A friend of mine and his wife were recently going through the belongings of a deceased relative and came across a couple of old local newspapers from 1935.
One was an issue of the Houston Herald from May 9 of that year and the other was a copy of the Houston Republican from May 16. In comparison with today’s printed newspapers, both were very wide physically. But I found it interesting that they probably weren’t printed in the same shop because the Herald was 15 inches wide while the Republican spanned a whopping 17 ½ inches.
Both, of course, contained ads for products being offered at standard prices for the mid-1930s, like an electric range for $9, “beautiful rose glassware” dinner plates for 10 cents apiece or a “deluxe” box of chocolates for $1 that you could get in time for Mother’s Day.
Both publications also included newsworthy information about things like high school graduation, deaths, township activity and a few local sports tidbits. And both featured plenty of rather specific information about the comings and goings of local citizens – very similar to the “Locals” segment that appeared in the Herald until eight or 10 years ago.
But wow, the Republican had lots of that stuff – we’re talking pages! Part of it was under the headline, “Local news briefs and little ads,” while a whole lot more was under “News over Texas County as told by our correspondents.”
Yep, “correspondents” from all over the county apparently spent significant time and effort compiling and contributing all manner of personal information about anyone and everyone who wanted to share. And man, there were obviously a lot of folks willing to share. I mean, there were dozens upon dozens of entries that came from all parts of the county.
A reader could become aware that Bert Gerwitz and his son attended a Motor Show in Springfield and that a trio of Raymondville residents had visited Houston. You could find out that professor John Wilson of Rolla was in Houston on business last Friday and that Joe Splector’s kids (Bonnie and Jimmie) had the measles.
Thanks to the work of some capable correspondents, readers could know that blackberries were blooming in Oscar, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Harrison had several dinner guests last Sunday at their house in Hightown, local Boy Scouts enjoyed a meeting at the Gilberts’ house in Simmons and that Upton resident Earl Campbell, who had been sick, was “improving some.”
Yep, if you wanted to know about Sunday school in Clara, who visited who in Bucyrus or what “young people” met at the Ben Ritz home in Prescott, it was all there to be known.
As I was browsing through the fascinating recaps of peoples’ visits to a church, store or friend’s house, it occurred to me that I was looking at a 1935 version of social media. I mean, that’s literally what it was: A bunch of socially-oriented content presented in the era’s popular form of media as a way of enlightening anyone who wanted to be enlightened with regard to numerous basic aspects of daily life.
Obviously, today’s social media platforms have taken the concept way beyond where it was in 1935. Now you don’t have to wait a week to find out where Uncle Ralph ate a cheeseburger or who is complaining about last week’s sermon or what wasn’t adequately dealt with in a sports story, you can just hit up Facebook and presto, you’re in the know.
Anyway, it’s apparent that there isn’t much that’s unique about present day social media (perhaps other than its ability to deliver instant gratification to its users) and people were obviously highly engaged in the same type of thing close to 100 years ago.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
