Old News: A Vintage Newspaper Extravaganza!

Folks, we gather here again to look at some old newspapers. As usual, please grab a good cup of tea and sit down with us on today’s journey.

Robert Burns Cigars Advertisement, Buffalo Morning Express (Buffalo, New York), June 20, 1922

PSA: Cigars can be harmful to your health. That said, the general public was ill informed to that fact in 1922.

The Robt. Burns brand of cigars was owned by several different companies over the years. At the time of the above advertisement, the brand was owned by the General Cigar Company, of Evansville, Indiana. It appears that the General Cigar Company is still producing (a subsidiary of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group), but the Robt. Burns brand is long gone, although this may not be so as we are not into cigars.

Two Electrocuted Rigging Up Aerial, Columbus Evening Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio), September 9, 1928

PSA- Electricity takes few prisoners. Be careful!

The article really says it all. This was a sad day for the Klemanowski/Carl Families. The family had just moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to 4154 East 141st Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Anthony Klemanowski (Born 1902) and Robert E. Carl (Born 1896) were machinists at Chandler Motors. Anthony, who died instantly, was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on September 12, 1928. Robert, who died a short time after the accident, was buried at Harvard Grove Cemetery in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on September 12, 1928. Both men were pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital. They both left wives and small children.

“Most Useful…”, Honolulu Star Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii), July 8, 1922

Mary Adelaide Nutting (1858-1948) was a nurse, educator, and pioneer in the field of hospital care. She was also an advocate for not only nurses, but women in general, and was involved in several women’s suffrage programs. Ahead of her time, she was also a strong advocate for making medical care available to everyone, whether they could pay for it or not. (Sounds like something that we are in dire need of in the United States today.)

Blast Mangles Child, The Morning Register (Eugene, Oregon), November 6, 1927

It was not the child’s fault, it was the careless workmen’s fault. No child deserves this horrible outcome. It is known that Lavina or “Bliny”, as she was called, did lose her right hand in this terrible incident, it’s unknown if she lost her sight as well. What is known, is she lived until 1997, when she died at the age of 74.

Mark Strand Advertisement, New York Tribune (New York, New York), November 19, 1920

First, let’s look at the theatre and it’s owners. The Mark Strand movie palace, and decorated elaborately as such, was was built in 1914 by the movie theatre owners Mitchell and Moe Strand. During this time, the theater was under contract with Paramount Pictures and mostly showed films distributed by Paramount. The Strand Brothers owned the theater until 1928, when they sold it to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. owned the building until 1987, when it was demolished to make way for the construction of the Morgan Stanley Building. Too bad. That was an awesome spot for a movie theater.

Woman Savant To Wed Editor, Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), May 15, 1934

The word “savant” makes it sound like this woman should be happy to be intelligent. Ugh, gag. How about “Successful Woman to Wed Editor”? In fact, leave the “woman” part out. Something like “Noted Educator To Wed Editor.” That sure sounds better. Anyways, Dr. Florence Edith Alfrieda Janson and Alfred William Sheriff did marry at Union Church in Shanghai, China on September 15, 1934. Dr. Janson was born April 21, 1893 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois to John Alfred and Augusta K. Janson. Alfred was born in 1871 in West Alvington, South Devon, England to James and Elizabeth Jane (Lane) Sheriff. While in China, Florence taught school and Alfred as the editor of the North China Daily News. It appears that Alfred died in China and Florence was teaching at Wesleyan College in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia and listed as “widowed” on the 1950 U.S. census. She taught in the history and economics departments from 1945 to, at least, 1960. After that, she goes off the radar. It seems she had a great career and life, full of teaching growing minds and a whole lot of world travel. One hopes that she continued on as long as she could.

Earthquake Hits Bavaria, Ottumwa Tri Weekly Courier (Ottumwa, Iowa), July 14, 1910

We can’t find any “official” record of this earthquake. It’s sad that many people died and it isn’t well documented as a “disaster.”

Boy Is Drowned in Pilot Butte Canal, The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon), September 22, 1922

Robert Dale Dunsmore was born February 22, 1920 in Mosier, Wasco County, Oregon to Henry Robert (1891-1942) and Della Mae (Burton) (1897-1991) Dunsmore. Robert passed away on September 21, 1922 in Redmond Deschutes County, Oregon. He was buried in Mosier Cemetery in Mosier, Wasco County, Oregon. Robert was survived by both his parents and two sisters. His father was buried next to him 20 years later.

Arcade Theater Is Redecorated, La Grande Observer (La Grande, Oregon), September 5, 1927

The Arcade theatre in La Grande, Union County, Oregon, was built in 1910> It was originally called the Orpheum theatre. The theatre was opened by La Grande business man Stephen Gardinier and his wife Madeline. They later changed the name to The Arcade theatre. It showed silent movies and was one of the considered one of the best theatre’s for vaudeville shows. In 1930, Frederick Mercy and Frederick Mercy Jr. purchased the theatre and renamed it the Liberty theatre. In circa 1945, Francis “Gus” Greulich and J.E. “Ted” Jones purchased the theatre. At that time, they operated all three of La Grande’s theatres. By the 1950s, the theatre was struggling to keep it’s doors opened and it closed on May 3, 1959. In 1962, the first floor was remodeled and opened as an auto parts store and pizza parlor. At one time, a book store, and a music store called the first floor of the theatre home. Even Domino’s pizza occupied a space for a time. In 1999, the building was theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A large remodeling effort has been undertaken since at small steps and continues today.

King Cole Advertisement, The Bridgeport Post (Bridgeport, Connecticut), October 4, 1948

Let’s go shopping! Let’s just grab one of everything here. Except coffee. They can keep the coffee. Fun fact: King Cole’s operated in this spot in Bridgeport until 1958, when it moved to a location on Park Avenue. The address on Fairfield Avenue is now home to Hookah Kingz, a hookah bar.

Here we are at the conclusion, my friends. Thank you for joining us on our brief trip back in history. Be safe and remember to love one another.

During our genealogical research, CMS Research & Genealogy comes across many stories that have nothing to do with our current project. We have tons of them and will be sharing them all with you on this blog. All the more reason to come back and visit us again!

June 28, 2023

CMS Research and Genealogy

CMS Research & Genealogy