Some time ago I mentioned that I have a collection of more than 100 newspaper headlines. The first one I ever kept was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are many more, like the first astronauts on the moon, President Nixon’s debacle, Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. Mt. St. Helen's eruption. It’s a fun and interesting hobby.
I have recently expanded my collection to papers that were printed before I was old enough to read. At an estate sale not long ago, I purchased two excellent, but fragile, newspaper front pages.
The first headline says, Roosevelt Dies; Truman Goes In. It’s a Kansas City Star, dated April 13, 1945 (Friday). The price—61 years ago—was “In Kansas City…3 cents; Elsewhere…5 cents.” A picture of Harry Truman’s swearing-in is on the top, left corner of the page. A sober portrait of FDR is down at the bottom right.
The second headline says, J.F.K. Body Home as U.S. Grieves. This from (The Morning Kansas City Star) The Kansas City Times dated November 23, 1963. Price 7 cents. There are three pictures: a front view of the President’s limo just seconds after the deadly shots were fired. Then a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald is in the middle of the page. Last, at the bottom of the page, a famous picture of Lyndon Johnson’s swearing-in aboard Air Force One. Mrs. Johnson is on one side of him, Mrs. Kennedy is on the other side.
I cannot photograph them yet. In fact, I can hardly handle them. I’m taking them to a man who works with antique glass and old, yellow paper. He’ll get the old tape and glue off so I can get them into a special kind of acid-free protection. But when I can take pictures, I’m gonna have Nyssa’s Mom come over and do the honors. She's real good with a camera.
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