Removing those annoying address labels…

November 11, 2010 by · 2 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Fellow collector Morris Brill raises a question which others may have pondered as well: “Is there a safe way of removing the label without harming or staining the newspaper?”

Address labels come in various sizes. The earliest ones are generally from the post-Civil War years and those labels tend to be relatively narrow strips with just the subscriber’s name or an institution’s name. A city might be included as well. Those of the 20th century tend to be one-half to three-quarters of an inch tall and contain the full address of the subscriber.

If discretely placed above the masthead & not touching any text they can be quite harmless and add a certain “charm” and authenticity to the newspaper, but those which cover portions of the masthead or headline are annoying. And they can be removed.

In every case I’ve encountered the glue is water soluble, and once softened the label can be peeled off with  little trouble. Since the label is almost always of thicker paper stock than the newspaper, the quickest way to soften the glue is to moisten the reverse side, meaning the actual newspaper from page two. Once the outline of the label is felt (or hold up to the light & note the outline), I use a cotton swab and warm water (distilled would be best) to dampen the back side of the label. Patience and experimentation are important, as often two or three applications of water and up to ten minutes of waiting are required for the glue to soften such that the label can be removed by using an exacto-knife to peel it up from a corner.

Once removed and the dampness dries there may or may not be a minor water  stain which remains, but I always find this much less offensive than the label covering part of the headline. It is my opinion that the value of the newspaper is enhanced by having the label removed despite a minor stain.

If you have had success with other methods of removing address labels, feel free to share.

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

Filed under: Common Questions, The Hobby
Tagged: , ,

New discovery… Who knows what one might find?

November 8, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

We’ve often mentioned that one of the pleasures of the Rare & Early newspaper collecting hobby is finding unforeseen historical nuggets buried deep within the pages of newspapers… just waiting to be unearthed.  This was recently brought to the surface again by a collector/history teacher who purchases 19th century wholesale lots (undescribed as to content) for his students and for personal use .  His note is as follows:

This paper (from a wholesale lot) had a reference to a house vote for the “relief” of Susan Decatur, wife of naval hero Stephen Decatur.  She had inherited $75,000 from her husband, who was killed in a duel in 1820.  This is the equivalent of $1.4 million today.  The bill was defeated.  One of the nays was cast by Congressman Crockett (David).  Minor, but priceless info.  Your company does more good than you know.

Feel free to share your own discoveries with the collecting community.

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

Filed under: Common Questions, The 19th Century, The Collectible Community, The Hobby, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , , , ,

Minister needed to be clever to say only nice things…

November 6, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

This interesting report In the “Richmond Examiner” issue of August 27, 1864 shows some creativity by the preacher:

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

Filed under: Confederate, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , , , ,

Mission to Mars… Climb aboard…

November 6, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

As China, Russia, and the U.S. (among others) begin to enter a new space race – a manned mission to the Red Planet, we are reminded of the early days of flight when dreams were high and understanding was… perhaps a bit lacking.  While early film fueled the excitement, it wasn’t until knowledge of Robert Goddard’s work became widespread that the thought of space travel made the leap from dream to real possibility.  These dreams took a hit on January 13, 1920 when the NY Times printed an editorial (unsigned) which scoffed at the proposal.  However, on February 4, 1920, the President of the Aviator’s Club of Pennsylvania, Captain Claude R. Collins, restored the public’s hopes of space travel when he volunteered to be a passenger on a Mars bound rocket, if ever developed.  Ironically, this “offer” was published on the front page of the of the February 5, 1920 NY Times (see image), alongside of the announcement from the Smithsonian Institution stating Goddard had invented and tested a rocket that might have the potential to reach the moon.  This battle between nay-sayers and dreamers continues to this day.  I wonder how we will be looked upon 100 years from now?

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

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

The Traveler… election time… one horse tail…

November 4, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Our elections have been over for a couple of days, however I found that not the case 100 years ago. In the November 4, 1910 issue of “The Call” from San Francisco, the governor race was heated with the report of a rally of 7,000 people.  “Johnson Hurls Lie Direct in Teeth of Detractors and Lays Bare True Meaning of Battle” is one of the sub-headlines. It seems that politics has not changed…

But the deceit and lies does not stop in the political arena. A man traded a mule under the guise of a “shaved tail” horse. Afterward he began to laugh about it, to the point he could not stop laughing. This continued for hours to which a physician was called in. Finally after 12 hours of laughing, they resorted to electric shock therapy which did stop the laughter. This may truly be a case of who really got the last laugh in this deal!!           ~The Traveler

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

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

April 15, 1865 New York Herald reprints… revisited…

November 1, 2010 by · 10 Comments 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

A previous post by guest contributor Rick Brown  detailed how one can identify whether or not their April 15, 1865 New York Herald is authentic.  One of the most notable differences between an authentic issue (which is quite rare) and one of the reprints (which are rather common) is that the common reprint has an image of President Lincoln on the front page, whereas, the original does not.  We recently came across a photo of the Lincoln image (as shown to the right).  If your issue has it… unfortunately, your’s is not an original.

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

Filed under: Common Questions, Noteworthy Issues, The Hobby, Valuation of Issues, Yankee
Tagged: , , , , , ,

A ghost robs a bank…

October 30, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

And just in time for Halloween, a report from “The Observer” of London, January 1, 1797:

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

Filed under: The 1700's, Unusual, Fun & Bizarre
Tagged: , ,

The unearthing of a President… yet another discovery!

October 28, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

The image  shows a portion of a full-page ad found buried in the back of the January 4, 1902 edition of Harper’s Weekly Illustrated.  One of the joys of collecting rare and early newspapers is the fun collectors have digging up hidden treasures.  A student at Arizona State University recently noticed that one of the contributors listed in an ad for encyclopedias was Woodrow Wilson, more than 10 years before he would be elected as the 28th President of the United States.  In case one did not already know, this ad also reveals that he was a Professor at Politics at Princeton.   I wonder if any other noteworthy individuals are named within this ad??? Additional close-up images can be found at:  Additional Images.  Feel free to add your finds.

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

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

Prices… a walk down memory lane… 1987…

October 25, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Blondie, Kool & the Gang, Ambrosia…  Rubik’s Cube, Break Dancing, Transformers…  The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Moonlighting… the 80’s!  Our walk through time now brings us to the 8o’s.   Our exploration of authentic newspaper pricing through time takes us back to Catalog 60. To see a larger image of the catalog’s page, go here: Catalog 60

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

Filed under: Collecting Newspapers, Common Questions, The Hobby, Valuation of Issues
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Old age is relative…

October 23, 2010 by · Leave a Comment 
Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

Enjoy the following, which appeared in an 1857 newspaper:

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

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

« Previous Page — Next Page »