Ten Golden Rules…

November 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

The very first issue of “The British Workman” from 1856, our item 541456, contains a list of “Ten Golden Rules” which are as appropriate today as they were over 150 years ago:

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Food for Thought, Pre Civil War, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , ,

The Civil War… November 2, 1861…

November 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for November 2, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper.

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Civil War, Collecting Newspapers, Harper's Weekly, Illustrated Newspapers, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, The Hobby, Yankee
Tagged: , , ,

Colonial newspaper founded by a woman… A rare find…

October 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

A recent collection which came into our inventory included a rare title which didn’t strike me until I looked more closely.

“Salem Gazette” is a somewhat common from the 18th century so I wasn’t surprised to see the title when quickly examining the collection. But then I noticed the date from the Revolutionary War, which I thought odd. Upon investigation I found there were actually four different newspapers titled “Salem Gazette“, one from 1774-1775, one from 1781-85, and one from 1790 thru the 19th century. These latter two are were quite familiar to me, but our issue was yet a fourth title, one which I had never encountered in 35 years, and this one lasted but 36 issues during the year 1781. But of greater significance was that the masthead noted it was published by a woman, Mary Crouch. See the hyperlink for much more on her fascinating life, but suffice it to say she was no stranger to publishing a newspaper as she had much experience in South Carolina.

The hyperlinked article mentions she took over the publication of her husband’s (Charles) “South Carolina Gazette” after he died in 1772. She then began her own newspaper, the “Charlestown Gazette“, in August of 1778.  When the British occupied her town in 1780, being a staunch patriot, she moved north to Salem, Massachusetts, where she began publishing this “Salem Gazette” in 1781. The number we have is dated  February 6, 1781 and is issue number 6 of the 36 published (see the hyperlink). Relatively few institutions hold any issues of this title, and only four issues of this date are held by institutions.

There were a number of women who published newspapers in the 18th century & virtually all that I could discover did so by continuing a printing business upon the demise of their respective husbands. One exception was Mary Goddard who published the “Maryland Journal” during her brother’s absence from 1774-1783. But Anne Catherine Green took over her late husband’s “Maryland Gazette” upon his death in 1767; Hannah Watson took over her husband’s (Ebenezer) “Connecticut Courant” upon his death in 1777; Margaret Draper took over the “Massachusetts Gazette” upon the death of her husband Richard in 1774; Clementine Rind took over “The Virginia Gazette” in 1773 when her husband William died; and Ann Franklin published the “Newport Mercury” upon the death of her son James in 1762. I am sure there are others as well.

From what I could determine Mary Crouch may well be the first American woman to create a newspaper, and she did so twice. Her first being the “Charlestown Gazette” and her second the “Salem Gazette“. Any research to the contrary would be gratefully received and shared with our fellow collectors.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Noteworthy Issues, Revolutionary War, The 1500's - 1700's, The 1700's, The Hobby, Valuation of Issues
Tagged: , , , , ,

Mark Twain on Mark Twain…

October 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This item, originally appearing in the “Edinburgh Scotsman” was picked up by the “Jerusalem News” issue of March 20, 1920.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , , ,

The Civil War… October 26, 1861…

October 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for October 26, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper.

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Civil War, Collecting Newspapers, Harper's Weekly, Illustrated Newspapers, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, The Hobby, Yankee
Tagged: , , ,

Collector Eric Fettmann on Babe Ruth & Yankee Stadium…

October 24, 2011 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Our website item #584134 offers a New York Times newspaper from 1914 which has the earliest mention of Babe Ruth in that newspaper, and possibly any newspaper. Has anyone found earlier mention? The listing also mentions a report of a new Yankee Stadium being built–with an illustration of it–but I could find no documentation of it elsewhere. Eric offers further information on both with his comments:

Tim,

As for your item 584134, this may well be the first mention of Ruth in a newspaper. The earliest I can come up with is April 6, a week after this. But I didn’t have access to Baltimore papers, so there may be something earlier there.
As for the mysterious Yankee Stadium, here’s something from the NY Times in 1993:
“The Highlanders, soon known as the Yankees, had a middling record, while the nearby Giants were usually at or near the top of their league. So when the Polo Grounds burned in 1911, the Yankees used a certain calculating humility in letting the Giants temporarily use their own park. At the same time the Yankees said that they were building a new stadium at 225th and Broadway. That project slowed, perhaps for money reasons, and in 1913 the Yankees temporarily moved to the rebuilt Polo Grounds where, for rent of $55,000 a year, they rubbed schedules with the Giants.
It was there, in 1915, that the Yankees wore their first pinstripes, even as the 225th Street project was abandoned.” Eric

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Guest Posts, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Noteworthy Issues, Sports, The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby
Tagged: , , , ,

Advice to the working men of England…

October 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

The very first issue of: “The British Workman” from London, our item 541456, offers advice from Lord Palmerston, a British statesman and two-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which included forward-thinking comments no the use of tobacco.  The comments on alcohol are very appropriate today as well:

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Food for Thought, Pre Civil War, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , ,

The Civil War… October 19, 1861…

October 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for October 19, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper.

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Civil War, Harper's Weekly, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, The Hobby, Yankee
Tagged: , , ,

The Traveler… we’ve come a long way baby…

October 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This week I traveled to The Woman’s Journal of October 14, 1911. This issue was celebrating after waiting two days for the outcome of the California election on the suffrage vote… “reading first with despair, then with growing hope and finally with jubilation the conflicting reports that came over the wires… Praise God. Victory ours. Four thousand majority.” The front page contains a photo of the Statue of Liberty with six stars surrounding her. These represented the states which have passed the “equal suffrage” — Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington and now adding California.

The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention is traditionally viewed as the beginning of the Women’s Rights Movement. It was not until June 4, 1919 that Congress sent the proposal for the 19th Amendment, the woman’s right to vote, and then it was not until August 18, 1920 that the final ratification was passed, by the vote from Tennessee. It was a long road, but “we’ve come a long way baby” since then!

~The Traveler

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: The 20th & 21st Centuries, The Hobby, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , ,

The Civil War… October 12, 1861…

October 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for October 12, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper.

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy...

Filed under: Civil War, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, Yankee
Tagged: , ,

« Previous Page — Next Page »