Taking a look back through time

With the anniversary of U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s assassination having just passed, Nov. 22 — I thought maybe it would be interesting — for you and me — to have a look at the Winnipeg Free Press coverage of that horrific tragedy, from an original Free Press from back then, which I thought I had stored away.

Apparently not so. Y’see, even as a youth, I set aside newspapers of significant events to keep for further reference and perusal. Not only for the front-page coverage, but the whole paper being a time capsule of the day the event happened.

But when I opened the storage tub for vintage newspapers, for some reason, along with a Winnipeg Tribune, the only other newspaper I have covering the Kennedy assassination is a copy of the Daily Gleaner, from Kingston, Jamaica, Nov. 23, 1963, edition.

Where the heck did that come from? I really don’t know. But it’s very cool to have. I can give you the weather forecast for the Caribbean that day! Bet you can’t do that. Bet you don’t care either. Individuality. My home is my castle, and I choose to have numerous interesting "things," both old, new and in between, to spur my imagination and occupy my mind with when I need a break from the daily grind.

Although I don’t have the Kennedy Free Press, I have numerous others (the complete newspapers): the coverage of the 1939 royal visit (Royal Edition); the Free Press 100th birthday paper; the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; Winston Churchill’s death; a copy of the Free Press Bulletin from Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1920; and many more, including other papers covering all kinds of celebrations, milestones and tragedies.

On the one hand, it seems some things never change — a headline from the 1920 Free Press Bulletin: Tenants, Faced By Higher Rent, Must Make Own Repairs. The block owner’s lament being he would need a 100 per cent increase in the rent to clear a four per cent profit on his investment. That paper also listed all the entertainment at the local live theatres.

Another headline from that same paper that would certainly not happen today: Russian Delegates Accept Virtually All Polish Terms. Putin would be disputin’ that.

An excellent reason to aspire to be a "cultural anthropologist" such as I, and keep cool stuff like this around your home, is that, for example, when I dig into the Jan. 25, 1965, Free Press (Churchill death) it’s like taking a fascinating trip back in time!

The TV highlights column gave the upcoming program list for three channels here in the ’Peg, those being CBWT Channel 6, CJAY Channel 7 (now CKY) and KCND Channel 12 (now Global). Shows included Reach for the Top, Don Messer’s Jubilee, Dr. Kildare, The Avengers and so on.

If you wanted to get out and take in a movie, endless choices were available, the titles perhaps indicative of the flower child free love era we would shortly head into: Fast and Sexy, Towne Cinema; Seduced and Abandoned, Pace Cinema; and at the Airliner Drive Inn (yes, they were open in winter — "electric in car heaters supplied free," the movie was Black Sabbath, starring Boris Karloff.

Seems to me I remember going to a drive-in during winter, and despite all attempts, nothing would keep those windows from fogging up. Wonder why?

I even have a newspaper or two from the 1800s. Talk about an interesting window into another time.

Some people might say, "Well why would you want to keep old newspapers and books and other stuff like that around? They just get mouldy and musty and smell up the place!" Not if you take care of them, as I do, and besides, I consider it a true pleasure to sit in my big comfy chair, take a vintage newspaper or book or magazine in my hands and browse through it, rather than look up the archive version on an iPhone, which I don’t have and don’t want.

I love the actual hands-on feel of those pages turning in my hands, and maybe in a way, it takes me back to a slower, more people oriented face-to-face and "face to page" time when the whole outside world didn’t arrive in your home on some electronic device. I still prefer the hands-on version.

And I certainly do remember how the Kennedy assassination made me feel: sorrow for the loss of such a great human being, and concern for what might be to come.

EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! I do.

Comments or feedback, love to hear from you!

lmustard1948@gmail.com