Pssssst! Did ya hear the news?

Oooh! Oooh!

Sometimes the big news is just gossip. Hollywood stars and their antics. Scandals. There have always been those pesky scandals. Then – there was a time when gossip WAS the news.

Flash from the October 20, 1889 Bryan (TX) Eagle, which arrived in the mail this morning as part of a research project I’m working on:

Walter Whipprecht went to Austin yesterday.

Woo.

And from the same top-of-the-page column under the THURSDAY headline:

Major W. R. Cavitt went to Dallas yesterday. Squire J. M. Zimmerman of Kurten was in the city yesterday. W. B Hancock from Boston registered at the Exchange hotel yesterday.

Can you imagine the size of the Tulsa World if these items were still reported? But – it was news back then, why isn’t it news today?

Some things never change though. Under the CITY COUNCIL headline was this note:

A committee from the tire department appeared before the council and a somewhat lengthy discussion of differences was held, resulting in a postponement of action until the next council meeting.

That could have been written last night for this morning’s paper.

Writing styles change with the times. Some words from the 19th century just don’t make it into news copy any longer. For example, this bulletin from the Indian Territory:

THREE SHOT AT INDIAN DANCE

Ardmore, I.T. Oct 18 – During an Indian dance near Mill Creek, 30 miles from here, promiscuous shooting was indulged in by unknown persons.

Promiscuous shooting, you’ll note. Today, those unknown persons would be called “shooters.” Earlier, the term gunman was in favor. That one “went missing,” but back in the day it would have simply “disappeared.”

The accompanying picture shows the turn-of-the-century newspaper delivery system. The circulation department, if you will. These fine lads were set to send out the day’s edition of the Winfield, Kansas Daily Free Press. The clothes may have changed (and what I wouldn’t give for a couple of those stylish hats!) but the bicycles could pass for today’s rugged mountain bikes.

The photo is from 1914, just a few years beyond the great heyday of the bicycle – a sporting craze that began in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Before that, the newspaper delivery might have been on foot or horseback. Automobiles were still fairly uncommon, particularly on the roads in smaller towns like Winfield. (You’ll notice the lack of paving and the muddy tires on a couple of the bicycles.)

Oooh! Oooh!

This just in: John Henry was here from Payne Prairie yesterday!

Film at eleven. (Wait a minute. Film is out. Never mind.)

We’ve got books about the Old West and newspapers: Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St, Broken Arrow OK!