#Newspaper History

[exploring-the-past]

Pulvis pyrius from Noua reperta (1590)

[slavetomyheadcanon]

I'm going through some of my dad's things, and found this from 1962.

[historysisco]

On This Day in New York City History January 21, 1957: After a 16-year bomb planting spree, George Metesky (November 2, 1903 - May 23, 1994) aka The Mad Bomber is arrested at his home in Waterbury, Connecticut. 

Metesky's M.O. was placing pipe bombs in New York City public spaces such as libraries, theaters, phone booths, public restrooms, bus and train terminals. Luckily, while two thirds of his bombs exploded none of the explosions led to casualties. When asked why he was engaging in terrorism for such a long time, he placed blame on his employer Con Edison.

In the letters sent by Metesky to the New York Journal-American newspaper, he claimed that he was leaving bombs because he was never properly compensated for an injury we sustained while working for Con Ed. It would take the work of Con Ed clerk Alice Kelly to discover who the Mad Bomber was.

Kelly was going over worker's compensation files when she discovered a file that had the key words "injustice" and "permanent disability" written on them. Both words had been prominent in the notes that Metesky had sent to the newspaper.

While Metesky was looking for his day in court to show the world how negligent Con Edison was, he would not get his way. Metesky would be found to not be competent enough to stand trial due to reasons of insanity. He was sent to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He would be later transfered to Creedmoor Psychiatric Center where he stayed until being released in 1973. 

#MadBomber #GeorgeMetesky #ConEd #NewYorkJournalAmerican #NewspaperHistory #CrimeHistory #NewYorkHistory #NYHistory #NYCHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #Geschichte #HistorySisco 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnrWfx4utGI/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[yesterdaysprint]

Daily Mirror, England, April 8, 1920

[thewrovareporter]

An introduction

On the afternoon of May 25, 2024, my roommate (who shall remain nameless) opened up a rather unassuming brown metal box that had been sitting in our dining room for what seemed like the entire time we had been living in this house. We never bothered to before - both of us assuming, wrongly, that it was the other's - and what we saw inside was a bit of a treasure.

Newspaper clippings and what appears to be original transcripts for articles of the Oneida Wrova Reporter, a newspaper that ran from sometime in the 1960s (approximate, unknown start date from what I can find) to 1993. Maybe the person who lived here last moved here from Oneida, Illinois, and left behind her writings without thinking too much about it.

Newspaper archive dot org has some of these, but it's behind a paywall. And I, for one, hate paywalls. So I'm here to scan, upload, and type up what is in these little clippings! For accessibility purposes, all scanned images will have provided image descriptions, including ones that are just text.

I hope you will all find this interesting, or useful, or possibly both! Stick around for more - I have to buy a scanner first!

[transplanetary]

The Canberra Times, April 23 1989

[forsapphics]

(x)

[yeoldenews]

I know we live in a very different world now, but I find it concerning how the newspapers printed all these kids' addresses. Did any harm ever come from that, to your knowledge?

I feel like the concept of your address being private information is a very modern one. Any news story until the mid-20th century (and much later in small towns/rural areas) would include the addresses of the individuals involved. Even the smallest towns printed yearly city directories that listed everyone's current address and occupation. So I can't imagine anyone would hesitate to publish a child's address, as why bother concealing what was already considered public information?

Furthermore, the concept of stranger kidnapping - and 'stranger danger' in general - was not something that really entered the public consciousness in the US until the 1920s, and even then the vast majority of kidnappings were for ransom. It was something that happened to rich people, usually in big cities.

It wasn't until several extremely high profile kidnappings of children in the late 20s/early 30s (namely Marion Parker, Walter Collins and Charles Lindbergh Jr.) that the concept of a stranger taking your child would probably have even crossed the mind of the average parent.

Additionally it's important to understand that the role of small town newspapers (where most of the Dear Santa letters are from) was something closer to Facebook or the Nextdoor app than a source of important news. Going on a trip? It's in the newspaper. Having a small dinner party? That's getting reported, along with the guest list, menu, party favors and any decorations you put up. Your child built a particularly nice snowman? There's a reporter here and entire town will know before dinner time.

So is it possible that some burglar used a Dear Santa letter to target the home of a wealthy child sometime in the 1890s? Sure? But I can't see why in an era where if you wanted to know where someone lived you could stop any random person on the street and say "Hey, where do the Johnsons live?" and no one would hesitate to tell you.

[beggars-opera]

Boston Globe, December 31st 1923

The really funny thing is there WAS a female crime wave in 1924 and it was so high-profile there's now a famous musical about it

[semioticapocalypse]

Jack Weir. A girl holding The Washington Post newspaper about the first Moon landing (Apollo 11). July 21, 1969

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[laurapetrie]

The wedding, when it came, had a fairy-tale quality, in this very remote church, with no electricity, and it happened after dark. It felt quite otherworldly, very dreamlike. - John Perry Barlow

Carolyn was stunning and very stark — as if the few lights were just for her, with the rest of us in darkness and her betrothed's face leaning into her halo. When John fumbled with the ring, Carolyn gently put her hand on his shoulder and laughed. The moment that she put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him that everything was okay, that was quite a loving subtlety. But that was her. - Billy Noonan

It was an incredibly magical moment. I saw it as it was unfolding, almost in silhouette. It was virtually dark outside. John reached for the hand of Carolyn; she was caught off guard. I'm walking backwards in the light rain at dusk, and John does this amazing gesture, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. It was lovely, the spontaneity of that gesture. - Denis Reggie

[exploring-the-past]

Lapis polaris magnes from Noua reperta (1590)

[fictionadventurer]

I saw a page of a local newspaper from 1911 with an article that was like, "Guess what, guys? That Spanish nobleman is still in prison! And he still hasn't found anyone to take that chest of gold off his hands! Apparently in Spain, they're under the impression that our town has an unusually high population of suckers."

I'm just weirdly delighted to know that the Nigerian prince scam is so much older than I thought.

[probablymoons]

Untitled (Raccoon), 1955 Silkscreen by Mac [Mary Alice Cox] Schweitzer

[yesterdaysprint]

Daily News, New York, New York, June 14, 1931

[stuffaboutminneapolis]

On this day in 1969:

"Neil Armstrong thrust his boot into a thin layer of fine dust beside his spacecraft at 9:55 pm (Minneapolis time) Sunday and became the first man ever to set foot on the moon."