Masher Receives Heavy Lesson On Cairo Train
An ornate St. Louis passenger on the Cairo line taunted a father and daughter, prompting the father to subdue him with a forceful platform dressing. The mobbed masher was knocked from the train, his lavender pants torn, and he limped away toward Union depot amid cheers from 400 to 500 travelers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cairo
Paducah
Kentucky
St. Louis
Pinkneyville
Ill
Union Depot
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Gluttons of Antiquity Impress with Appetite Tales
The piece recounts famed figures Soliman the caliph and Louis XIV famed for vast eating feats. It cites chroniclers noting Soliman’s meals near Chalcis and Mecca as well as Louis XIV’s levied in one sitting. Professor Matthews comments on the extraordinary stomachs of ancient and early modern leaders.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gibbon
Soliman
Chalcis
Syria
Constantinople
Mecca
Louis XIV
Professor Matthews
Boston Traveller
How a Jew Was Put to Death by Burning
An account from American Notes and Queries details a Hebrew criminal executed by burning. A five foot pit held the doomed man upright, earth packed to his knees, then a soft cord wrapped around the neck was pulled by two men. As suffocation set in a wick was lit and placed in the mouth to seal the punishment.
The Pin in Romance Finds a Prisoner’s Gift
A prisoner's daily act of seeking pins to stave despair leads to release, and years later his wife glues four bent pins into a brooch he treasures. In another note, Professor Marcy demonstrates rapid wing movement in insects by recording wing strokes against a revolving cylinder.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Marcy
Philadelphia Times
Women and dogs evoke sentimental canine devotion in Browne critique
Junius Henri Browne in the St Louis Globe Democrat discusses women’s fondness for dogs, contrasting feminine sentimentalism with masculine restraint. He warns against excessive baby talk and claimed canine adoration, noting social scenes of women parading their pets and coaxing obedience with affectionate phrases.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fido
Blanche
Junius Henri Browne
St. Louis
Yankee Trick Reveals Folly of Deceptive Farming Plan
A New York Tribune item recounts a Yankee farmer who, to keep two hired men from talking, tells each that the other is deaf and dumb. The ruse prompts the men to work hard while sparing the farmer’s conscience, illustrating stubborn Yankee cleverness and the futility of outsmarting them.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Farmer
New York Tribune
Denman Thompson
New York
Trunk Fright On Erie Day Express Near Hornellsville
A late evening Erie day express from New York halts on the Hornellsville ascent to Almond after a trunk falls from the baggage car. Passengers fear a wreck while crew retrieve the trunk, a passenger contends the trunk belongs to her as the train reverses to recover it.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Erie Day Express
New York
Hernellsville
Hornellsville
Almond
the Inquirer
New York Times
Value of Mud Bathes in Public Health
The Boston Herald discusses mud baths used in Europe and at Carlsbad. It notes peat mixed with hot Sprudel water raises body temperature and may aid abdominal growth absorption, but questions their overall efficacy and warns of dangers for fragile bathers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Europe
Carlsbad
Boston Herald
Melons Better Than Emancipation
A farmer brings watermelons to Johnson's store the day before Emancipation Day. An old man enters late, admires the melons, and the storekeeper jokes about the holiday. The man replies he cares little for emancipation but would like to have one delicious watermelon.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Johnson
Rauis Johnson
San Marcos
Tex
Frea Press
Rowe's Baths Eclipsed by Rich Men's Private Styles
Wealthy New York residents spend vast sums on private bathrooms with Marquand owning the finest in the metropolis. The bath features Saracenic jewels from Spain, a tank edged with polished metal, a barrel arch, and water coursing through carved dolphin throats, as described by the New York Sun.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rowe
New York
Marquand
Spain
New York Sun
Spoons and Snares of a Wedding Morning
A mixed page of verse and humor from a late 19th century press. An obituary of social satire opens with a funeral mood and a gag about marriage spoons, then shifts to light banter on a flirtatious pair, a domestic yarn in Kansas City, a rural musk of kneeling fields, and a Wisconsin classroom misread. The clippings weave comic portraits and social vignettes across a single page.
