Author Topic: Lightning Flat in History  (Read 11781 times)

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2012, 02:50:53 pm »
Makes me understand Ennis' fears even more. I mean, we're now almost a century further in time than 1922, but Ennis and Jack in the sixties were only 40 years apart from a local newspaper reporting stuff like the above (the real quotes, not my made up one). I doubt such reports were still common in the sixties, but neighbours in small communities probably still knew too many details like who visited, who married, and so on. Maybe even do today.

I suspect to the contrary that they were, in small-town newspapers in the U.S., anyway. My mother (d. 1995) for many years subscribed to the newspaper that was published in her own small home town. I used to skim through it when it arrived in the mail. I sort of lost track of the paper after I moved to Philadelphia (1986), but certainly well on through the 1970s at least, the West Schuylkill Herald, as the paper was called, had a "social column" that was all "news" of this nature--who visited whom, what former residents were back from out of state, all that sort of stuff. And of course even today, even the mighty New York Times still publishes wedding announcements.  ;D
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Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2012, 03:54:41 pm »
My local paper used to carry those. I can go back in the microfilm and see what my parents and their siblings were up to in the 1930s, primary visiting and socializing. They used to break it down by each little community and the black people had their own "colored news" section.
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Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2012, 05:10:15 pm »
I suspect to the contrary that they were, in small-town newspapers in the U.S., anyway. My mother (d. 1995) for many years subscribed to the newspaper that was published in her own small home town. I used to skim through it when it arrived in the mail. I sort of lost track of the paper after I moved to Philadelphia (1986), but certainly well on through the 1970s at least, the West Schuylkill Herald, as the paper was called, had a "social column" that was all "news" of this nature--who visited whom, what former residents were back from out of state, all that sort of stuff. And of course even today, even the mighty New York Times still publishes wedding announcements.  ;D


Thank you for correcting me, Jeff. I never would have thought.
Even worse then, thinking of Ennis.


Though the wedding (and death) announcements are different, IMO. People have to turn to the paper and order (and pay for) those announcements. It's not like the newspaper itself reports about the social stuff (except you're considered a celebrity).


Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2012, 05:13:36 pm »
My local paper used to carry those. I can go back in the microfilm and see what my parents and their siblings were up to in the 1930s, primary visiting and socializing. They used to break it down by each little community and the black people had their own "colored news" section.


You can stalk your own parents. (I think we don't have a fitting smiley for this).

The whole concept is totally foreign to me. I don't think "news" like that were ever part of papers over here. Though I might be wrong a second time today. Hm, might be worth finding out...

Offline KittyKat

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2012, 06:27:58 pm »
I grew up in a small community in south Texas in the late 1970s - 1980s. We used to have a weekly newspaper called "The Progress" that I think is still in existence. It had a column called "Simmons City Happenings" written by the town busybody. It would say things like, "Glenn and Becky visited so & so on Saturday night" or "after the football game on Friday night Susan and Bill went to the Dairy Queen. Susan just had sweet tea but Bill had a burger and fries".  "Henry's car broke down at the bridge and he had to walk home".

Seriously. I'm not making this up. Poor Ennis would have had an anxiety attack.
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Offline Monika

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2012, 06:40:53 pm »
Here is a link to a site where you can read scanned issues of the Lightning Flat Flash. It´s quite fun to see what it looked like. It didn´t survive long. 1922 - 1926.

http://pluto.state.wy.us/awweb/main.jsp?flag=collection&un=public&ps=public&smd=1&cl=library2_lib&qs=Lightning+Flat+Flahs&qt=64&submit=Search+Newspapers&itype=advs&menu=on

Offline Monika

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2012, 07:02:02 pm »
This piece of "news" reminded me of another story, albeit this one has a happy ending

24 Year Romance

A romance of twenty four years duration came to light
here the first of the week when
Joseph G. Kennedy, rancher of
the Rockypoint country, Wyoming,
arrived in Newcastle in
search of Miss Mable Brown of
Menominee, Michigan, his
sweetheart of twenty four
years ago.
It seems that almost a quarter
century ago this couple lived in the Michigan city and
here the friendship commenced
that has resulted in a marriage
solemnized by the Rev,
Father Brady at the Corpus
Christi church in Newcastle,
Wyoming, on Thursday morning, February 8th, 1923, at sixthirty
o'clock. P.H. McHugh
and Mrs. Mary Nolun, acted as
the witnesses.
This morning the happy
couple left for the groom´s
ranch at Rockypoint where
they will take up their future
residence.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Lightning Flat in History
« Reply #17 on: January 20, 2012, 10:47:02 pm »
Come to think of it, now I remember seeing a small newspaper clipping, carefully preserved by my paternal grandmother, that noted that Grandma had perfect spelling that year in school.  ;D  That was actually considered newsworthy in a small Pennsylvania community.

I don't have the clipping with me here, but it sticks in my memory that it was for her year in the eighth grade--which would have been her last year in school, because she went to school in a one-room schoolhouse that only had eight grades. Grandma was born in 1911, so she probably started school about 1916, so she probably finished the eighth grade about 1924.

The newspaper clipping was tucked inside a small New Testament--which was given to my grandmother by her public school teacher as a reward for her perfect spelling. Imagine the uproar if a public school teacher tried to do something like that today.  :-\
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.