MORE FROM 1909 NEWSPAPER: On Friday, we talked about an article submitted by Bradford resident John Droney about a trip to Ireland published in the July 9, 1909, edition of The Era.
In seeing the 105-year-old edition, we wanted to share some other tidbits which appeared alongside “Glimpses of Ireland.” It is fascinating to see the very same newspaper we’re writing for today published in old-fashioned font, the writing more formal and elaborate.
One ad — we think it’s an ad, but it looks more like an article — declares, “AFTER SUFFERING ONE YEAR: Cured by Lydia E. Pink-ham’s Vegetable Compound.”
The ad is “one of thousands of grateful letters” to the company penned by a Mrs. Emma Imse who suffered from “female troubles” and “fearful pain” until Mrs. Pinkham’s compound came along.
Meanwhile, a section labeled “BUSINESS NOTICES” states, “Advertisements under this heading are One Cent a Word. Every figure to count as a word.”
One such notice reads: “WANTED—Female, one first class general cook, one second cook, and two experienced dining room girls. Good wages. Address Hotel Wetzel, Cambridge Springs, Pa.”
By our calculations, the ad would come to a whopping $1.35, not counting spaces. According to www.usinflationcalculator.com, $1.35 in 1913 (as far back as the site would calculate) is equal to $32.33 in 2014.
“For Sale” listings included items such as “ABC Pumping powers and Milton Pulling Machines,” a “heavy lumber wagon, new McCormick mower and a set of double harness,” a “light dynamo gas engine” and a “Bay team, 6 years old, Weight 2800 lbs.”
Perhaps it’s just our romantic notion of train travel, but we particularly liked the passenger train schedule printed on the page. Trains were listed coming and going from Buffalo, N.Y., Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, DuBois, Punxsutawney, Erie, Dunkirk, N.Y., Corry, Titusville, Salamanca, N.Y., and Oil City.
At the same time, we were struck by some of the similarities, too. The rent ads wouldn’t have looked out of place published today, and war, death and business all made appearances on the page.
Some things just don’t change.
