941. These cries in the wilderness seeming fall on deaf ears without the doomsday predictions coming to fruition. However, the problem with apocalyptic events is thy have a tendency to be kept at bey… until one day there being viewed in the rear-view mirror with eyes welled up with regret. Let’s hope our generation is not the one shedding tears on behalf of our children and our children’s children.
They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To… Displayable Mastheads . . . A Lost Art
February 6, 2023 by LauraH · Leave a Comment
As citizens of the 21st century we are often aware of the diminishing quality we see in current products compared to the same items owned by our parents or grandparents (many technology-based items excluded). Perhaps the differences are due to available materials, the labor required to produce things, or perhaps a decreasing commitment to excellence (golly I’m sure sounding old). Case in point: Whereas pre-1850 newspapers, due to the cost of paper and “taxes”, were created in a very pragmatic way with every inch on a page packed to the hilt using a very small-font text, there was often one exception – the masthead. Consider the image above and the two newspapers from 1848 & 1849 shown in the links below. These issues are wonderful examples of the pragmatism of early printers combined with their desire of share beauty. Compared to today’s mastheads and graphic headlines, these newspaper publishers valued balance as they dispersed the daily or weekly news – blending both fascinating content and winsome artwork. Even today, decades or centuries later, these mastheads give me pause and solicit a deep appreciation for those who took the time to bring such charm to daily lives which were often devoid of significant beauty.
OLIVE BRANCH, Boston, November 10, 1849
Note: The 1850 date above was not a hard cut-off date. Newspapers such as The Liberator continued this practice well into the 1860’s, and a few other titles had wonderful mastheads well into the early 20th century.
This Day in “News” History… January 23…
January 23, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
There are many internet sources available to explore what happened on a particular day in history. However, as collectors and resellers of “Rare & Early Newspapers”, our curiosity lies in what people were reading in their morning newspaper on specific days in history. In nearly every instance they were discovering what happened the day prior – and if one reaches back into the 1600s, 1700’s, and early 1800s, when news travelled a bit more slowly, they very well could have been (finally) reading about “rumored” and/or anticipated events from days, weeks, or even months prior.
As an example…
What about January 23rd? The following link will take you to all of our available newspapers dated January 23rd:
NEWS REPORTED in NEWSPAPERS on January 23rd (through time)
Enjoy the trek. Oh, and if you want to try other dates, go here and plug in any month/day of interest.
WNEP TV turns the spotlight on Rare & Early Newspapers…
January 13, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
A Northeastern Pennsylvania television station (WNEP) recently highlighted Tim Hughes and the Rare & Early Newspapers efforts to serve the world-wide collectible community. Although brief, any opportunity for Tim to share his love for the hobby is a bonus.
Millions of newspapers for sale in Lycoming County (PA)
Snapshot 1982… A “Feel Good” Story to Kick-Off the New Year…
January 6, 2023 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
As we all know, bad news sells. The medium (social media, television, newspapers, etc.) doesn’t matter, if something tragic happens, everyone grabs their camera (phone) and lawn chair and heads to the scene. However, an ongoing diet of bad news (and negativity in general) is not good for the soul. With this reality in mind, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to spend more time focusing on the good – and thankfully, while perusing newspapers within our archives, I came across a “feel good” story which I thought was worth sharing. I’ll let the article I unearthed in a South Bend Tribune (August 8, 1982) do the talking (see below).
For the record, upon visiting the young boy in the hospital, future Hall of Famer Jim Rice recognized the family was of modest means, so on his way out of the hospital he stopped by the Business Office and requested the bills be sent to him. What a true hero!
You can also read additional details here: Jim Rice Saves Young Boy’s Life
Resolutions… at the start of a New Year and Throughout Time…
December 30, 2022 by LauraH · Leave a Comment
It’s that time again. Some of us don’t want to admit it to others or even ourselves, but as the calender turns to the 1st of January, our minds naturally drift towards resolutions. I wonder if this impulse is built into human nature – the desire for a fresh start… to turn over a new leaf… to look forward to a new adventure pulled from one’s bucket list? As we consider what resolutions to write in pencil for the coming year, below are a few interesting “historical resolutions” to ponder. While I may have stretched the definition of “resolution” a bit, may our resolutions have as much staying power as these. Happy New Year and blessings on your new adventures.
April 1775 … The Gunpowder Incident… This report mentions: “…that the powder in the publick magazine, in the city of Williamsburg, deposited there at the expense of the country & for the use of the people in case of invasion or insurrection, has been secretly removed under the clouds of the night…by order of the Governor…came to the following resolution: Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that the removing the said gunpowder…is an insult to every freeman in this country…”
September 1774 … Historic Duché Letter to General Washington… Duché first came to the attention of the First Continental Congress in September, 1774, when he was summoned to Carpenters’ Hall to lead the opening prayers. When the United States Declaration of Independence was ratified, Duché, meeting with the church’s vestry, passed a resolution stating that the King George III’s name was no longer to be read in the prayers of the church. Duché complied, crossing out said prayers from his Book of Common Prayer, committing an act of treason against England, an extraordinary and dangerous act for a clergyman who had taken an oath of loyalty to the King.
February 1876 … National League Baseball Established… During the establishment of the National Baseball League, an interesting resolution was adopted… The report continues mentioning the passage of a resolution concerning “championship play” while the second resolution prevented “…any two clubs from playing in a city in which neither of them belongs.”
January 1991 … U.N. Resolutions for Desert Storm… individually significant headlines on Desert Storm: the beginning of the air war: “WAR!”; the beginning of the land war: “INVASION!” and the “VICTORY!” once Iraq conceded and agreed to all U.N. resolutions.
Harper’s Weekly… A Journal of Civilization…
December 26, 2022 by LauraH · Leave a Comment
Last week, as I was preparing a January 22, 1898 Harper’s Weekly for shipment, I noticed it was to be sent to Japan. We at Rare & Early Newspapers love knowing our collectors span the Globe; in fact, on a wall in the shipping department we track all the countries where our issues now reside.
Although I knew we had sent many collectible newspapers to this region, I was still curious to see if there might be a cultural motivation behind the purchase. As I paged through the issue to see what may have caught the attention of our Japanese collector, near the back I discovered 4 pages of beautiful prints with the heading, “The Porcelain Arts of Japan”. Full certain this gentleman would be pleased with such charming illustrations, I was delighted knowing this historical treasure would make its way across the World to his collection. As I closed the pages to resume my task my eyes fell on the tagline used by Harper’s Weekly Illustrated: “A Journal of Civilization”.
How appropriate to have noticed their description at this moment and how sublime to know we have a community of collectors which extends across all of today’s civilization.