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One
of my favorite weekly newspapers, the Frankston Citizen, celebrated its 100th
anniversary recently by packing a time capsule with items from 2010.
But
what I enjoyed most were reproductions of front pages from the Citizens’ issues
during the past century.
In the early days, newspapers carried down-to-earth
news that you seldom read in newspapers today.
Some
examples:
From the front page of Friday, April 7, 1918, the pretty home of
a Frankston couple was the scene of a birthday dinner for a friend. And a couple
named Kirby and Sanders were married, according to a story at the very top of
the front page.
On Friday, January 17, 1945, a proposed highway was announced
to connect Frankston with
Palestine on the south and
with Tyler on
the north. We presume this was the beginning of Highway 155, which today is one
of the busiest highways in East Texas.
On
Thursday, July 16, 1955, a photo of a man holding a squash that appeared to be
almost tall as he was appeared on the front page.
On the same page was
a story about a Louisiana man who visited Frankston
after an absence of 41 years. He probably made the front page because he once
worked for the Citizen.
In
the early days of the 1900s, newspapers often placed advertisements on the front
page.
In 1918, the Frankston Fruit Palace advertised a fresh line of biscuits
and mixed cakes “direct from the factory.”
At Kickapoo, J.T. Daniels announced
that he was now in charge of the Kickapoo Cash Grocery “and would be glad to have
at least a part of your trade.”
Thrasher and Dickerson advertised “Cleaning
and Pressing, Also Barbering.”
Cole’s Market announced that “we are butchering
nice meal-fed beeves, as well as butchered pork, when we can get it.” By the 1930s,
however, the ads had disappeared from the front pages, and bigger headlines were
being written for local news. On Friday, March 28, the big news was Frankston’s
school winning first place in a county event. The news was bannered with a six-column
headline. On Thursday, January 18, 2001, a front page headline noted that “Barricades
and signs were erected for the widening of State Highway 155,” the same highway
that was announced back in 1945.
Bob
Bowman's East Texas
March 14, 2011 Column.
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
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