Moving Mystery and Era of Neighborly Gossip
A collection of quirky vignettes from period papers. Characters invite others aboard boats, seek stable chores, and exchange playful notes about shifted plans. A New York Herald item notes a messy house left behind, while a New York Weekly piece recalls a moving day misadventure.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brickrow
New York Weekly
The Results of Training by a Clever Trick Mule
The circus scene features a famed mule named Dot and a confident clown claiming decades of effort to force the animal to perform. A neighboring exchange shows Lucy and Bohrer bantering about baseball and a home gun, reflecting playful local banter from the Pittsburg Bulletin.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dot
Bohrer
Lucy
Pittsburg
Equally Boastful in Quips and Quicklines
A compact anonymous collection notes witty lines from Life and the New York Herald, contrasting boastful ancestry with bragging progeny. It includes a brief exchange on a German theme and a classroom quip about the largest known diamond, credited to Johnny and the Brooklyn Eagle.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Herald
The Householder and the Rat and Two Futures
A householder traps a rat which argues for liberty causing more thefts. The man frees it, then loses more property as the rat returns. The tale shows that suspended sentences tempt reform, while a judge’s leniency can enable ongoing harm. The second anecdote notes a boy's mixed potential as a sculptor or baseball player, based on his paper wad arm and desk.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York World
Between the Acts Warden Imagines Patient Shopping
A dialogue from Cloak Review presents a warden describing a disturbed patient in an insane asylum who constantly imagines shopping and sometimes sits silent for weeks. The visitor asks what she does and the warden explains she waits for change in her illusion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Insane Asylum
In the Hands of His Friends Humor Exchange
A playful dialogue gathers lines from The Baltimore American and Harper's Bazar. A candidate jokes about relying on friends and borrowing fifteen cents for lunch while humorist Cumso and Fangle discuss humor and gravity in a light mock conversation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baltimore American
Cumso
Fangle
Harper’s Bazar
Baseball Crank and Churchgoer Sketch in Verse
A humorous verse contrasts a base Ball crank at a sunlit game with a nervous churchgoer in a cushioned pew. It recalls a Somervile Journal line and a Judge Peterby scene where a colored servant faces dismissal while asserting shared humanity amid harsh phrasing from Texas Siftings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Peterby
Texas Siftings
Also Mentioned on This Page
Mnacred Yuesternight
Boston
Lynn
Salem
Squantumville
Squedunk and Cohoes
Snag's Patch
Jones’ Mill
George Washington
Noah
the Ark
Eve
Grover Cleveland
Moses
Boston Courier
Miss Browne
Mabel
Tom
Sheffield Telegraph
Kansas City Times
Mag
Nerous
Chicago Tribune
D. Oo. F. Desaup
Wisconsin
Rella
Susan
Mr. Jessup
Susie
D. O. F. Jessup
Texas
Jack
Charlie
Munsey
Cora
Jake
Dean Jake
Pap
Lome
Dean Cori
Pana
Penelope
Dolly
Dorothy
Tally
Johnny
Brooklyn Hagle
Anen
Somervile Journal
Johnson's Anopyni
Johnson & CO
RosTor
Maga
Samuel Pitcher
Castoria
G. C. Gaccon
Lowell, Mass
J. Ff. Kincue Og
Conway, Ark
HL A. Agcaen
Oxford St
Brooklyn
Quer
Unive Hospitan and Dispensary
Mass
AuLen C. Surra
the Centaur Company
Murray Street
New York City
Thntiown
Northwestern
Pennsyania
Warren
Front Street
Peter Greenland
Warren, Pa
T. W. McNett
Second St
Geo
Davis’ Drug Store
Short Street
Penn
L. G. Noyes & CO
Warr
Gowanda
Wiard
Biell
AMORA
Robison
R. Edmonds & Son
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!