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Unfortunately an erroneous report…
May 3, 2013 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Premature reports which have proven to be untrue are all too common in newspapers of all eras. The famous “Dewey Defeats Truman“ headline of the “Chicago Tribune” of 1948 is perhaps the most well known. Here is one which I’ve not seen before as reported in the “Prescott Journal Miner” of Arizona, April 3, 1932. It was just over a month later that the Lindbergh baby was found dead. Please share other false reports with the collectible community.
Before the days of Raid…
April 19, 2013 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Here’s an interesting “sport” as reported in “The Evening Times“, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, June 4, 1912. Talk about fun!!!
Curious juncture of image, date, and event…
April 14, 2013 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Sunday Magazine” issue of the Detroit News Tribune, April 14, 1912 offers a curious juxtaposition of date, image, and event (see below). The color print on the cover shows a woman waving from what would appear to be the deck of a ship. This also happens to be the very day the Titanic stuck the iceberg, which would go down in history as one of the more tragic maritime disasters of all time.
At times cover prints or content within newspapers offer some interesting collectibles, even when the the relevance could not have been known when published.
Gift of newspapers can spark a life-long hobby…
April 8, 2013 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
A recent piece on the web concerning the gift of a “stack of old newspapers” (see the hyperlink) to a grandson is a common story in our collecting world. A woman from Racine, Wisconsin, gave her grandson a box of historic newspapers, mostly World War II headline reports but including other events of the post-war era, collected by her husband. The photos show some nice banner headlines, several of the issues being the “Chicago Tribune” but including other titles from the Midwest.
Such finds, or gifts, are typically the catalyst for a new-found hobby. And newspapers from the last 60 or 70 years can be found for even the most modest of collecting budgets. Our website features major events of World War II, the Holocaust, the space race, baseball, Korean War, Vietnam War, Watergate–you name the event and it’s likely among the 2600+ issues from this era found on our website. Many prices range from $20 to $40 while some more significant events or dramatic headlines achieve higher values, and would be among the best newspapers for any collection.
For the beginning collector, the 20th century is an excellent entree to the much bigger world of our hobby which can includes newspapers back to the 16th century. Large headlines or events remembered by elder relatives bring to life the events which were formative to the American experience of the last 70 years. See: Stack of Old Newspapers
The Traveler… the strike is over… looking to the future…
April 1, 2013 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I journeyed to Detroit, Michigan by the way of The Detroit News of April 1, 1963. There I found that people of New York city would be able to enjoying their daily papers again as the 114-day newspaper strike had ended. Newspaper headlines read as “New York’s Alive Again!”, “Well, Hello There! We have News For You” and “Read All About It – Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”. “A series of labor disputes had shut down the papers for nearly four months and cost the city’s economy an estimated $250 million.” Some of the newspapers came back to print with the price of the issues being raised by half, some even doubled the cost per issue.
The back page of the issue features an article “Economists See a Future of Abundance – Full, Rich Life Only 40 Years Away… The Year 2000”. This is an interesting look at four decades into the future with articles of “Note of Caution on Planning”; “Ample Resources Seen for Future”; “More Funds Urged for Research”; “Taller Americans, Bigger Appetites”; “Energy Demand Due to Triple” and more. It also includes four interesting illustrations of the futuristic glimpses of life (see image below or click on link above). Ready to use your car that is able to take to the air to avoid the heavy traffic on the turnpikes and freeways?
~The Traveler
The Traveler… the battling suffragist… for the Irish…
March 18, 2013 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts by way of the Springfield Daily Republican dated March 18, 1913 where I found coverage of a suffragist event held in England (see image below). The British militant suffragist had declared war against their sisters who were working for the vote for women by constitutional means. The meeting was thrown into disorder until ladies had to be ejected from the event and peace was restored.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, there are three small articles on the front page relating to this special day. One was of President Wilson wearing a shamrock sprig in his lapel and the reporting of “green” festivities at the Capitol. Another was the diversion of a waiters strike of the Irish national banquet in London. And the last is of Police Judge Killen who annually releases all the Irish from jail… check out that report!
