Certain industries seem to have made the paperweight a preferred method of marketing. Newspapers were among them, with two modes. One was a heavy metal bar that was given to newsstands to keep their papers from blowing away. The second, to be considered here, were smaller, lighter paperweights that carried an advertising message and meant for the general public.
Boston newspapers seem to have vied for attention most competitively. The Boston American chose for its weight to feature Mutt and Jeff, two popular cartoon characters created by Bud Fisher and running daily in the American. Begun in 1907, the strip ran nearly fifty years and was one of my favorites as a kid. The American was even older, having been founded as a tabloid in 1904. It became part of William Randolph Hearst’s chain of newspapers, eventually merged with other local sheets but the name disappeared in 1961.
The Boston Herald, founded in 1846 and still in circulation, is one of the oldest daily newspapers in America. Over its history it has received many awards including at least eight Pulitzer Prizes. The Herald chose to advertise through a paperweight and pocket mirror with a newsboy hawking the “New England’s greatest newspaper.” Initially a full-sized sheet, the paper converted to tabloid format in 1981.
Choosing to advertising its status as having the largest circulation in New England via the spacious belly of a cartoon character, the Boston Globe could boast at least 26 Pulitzers. Founded in 1872 it is locally owned and in 2016 had a circulation of 245,814, making it the 25th most read newspaper in America. Its investigative team was the basis of the 2015 motion picture, “Spotlight.”
Perhaps the most classy weight ever issued by a newspaper came from The New York Post, a newspaper that claims its origins in 1801 and Alexander Hamilton. It issued a crystal apple made by Tiffany & Company. It is etched in acid “New York Post, The Juice of the Apple.” The modern version of the paper is published in tabloid format and has been owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch since 1976. Just as Murdoch bears no resemblance to Hamilton, the Post has no resemblance to the respected paper of the past.
Another attractive contemporary glass etched paperweight is from the Baltimore Sun, another newspaper that has declined from past glory. The paper once was known for its overseas presence. At its height, the Sun ran eight foreign bureaus, giving rise to a 1983 ad that “The Sun never sets on the world.” Unfortunately those sunny days have since departed since the paper was bought by the Chicago Tribune. One by one those overseas bureaus closed and in recent years the Sun has declined in quality and readership.
The Cleveland News could trace its antecedents back to 1868, officially being founded in September 1905. Who Geo. E. Harper was, my research has failed to reveal. I assume he was a major figure on the staunchly Republican newspaper and decided to issue a paperweight. Always the third newspaper in Cleveland behind the Plain-Dealer and the Press, it suffered financially during the Great Depression and closed in 1960 when it was absorbed by the Cleveland Press.
Even smaller newspapers often issued weights. The New Haven Evening Register selected one of its front pages for its glass artifact. Founded in 1912, the Register is a daily owned by the Hearst interests that covers 19 cities and towns within New Haven and Middlesex Counties. Like other dailies, especially those published in the afternoon, this paper has suffered declines in circulation in recent years.
The paperweight shown here emphasizes the years in which its several newspapers were founded: The Intelligencer Journal in 1794, Lancaster New Era in 1877, and Sunday News in 1923. Unfortunately, none of them are currently extant. Instead the LNP Media Group owns and publishes LNP, a daily newspaper in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and several other local publications. It is controlled by a family, however, whose roots in local journalism go back to 1866.
The Herald-Palladium has had its current name only since 1975, it can trace its origins back to 1868 when the Palladium was established as a local weekly. It serves the twin cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan, towns that sit on opposite sides of the St. Joseph River as it flows toward Lake Michigan. After a dizzying series of mergers, acquisitions and name changes over the years, the current paper emerged in 1975. Its paperweight shows a light house on Lake Michigan.
Even U.S. weekly newspapers might issue paperweights. Shown here is an attractive item from the Cayuga Herald of Cayuga, a town of barely over 1,000 residents in Vermillion County, Indiana. This newspaper had a relatively short run, being founded in 1891 by one Charles E. Cook and out of business a decade later. This allows a much more precise dating of the weight, one that has a element of crudeness in its fashioning that renders it interesting as a glasshouse product.
The final paperweight carries an element of mystery about it. Was issued by a “Ledger” newspaper but there are at least six U.S. journals, past and present, that carry that name. It has an ad for Hires Root Beer, which dates from 1876 until today — no help at all. I have included the weight here because the delightful little girl is wearing a hat made from a newspaper. Head coverings similar to this one have been popular with printers since the 1700s. They would make a paper hat at the start of each day to keep grease, paint, paper lint, and oil out of their hair.
In featuring newspaper paperweights I have just included a dozen of the more interesting examples. Dozens more exist for the collector, providing a window into the history and development of the American newspaper.
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