All the news that's fit to print

 

Just to let you know, I'm having a terrible time leaving comments on any and every blog with embedded comments.  Blogger is cycling through their robot reCaptcha requirements.  Once I leave a comment, it should publish, but there is nothing showing.  I have no problems leaving comments in pop-up comment boxes, because the little box I have to check is there.  That is not the case for embedded comments.  Please forgive me, if for some reason, I am unable to leave a comment on your embedded comment box.  I will still drop by and leave a comment, regardless whether blogger allows it to post or not. 

Typesetting is arranging type through the use of specific fonts.  It can also include symbols, letters, numbers, and icons. Most pre-digital newspapers used manual or moveable type to create pages for their newspaper pages.

Before I moved to Wichita, KS (Kansas), the largest city in the state, there were two daily newspapers, both eventually owned by the same company. 

In 1872 Fred A. Sowers founded the Wichita Beacon, a daily and weekly paper, and this was the first daily paper printed in Wichita.  The original editors were Sowers and Henry Allen. 

In the meantime, The Wichita City Eagle was founded by Col. Marshall Murdock, also in 1872.  In 1884, The Eagle and The Beacon both started daily publications.

In 1897 Allen purchased the Wichita Daily Beacon and by 1918 was the chief owner of that paper.

In 1908, Murdock died about the time the paper (Eagle) was moved to a new building.

 In 1910, not to be outdone, a 10-story Beacon building was built 

and was one of the first skyscrapers in Wichita.

In 1928, Max and Louis Levand bought The Beacon where they promised to promote community journalism.

For the next several decades, The Beacon and The Eagle were locked in a bitter rivalry.

On July 13, 1959, Time Magazine referred to Wichita as “the bottom of journalism’s barrel” as the papers try to “outdo each other in sensationalism.”

In 1960, The Eagle purchased the stocks and assets of the Beacon Newspaper Corp. and began publishing the afternoon Wichita Evening Eagle and Beacon, the morning Wichita Eagle, and the Sunday Eagle and Beacon (Are you as confused as I am?).

In 1973, the Murdock family sold The Eagle and Beacon to Ridder Publications.

In 1974, Ridder merged with Knight Newspapers to form Knight Ridder.

 In 1980, the two Wichita papers merged to become The Wichita Eagle-Beacon.

In 1984, Time Magazine noted The Wichita Eagle-Beacon was one of the best midsize newspapers in the country under the leadership of W. Davis “Buzz” Merritt, editor from 1975 to 1997.  Look how much the newspaper's reputation changed in just 25 years, at least according to Time Magazine.

In 1989, The Wichita Eagle-Beacon became The Wichita Eagle, which it still is today.

Here are some old front pages from the various Wichita newspapers over the years which is in keeping with Neet's Type theme at Art Journal Journey.  These were taken from the 1972 special 100 years "Centennial" edition of the paper, which I happened to find in my stash.  I purchased this and a few other 1970s memorabilia/ephemera several years ago at a garage sale.  These are actual front pages from the two papers over the years.  This special edition was published on April 9, 1972.

I decided to scan this so you can see the details better.  Blogger is fighting me, though.

This first front page shown is the sinking of the Titanic off Newfoundland on it's maiden voyage. The Daily Eagle devoted the entire front page to news of the tragedy.  It also included many stories and illustrations of the event. 

The end of WWI, also considered "The Greatest War of all Time," was shown on the front page of the Daily Eagle on November 11, 1918.  Stories included the celebration of the Armistice Parade that would start that afternoon at 4 p.m.

Aviation minded Wichitans joined the rest of the country in congratulating Charles Lindbergh on his solo flight across the Atlantic to Paris.

On the morning of December 8, 1941, Wichitans read about the "Day of Infamy" in The Eagle.  The entire front page was devoted to the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The streamer headline told of Roosevelt's speech to Congress, which would be carried on all radio networks.  It wouldn't be long after Roosevelt's speech, the United States would enter the war that was raging in both Europe and the Pacific.

The evening edition of The Eagle's headline touched on the bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima, but there were few real details.  Readers had to wait until the morning edition of The Eagle on August 7, 1945 to learn the full extent of the destruction.

The entire nation was stunned to learn about Kennedy's assassination in Dallas.  Those who hadn't seen it on TV or heard it on the radio, read about the tragedy in The Wichita Beacon.  Photos of that day included moments before the president was shot, and him slumped in the limo that quickly carried him to the hospital.

A new era had arrived on July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Ed Aldrin landed on the moon.  Other news shows we were still engaged in the war in Vietnam as shown on the front page of the Wichita Eagle that day.

For this page, I began by swiping dye ink around the outside of pale yellow 90 lb. cardstock.  I didn't want to distract from the pages I cut from the Centennial Edition of the Wichita Eagle-Beacon.  After I fussy cut the front pages, I computer generated the blurbs underneath each page.  The pages were quite hard to read, and the paper was quite old, which is why I decided to scan the journal page instead of taking photos.  I hope you enjoyed this look back at the history of the two newspapers that shaped Wichitans' news over that 100 year period.  I'm sure, even if you are an international visitor, you will still have read about some of these incidents/events that occurred between 1872 and 1972.

Thank you ever so much for stopping by today.  Bleubeard and I are delighted you joined us and hope to see you this month at Art Journal Journey with your own take on Type.

 

I would like to explain, because some asked, that there were only two block parties in all of North Riverside this year.  Usually there are at least two on my street alone!!  I don't feel so bad now.  It appears no one wanted to be out in this unrelenting heat.  I'm just thankful that Sally showed up.