~The Traveler
Headlines drive interest in World War II…
March 11, 2013 by TimHughes · 2 Comments
For likely a multitude of reasons, interest in World War II newspapers ranks far higher than in the Korean War, World War I, or the Spanish-American War. It may be a generational thing, as most collectors today are children of World War II veterans and likely heard stories of the war first-hand, or found 
newspapers in their parents attics which sparked an interest. One could debate a number of other possible reasons why other wars lack the intrigue found in that fought by the “greatest generation”.
Headline collecting has always been a focus for this hobby, and as any collector knows, bold, banner headlines did not become commonplace until late in the 19th century. With the increasing competitiveness of daily newspapers across the country–Hearst, Pulitzer & others rising to prominence–flashier front pages were needed to draw attention at the corner news stand. It’s a shame there is not more interest in the Spanish-American War and World War I as both events resulted in some huge, dramatic, & very displayable headlines.
Because there are a plethora of newspapers from the WWII era available, collectors have become very discriminating in what they collect. Only the “best of the best” will do, meaning just the major events and only those with huge and displayable headlines. If there is a “top 6” list of sought-after events, our experience is they would be: 1) attack on Pearl Harbor; 2) the D-Day invasion; 3) death of Hitler; 4) end of the war in Europe; 5) dropping of the atomic bomb; 6) end of the war in the Pacific. One could add any number of other battle reports such as Midway, battle of the Bulge, fall of Italy, Iwo Jima, battle for Berlin, and so much more. And we could step back before American involvement in the war and add Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the battle of Britain.
The bigger the headline the better. With some newspapers the entire front page was taken up with a headline and a related graphic. The U.S. flag was a common patriotic device. Tabloid-size newspapers commonly had the front page entirely taken up with a singular headline and tend to be better for display given their smaller size.
And not just American newspapers draw interest. German newspapers hold a special intrigue, but the language barrier is a problem for many. But the British Channel Islands, located in the English Channel between England & France, were occupied by the Nazi during the war so their reports were very pro-Nazi while printed in the English language (ex., Guernsey Island). And the military newspaper “Stars and Stripes“, while certainly being American, was published at various locations in Europe and the Pacific. Collectors have a special interest in finding World War II events in the official newspapers of the American military forces. Plus there were a multitude of “camp” newspapers, amateur-looking newspapers printed on a mimeograph machine for consumption limited to a military base, and typically printed is very small quantities. Their rarity is not truly appreciated by many.
For obvious reasons, there is also a high degree of collectible interest from those wishing to make sure certain aspects of history are not forgotten. The Holocaust, and the Nazi propaganda used to provide a rationale for eliminating the Jewish people, is well documented in newspapers from the era. In addition to the Holocaust and its atrocities, issues providing context through reporting other pre-war events such as the Great Depression, fascism, and increased militarism, are also desirable.
True to any collectable field, newspaper collectors are always on the lookout for an issue better than what they have, and collection upgrades are constant. Finding that special, rare, unusual or fascinating headline is what makes the hobby fun. Will interest in the Korean War and the Vietnam War gain more interest in future years? Perhaps so. With interest currently low and availability and prices very attractive, it might be a good time to explore.
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…
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.
The Traveler… finally ratified… income tax a reality…
February 4, 2013 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, by the way of the Deseret Semi-Weekly News, February 3, 1913. There I found that on this very same date, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had just been ratified by the voted received from the Wyoming legislature. This amendment now established Income Tax as a provision of the Constitution.
This passing, which required a three-quarter of the Union approval, took a long time to occur as Alabama was the first state to ratify the amendment and that was on August 10, 1909!
Now with this information, enjoy your remaining seventy (70) days of the tax season. April 15th will be here before we all know it!
~The Traveler
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy…”
– Alexander Tytler 1787 (disputed origin)