Reading old newspapers – oldspapers? – is almost the opposite experience of reading a new one. And when I say old, I mean from 68 years ago in my case, though you would probably start seeing some of the same effects even in newspapers from five years ago.
Hindsight: First, you have hindsight. You generally know how things turn out. The news, like any good story, gets most of its power from you not knowing how it ends. “What happened next?” is what any good storyteller wants you to keep wondering.
For example:
- In 1949 Americans did not know if there was going to be another world war soon or if communism was going to take over the government.
- In 2017, likewise, Americans do not know if Russiagate is true. It may turn out to be nothing – or one of the biggest events in their history. Right now it is hard to tell. But a reader from 68 years from now, from 2085 (!!!), would know and either read the Russiagate stories with great interest – or laugh!
Trivialities: When you read a newspaper 68 years later, you can see right off that most of what it reports is unimportant. It just seems like an excuse to get you to look at ads for automobiles.
Ads: In a new newspaper I barely look at the ads, but in an old newspaper they are the main thing I look at. They more than anything else make you feel like you are back in time. First, because they are more likely to have pictures. Second, because many of the things they sell, like dresses, televisions, and automobiles, have markedly changed over the years. Some of the changes are genuine, like televisions with clearer pictures, but most are just changes in fashion, like in the look of dresses or automobiles.
Frame of mind: Another thing that sticks out that you barely notice in a new newspaper is how people thought about things. At least the sort who bought new automobiles. When you read about 1949 in a history book the fears may be pointed out but you are not made to feel them.
McCarthyism struck in 1950, when Joe McCarthy in the United States Congress began his hunt for communists. But in 1949 you can already feel the winds blowing. People are already getting thrown out of work as suspected communists. Jackie Robinson is getting dragged before Congress to reassure the nation about the patriotism of Negroes (Paul Robeson having created Additional Doubts).
Context: You understand the books of the time better because you see the background against which they were written. That Arthur Miller would write about a witch hunt (“The Crucible”), Ray Bradbury about book burning (“Fahrenheit 451”), and George Orwell about government mind control (“1984”), now makes more sense to me.
Detail: You also get to see the stuff that history books leave on the cutting room floor – like that people were seriously proposing that North America and western Europe become more than just a military alliance.
– Abagond, 2017.
See also:
- Not in H.G. Wells:
- newspaper
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Love these observations!
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Very interesting.
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I kind of wish North America and Europe would unite. The U.S. isn’t doing a very good job running itself.
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“people were seriously proposing that North America and western Europe become more than just a military alliance.”
Wait, what?!? I need details, please!
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About the ads: it’s true they really grab your attention. The further back you go, the crazier they get, like patent medicines and corsets and detachable collars and union suits (long johns).
About the books: the thing that always gets me is reading book reviews about a writer who was a best-selling author in their day or who was heralded as one of the up-and-coming greats of their generation — but now no one’s ever heard of them. The flip side of that is scathing or dismissive reviews of a novel now considered a classic.
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@ Solitaire
The bestselling new book of 1949 was “The Egyptian” by Mika Waltari. It is not even in print any more. Meanwhile Orwell’s “1984” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, which also came out that year, did not even break the top ten.
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@ Abagond
I just looked up Mika Waltari. He was a Finnish author and seems to be remembered there still. It’s too bad Sam from Finland no longer comments here because he could probably tell us.
Also, “The Egyptian” is based on the 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) text called “The Story of Sinuhe,” which might be of interest to those people here who are into Ancient Egypt.
I’m going to have to see if my library has it.
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They also made a movie based on the novel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egyptian_(film)
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@ Solitaire
Here is an article on that:
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1949/08/25/page/6/article/british-to-lose-titles-in-world-state-kefauver
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@ Abagond
Thanks!
From the mentions of “a world government” in the article, it sounds like some people were thinking that it would eventually encompass much more than North America and Western Europe. Like the United Nations on steroids.
And OMG those ads! Jaunty hats in the latest fall fashions!
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