AMY WILLIAMS

Surprise gift of 1917 newspaper shows the past’s present

AMY BENNETT WILLIAMS
AWILLIAMS@NEWS-PRESS.COM

I told my Facebook friends it was reason No. 220 I love working at The News-Press, and I meant it.

Ordinary Tuesday afternoon. Desk phone rings with a call to come to the lobby: “There’s a gentleman here to see you,” the receptionist tells me.

Awaiting me in suspenders and a venerable cowman’s hat is Mr. Pete Fuller, to whom I’ve spoken a time or two at Southwest Florida Historical Society events.

In his hand, a Tractor Supply Company bag. In the bag, a tattered but intact July 12, 1917, Weekly Press, one of The News-Press’ ancestors.

Pete, who has a knack for finding uncanny historical treasures, told me he’d salvaged it and brought it in because he was sure I’d want to see it.

He was, of course, right.

Holding an old newspaper is always a kick, and getting a look at this one was especially cool.

First, there was the sheer size of the thing — nearly big enough to cover a dinette table when opened.

Then, there were the headlines, written in antiquated style, but still astonishingly resonant: Development, schools, decaying infrastructure and gossip.

But in addition to the similarities, the differences: Two-digit phone numbers, ads for livery stables, women without first names and a column about temperance, submitted by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

Although even this, as quaint as the subject matter might be, is shockingly contemporary in form. Turns out it’s something we modern journos call a listicle — one of those quickie articles that’s little more than a list (hence the name) designed to capture the attention of readers short on time.

Highlights from this one, headlined BEER IS NOT COOLING (bear in mind, this appeared in the dead of July):

“While cold beer tastes cool and pleasant to a hot man, it does not cool him off; it heats him up. The alcohol and solids will bring increased heat... When a man drinks beer, he causes himself to feel hot...He increases his chance of sunstroke at least a hundred percent.”

Good stuff. So good, I scanned a few pages so you can read them yourself at news-press.com. And if you choose to peruse with a frosty beer in hand, I promise I won’t tell the ladies of the WCTU.

So, cheers. And thank you, Pete!