"News From Years Gone By"

One of my first posts was about The Courier-Tribune. Matt's regular feature (see title above) regularly piques my interest. Something about an old business, person or event, usually. A number of times I've found things like the fact that coal was mined nearby. And frequently I've wanted to know, as Paul Harvey used to say, "The Rest of the Story."

Last week's issue had an article from October 3, 1912, detailing events of "The big fair and picnic held in Baileyville" the previous week. It included a list of winners for a number of contests. What I'd like to know is what the heck was the "beer contest" that Joe Jordan won? Assuming the contest included the consumption of beer, it sounds like something that would be really popular today.

Here's to ya!

If you know anything about such a contest, I'd be interested in hearing from you. "Inquiring minds want to know."

The Courier's “News from years gone by”

I enjoy reading this part of the paper. Not that I don't enjoy the other parts! But these old stories that Matt pulls from the microfiche files at our library tell interesting stories about our community's past, enlighten us about the habits and goings on of ancestors and give insight to a simpler way of living.

Through these snippets I've learned about: feuds between one town's newspaper and another's; coal being mined nearby; the number of hogs and bushels of corn or wheat shipped to market by local farmers; town bands entertained at just about any event wanting musical interludes; town baseball team rivalries; colorful descriptions about ne'er-do-wells and editorial admonishments directed to those not conducting themselves in what might be described as “upright.”

Any and everything was reported on. No topic was off limits. And I guess this was expected by the readers. After all, they did call them “news” papers.

My first “real” job was delivering the afternoon newspaper. Yes, we had morning and afternoon papers back then. And most households subscribed to both. Dad left for work informed of whatever went on the previous night and came home to catch up on further developments. It was a way of life.

To this day I still like the feel of a newspaper. I do get the bulk of my information on the internet, radio and cable news, but I'll never be without a newspaper.