The Traveler… first female aviator killed… turn-about is fair play…

July 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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Today I traveled to Carlisle, Pennsylvania by way of the Valley Sentinel dated July 2, 1912 where I found the report of the first female aviator killed. Miss Margaret Quimby and her manager fell 1,000 feet to their deaths as they were ejected from their seats when the monoplane that Miss Quimby was flying  was upset by gusty winds.  View the link above for additional details.

The front page of this issue also has an article about a man who had just been before a magistrate on charges of wife beating, “…was taken from a policeman by thirty-five masked men, dressed in women’s clothes, and was dragged to the ball park, where he was partly stripped of his clothing, tied to a post and a ‘rubber snake’ whip was plied to the bare flesh of Bowman until his cries for mercy could be heard for blocks…” He was taken home and warned to never to it again. I guess this was a case of turn-about is fair play… Nice to find such polar opposite woman’s interest coverage (women in flight vs. battered women within the home) within a single issue.

~The Traveler

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Filed under: The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
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Civil War Era Newspapers on Pinterest…

June 29, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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We at Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers have made a brief attempt at providing an overview of the Civil War via images of historic newspapers.  These images may be viewed at:  Rare Newspapers on Pinterest.  We invite you to join with us in telling the story by going to www.rarenewspapers.com to find additional issues you believe should be added to “the story”.  Feel free to provide us with the item number(s) of any you would like to have added.  You may contact us by responding to this post or by e-mail (guy@rarenewspapers.com).

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Filed under: Civil War, Collecting Newspapers, Confederate, Harper's Weekly, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Noteworthy Issues, The Hobby, Winslow Homer, Yankee
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Cool site of the day: Get a dose of US history…

June 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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Kim Komando recently wrote an article for Fox News (posted on their website) which focused on the historic value of rare newspapers… and made specific mention of the wealth of information available through the Library of Congress. Please enjoy:  Cool Site of the day: Get a dose of history

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Filed under: Common Questions, Featured Websites, The Hobby
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Not too much has changed in over 60 years…

June 22, 2012 by · 1 Comment 
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This six-point prescription for a longer life appeared on the front page of the “Detroit Free Press” issue of March 17, 1951.

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The Traveler… war declared…

June 18, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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Today I journeyed to Baltimore, Maryland, through The Weekly Register dated June 20, 1812. Within this issue is the announcement of the Declaration of War “between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland… and the United States of America and their territories”, signed by JAMES MADISON, June 18, 1812. The final passage vote of the act in the Senate was 19 to 13 and in the House was 79 to 49. This article entitled “Declaration of War” is approximately 5 1/2 pages in length.

With news like this being reported, nothing more needs to be said… and likely little else was read… as life was about to drastically change.

~The Traveler

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Filed under: The Hobby, The War of 1812, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
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Value of a city wife…

June 15, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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This article in the “Detroit Free Press” issue of November 8, 1946 needs no further explanation.

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Hatfields & McCoys…The media drives interest in historical newspapers…

June 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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There is no question that media events affect our hobby. Although there was always collector interest in the sinking of the Titanic, it wasn’t until the James Cameron movie was released in 1997 that interest exploded. It was amazing to experience the dramatic increase in calls & requests at our office concerning newspapers reporting the Titanic disaster . The movie release preceded the eBay craze so it was only by individual quotes & listings in our catalog that we could keep up with the demand. Prices did increase dramatically.

The “Amistad” slave ship movie had a similar reaction. Few people even knew of the event before the Stephen Spielberg movie, but upon its release we sold dozens of notable issues of the event & subsequent trial at prices which far exceeded those possible before the movie.

Other historically-themed events in American or world history, whether they happened on the big screen or television, have had similar effect on the rare newspaper hobby. The most recent “event” is the Hatfield-McCoy feud, spurred on by the recent History Channel mini-series.

Thought by some to be nothing more then legend and not an historical event, the Hatfield McCoy feud was, indeed, very real. We find it interesting the degree to which coverage of the feud appeared in newspapers of the era. We are fortunate to have newspapers from West Virginia (example) in 1889 (the feud happened at the Kentucky-West Virginia border) which have extensive articles on the feud, and our listings  on eBay have created a following which far exceeds those listed  prior to the mini-series. And many of those following our offerings–and buying them–are new hobbyists who likely never purchased an historical newspaper before.

All this is of benefit to the hobby. Although much criticism has been levied against what is seen on television and in movie theaters today, occasionally quality productions which are based on historical fact have  increased interest not only in America history but also appreciation for genuine newspapers which report those events at the time they happened. This can only be good for the hobby.

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Filed under: Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Noteworthy Issues, Old West Era, Post Civil War, The Hobby, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
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Washington’s first newspaper…

June 11, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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Interest by historians in Washington’s first newspaper may well be eclipsed by the press upon which it was printed, as it had a fascinating history.

The “Ramage Press” was well traveled. It originated in Boston, was sold to a printer in Hawaii only to never be used as the printer purchased another press before its arrival, then was sold to California where it was transported to Monterey to Sonoma and then back to Monterey where it printed California’s first newspaper, the “Californian”, on Aug. 15, 1846. Both the press and the newspaper moved to Yerba Buena where the newspaper continued printing, moved then to Sacramento City where it printed the first issue of the “Placer Times” in 1849. It then moved to San Francisco, then to Stockton, then to Sonora, eventually becoming the first press on which printing was done in Oregon, and then the same for the state of Washington.

During the 1850’s Washington was part of the Oregon Territory. The old Ramage press made its way to Olympia and on September 11, 1852 the first issue of the “Columbian” was printed, Washington’s very first newspaper. Just six months later in 1853 the Washington Territory was created causing the printers, James Wiley and Thorton McElroy, to change the name of their newspaper to the “Washington Pioneer”. After another name change the paper continued until 1861.

The second newspaper in Washington was the “Puget Sound Courier” which began on May 19, 1855 at Steilacoom but the newspaper lasted for just a year. Steilacoom was the location of Washington’s third newspaper, done by Charles Prosch and titled the “Puget Sound Express”, which began on March 12, 1858.

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Filed under: Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Noteworthy Issues, Pre Civil War, The Hobby, Valuation of Issues
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Guess he wasn’t thinking…

June 8, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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The  January 8, 1902 issue of the “Wellsville Daily Reporter” of New York has an interesting article of a construction worker who apparently wasn’t thinking when he attempted to thaw frozen dynamite (see below).

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The Traveler… Ismay on “speed”… war of the roses…

June 4, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 
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I traveled today to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, by means of The Evening Times dated June 4, 1912. There I found that (J.) Bruce Ismay has been providing justification to the British court of inquiry on the speed possibilities of the Titanic. He was the chairman and managing director of the White Star Line and a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic.

Another front page article is entitled “Says Husband Sent Her Poisoned Roses”. Mrs. Rose Ebeling received poisoned roses from her husband one afternoon, this was after she had filed a bill for divorce against her husband, Fred. The fumes of the poison had overpowered the servant who opened the package. So to quote Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet “…that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”

~The Traveler

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